How TruckWeightInfo.com Reviews Weight and Permit Sources

Source priority order

For each state data field, sources are selected in this priority order:

1. State DOT permit office — the agency that issues oversize/overweight operating permits; the most direct source for weight limits and permit process
2. State statute or administrative code — the codified law, used when the permit page does not resolve the specific field
3. State enforcement agency — for fine schedules, penalty structures, and enforcement process details
4. FHWA publications — for the federal Interstate baseline, bridge formula, and size/weight regulation framework
5. FMCSA — for safety measurement and carrier record context

Private summaries, commercial permit portals, and third-party compliance guides are not used to fill factual state fields, even when they appear well-maintained and widely referenced in the industry.

How each source is verified

Each source is confirmed by this sequence:

1. Locate the official agency or statute URL directly — not via an aggregator or third-party summary
2. Confirm the domain is a .gov address or a recognized state authority (for states that use non-.gov official domains, the domain is noted in the source record)
3. Read the specific field value from the primary agency text
4. Record the URL, publisher name, and the date the source was read
5. Where the agency page links to a statute, the statute text is read directly; where a statute requires citation-specific reading, the exact citation is recorded in the source notes

If a source URL returns an error or the content does not address the field, the field is marked low confidence and the review scope is noted, rather than substituting a private summary.

What a field review looks like

A high-confidence field is usually straightforward. If a state DOT page directly lists the oversize/overweight permit office, that agency name can be recorded with the DOT source attached. If a state statute directly states a maximum axle or gross weight, the value can be tied to that statute. The page then shows the source, publisher, verification date, and high-confidence label beside the field.

A medium-confidence field is different. For example, a permit page may clearly describe route approval, travel conditions, or permit authority without stating every practical conclusion in the exact wording used on this site. In those cases, the field remains tied to the official source, but the status is marked as inferred from official material.

A low-confidence field is kept visible because hiding uncertainty would make the page less useful. Fine schedules and seasonal restrictions often fall into this category when the state publishes scattered statutes, county notices, emergency orders, or citation-specific court handling rather than one stable statewide page.

Confidence levels

High — The official source directly and unambiguously supports the field value. No interpretation beyond reading the agency text is required. The source language and the field value correspond without inference.

Medium — The value is drawn from an official source but requires some interpretation: a page-level description rather than an exact statutory citation, or a value that must be inferred from related statutory language rather than read as a direct statement.

Low — No specific official source was confirmed during the review. The field may contain a placeholder, a note explaining what was not found, or a value sourced only from an FHWA federal baseline that does not confirm the state-specific detail.

Status labels

• confirmed — Official source directly states the field value
• inferred_from_official_source — Value inferred from official material; source supports but does not directly state
• not_found_in_official_review — No specific official source was confirmed; the field explains what was searched and not found
• no_statewide_rule_confirmed — Review found no statewide rule; local, route-specific, or emergency rules may still apply
• not_applicable — Field does not apply to this state or configuration
• needs_review — Previously populated, flagged for re-verification against the current source
• todo — Not yet reviewed in this data set

Indexability quality gate

State pages are scored against a formula that weights source coverage, confidence distribution, confirmed/inferred status ratios, and the presence of permit, weight-limit, and fine-structure data. Pages must score 70 or higher, without a severe gap in any mandatory field group, to be included in the sitemap and treated as indexable by search engines.

Pages below the gate receive noindex,follow — they remain accessible at their URL but are excluded from the sitemap until source coverage improves. The threshold is never lowered to make a page indexable; uncertain fields are not filled from unofficial sources to clear the gate.

Why some fields stay low confidence

Fine and penalty schedules are the most common reason a state field stays low confidence. Many states publish weight limit data clearly on permit pages but keep penalty detail in statutes that require citation-by-citation reading, or in enforcement documents that are not consistently published online in a machine-readable form.

Seasonal and frost-law restrictions are similarly difficult: many states apply them by route, county, or emergency order rather than through a single statewide schedule, making a single official URL difficult to identify. These fields remain low confidence with an explanation of the review scope rather than a fabricated statewide summary.

Review and update cadence

State pages are reviewed on a rolling basis. Each source record includes a lastVerified date showing when the agency URL was last read. When a source URL appears changed or the current agency page content differs materially from the recorded value, the field is re-reviewed and the confidence label and status are updated.

The Updates page shows current coverage counts, states pending further review, and public data export links. The full source registry includes 144 source records across federal and state agencies and is published on the Sources page. The Editorial Policy explains correction handling, independence, and the boundary between source research and legal advice.

About this site

For background on who maintains this site and why it was built, see the About page. For publication standards and correction handling, see the Editorial Policy.

Legal note

This site is a reference aid. Official sources control. It is not legal advice.