Highway: I-5 SB
Mile Marker: MM 67
City: OCEANSIDE
State: CA
Phone: 760-430-7777
Parking: There is a rest area approx. 7 miles south of the scales (2 miles south of exit 62 at mm 60). This rest area has limited parking- it has quite a few spaces but the spaces are small and if it gets full, it’s not designed for long trucks. There may be various places to park north of the San Onofre weigh station but the only true truck stops are located in Ontario south west of the I 10 I 15 junction.
After you pass through San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente, you will be coming up on this scale, so be prepared ahead of time. Once you drive through L.A. you will be hard-pressed to find a place to pull over and update your log or check your load. There ARE places, but you have to know about them. There is no official place to park before you get to the scale.
The Oceanside weigh station is adjacent to an immigration check point. The immigration check is not always open, but when it is, all car traffic must stop for immigration officials. Truckers in the weigh station don’t need to stop aside from scale officials directing you to do so.
There seem to be more border patrol cruisers parked in the Oceanside weigh station than highway patrol cars. And you’ll want to be sure your equipment is up to specs- we do see officers inspecting trucks at this location.
Just south of the truck scale, you will see yellow warning signs indicating that there may be families running across the road. These are official DOT signs and they show the outlines of a family of four running! No where else but California!
The weigh station is located alongside Joseph H. Pendleton Marine Corps Base. If you pull of in the rest area or the scenic view area or even along a ramp, you can watch the troops practicing maneuvers. Keep your eyes open for helicopters and military vessels.
The military will do mock assaults on the beach head and will practice all kinds of helicopter maneuvers in the area. It’s all very interesting to watch.
Also nearby are San Onofre and San Clemente state beaches. San Onofre state beach is known for more than just surfing- it’s a nude beach. But you won’t get an eyeful if you’re driving on the freeway. You can’t see the beach from there- and they don’t have truck parking!
For anyone who may have an on board porta potty, the rest area just south of the weigh station has an rv dump station. It’s very convenient and you can pull alongside it with your tractor trailer truck. You will have to pull through the parking bypass lane before the parking or through one of the truck parking spaces early on to get to the rv dump.
