Almost every conversation we have with a new client involves the subject of portable weighpads at some stage.
It’s a common misconception
that weighing even the largest vehicles just involves putting some plates on
the ground and running axles over them.
It is though a much more involved procedure than that which,
in many cases, is a more costly, time consuming and labour intensive option
using weighpads than a permanent axle weighbridge.
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| Portable Weighpads - Great for some tasks. |
Talking through a project that requires a dynamic axle
weighbridge the other day, the client mentioned that they had portable
weighpads which they used to monitor vehicle weights at depots around the
country.
The pads were a useful tool for spot checks and driver
training but were not without their problems.
The biggest bugbear was that it took two people plus the
driver to weigh a single vehicle. And if the driver did it wrong, he had to go
round the one-way system to do it again. Sometimes more than once.
A minor issue on the face of it but the procedure is tying
up three people and the vehicle isn’t out on the road doing its job.
The pads themselves cost around £10,000.00 to purchase so
that plus the labour plus the time element all adds up to a not insignificant
ongoing cost to weigh vehicles.
So with a depot development in the offing it makes perfect
sense to install a system that the drivers can use themselves in a fraction of
the time.
With the added benefits of a longer lifespan, a permanent system
can easily last 40 years against a typical lifespan of around five years for
weighpads, plus far greater accuracy.
The permanent dynamic axle weighbridge is also future
proofed in that it will not only weigh every vehicle type they currently run
but any bigger vehicles they may obtain in later years.
As we always advise, weighpads have an important role to
play but there’s often a more cost effective option available.
