Overloading could be very serious

We had a very interesting conversation with a client recently, one who takes vehicle overloading very seriously.

Recognising the potentially catastrophic effects of overloading his vehicles, of which he has many hundreds around the UK, he took some portable weighpads from us to conduct trial weighings around the country.

But some of his firm’s drivers couldn’t see how important it is to run their vehicles legally laden and couldn’t see the worth in the exercise.

One example though seemed to bring the message home.

Axtec Portable Weighpads - Useful for Weighing Trials

Whilst weighing one vehicle, a typical 3.5t flatbed, the driver was asked to bring his vehicle up and place the front axle on the pads – and overshot them by about 1.5m.

The excess load on the vehicle caused the brakes to function less efficiently.

What if he had been trying to stop his van with a child in the road at a zebra crossing instead of just taking part in a weighing exercise in his yard?

The consequences could have been severe.

As our client said to his driver – do you want that on your conscience?

A lot of the time, the drivers are just trying to do their jobs and the van is just a mobile toolbox.

Sometimes it’s not only drivers that need convincing about overloading but senior management as well.

Which is why we often offer to help with surveys, loans of weighpads even free trials at the premises of customers with axle weighbridges.

Armed with information cleaned using their own vehicles in a working environment, it can often be much easier to convince the powers that be that there is a serious problem there to be solved.

So if you think you have concerns about vehicle loading and think doing some trials might be helpful, feel free to contact us and we’ll certainly be able to help.

Usually at no cost.

And as for that client, we’re now in the process of installing axle weighbridges at his major depots around the UK.