Monday 19 December 2016

Overloading no laughing matter!

Tis the season of good will, joy and merriment.

And certainly over the years we have gathered some axle weighing stories which, with the passage of time, might seem amusing.

There was the captain of a ro ro ferry who insisted that the axle weighbridge couldn’t possibly be right because he knew how heavy his load was because of how far down in the water his ship was.

Or the story of an artic stopped many years ago weighing over 90 tonnes, the heaviest overload recorded in the UK allegedly. That one was contravening all sorts of food regulations as well with sheet steel loaded beneath hanging beef!

Another artic steadfastly refused to stop for the authorities at a weight check and when eventually pulled by the police was found to be racing to his destination because he had onboard full load of fish in a non-refrigerated vehicle!

All of those are serious issues though.
Axtec Dynamic Keeping Vehicles Legal Whatever the Season

Overloading affects all of the major components of the vehicle; steering, brakes, suspension, clutch and tyres. The cost of repairing those would be quite steep. But imagine the consequences of that 90 tonne vehicle being involved in an accident.

That would be no laughing matter.

Overloading though can be avoided and quite cost effectively.

The range of systems available is extensive as is pricing. But as with all things you only get what you pay for.

Cheap is also often not the best option. Frequently the best system for a given application is dictated by what needs to be weighed, how often, where and for what purpose.

A fleet of vans on multi-drop work wouldn’t best be served by a fixed axle weighbridge in the yard and onboard load indicators would be an expensive choice for a fleet of artics taking full loads from a DC.

So if you’d like some information on which system is best for your needs we’d be happy to hear from you.

Advice on the correct axle weighing system is free of charge from Axtec.


Now that really is something to bring joy and goodwill.

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