Why Weigh Axles?

Some people wonder why they should weigh their vehicles at all. The obvious is to avoid being caught for overloading. Often though we only get a call from a client after they've been caught and are facing prosecution.

Obviously avoiding getting caught for overloading is an important reason to check axle weights. The fine is often the least of the problems it causes. If a vehicle is stopped at a weight check and found to be overloaded it could well be parked up while the problem is sorted.

Can you afford to have your vehicle stuck at a weigh station for hours while your customer waits for his goods or service? Can you afford to pay the driver while he is sitting there unable to move? How are you going to correct the problem - redistribute the load, or do you need to send another vehicle and driver to take the excess load? Have you got another vehicle and driver just waiting around doing nothing to dash out to the weigh station?

Something that isn't widely known is that an offence with a light commercial vehicle could have an effect on the operators licence. Even though light vans aren't actually on the 'O' licence, offences involving these vehicles will be taken into account by the Traffic Commissioner when considering the matters of 'O' licensing for larger vehicles.

In most cases the knock-on effect of having a vehicle stopped at a weight check far outweighs the fine.

Overloading - never a good idea!

Weighing axles is not only about avoiding overloading though and many customers find there are some definite positives. To get the most from your vehicles you need to maximise the load. More than one of our customers have found that after installing an axle weighing system that they can get more load on their vehicles than they thought.

Getting more load on your vehicles means you are getting more out of them; working your expensive assets harder.

There are many other reasons to weigh vehicles.

Overloading a vehicle effects many of the major components - brakes, steering, suspension, clutch, tyres. Can you afford to wear out all these expensive items quicker than normal?

And most importantly of all, it has been known for insurance companies to take a negative view of any accident claims which involve an overloaded vehicle. On more than one occasion we have been asked by police accident investigators to weigh vehicles which have involved in accidents.

So, overloading axles can be far more costly than you think.