Editors: This is one in a series of stories on DATCP employees and the work they do in their programs.

MADISON – What do cheese plants and gravel providers have in common?  For John Pasko, it’s all a question of scale – and making sure those scales are accurate.

As a vehicle scale inspector for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), Pasko is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of vehicle scales throughout the state.  In his day-to-day work with DATCP’s weights and measures team, Pasko inspects and tests commercial vehicle scales at a wide range of industrial sites including cheese and milk plants, foundries, recycling providers and suppliers of construction materials including sand and gravel.

“Accurate vehicle scales benefit all Wisconsin consumers,” said Pasko.  “When the tools used to measure products are correct and up to standards, Wisconsin families pay fair prices for goods.”

While ensuring a fair marketplace for Wisconsin businesses and consumers is one of the weights and measures team’s main responsibilities, Pasko also helps keep an eye on taxpayer money by protecting the state’s investment in infrastructure.  Pasko tests the Wisconsin State Patrol’s enforcement scales to make sure overloaded commercial trucks are not damaging Wisconsin’s roads and highways.

“With time, overloaded trucks can seriously damage the structure of Wisconsin roads, creating a burden on all taxpayers in the state,” notes Pasko.  “Making sure that the truck scales are accurate is a responsibility that must be taken seriously.”

A 1974 graduate of the University of Nevada, Pasko has been a member of DATCP’s Weights and Measures team for more than 12 years.  No stranger to state service, Pasko has also served the State of Wisconsin in a number of positions including as a trooper with the State Patrol, an investigator with the Department of Health and Family Services and as an educator with the Department of Juvenile Corrections.  Given the nature of the jobs he has held with the state, it is no wonder that Pasko considers the investigations and educational opportunities as the most rewarding parts of the vehicle scale inspector job.

“I enjoy educating the owners and operators of the vehicle scales on the importance of proper use and maintenance, which in turn creates equity in the Wisconsin marketplace,” noted Pasko.  “By ensuring that these scales comply with all regulations, both users and owners of scales can have confidence that they are being treated fairly when buying and selling.”

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