Some times good news travels slower than bad news

And sometimes good news is hard to find but there was plenty of good news for us at the CV Show last week.

We were delighted so many existing customers visited our stand all of whom had nothing but positive things to say about their experience of Axtec and its products.

Most of those customers had been buying our systems for a number of years so it was great to hear that even after an extended period they had no complaints about the products or service they were getting.

And most importantly were happy to continue buying.

Very much good news all round.

From the customer with hundreds Axtec OnBoard systems who visited us to appraise us of his future requirements to the Dynamic Axle Weighbridge customers who wanted to arrange meetings to discuss new installations at new premises.

We had them all visit us on our stand together of course, with a whole raft of potential new clients.

There was much of interest at the NEC but so many clients made straight for our stand to talk through their axle weighing concerns.

Discussing Axle Weighing at the CV Show 2017

Some of those new contacts were looking for a replacement supplier after they’d had a previous poor experience, but most were looking for a solution to an overloading issue.

From operators of needing OnBoard Indicators to keep their vans legal whilst out on the road to major players in the logistics industry with distribution centres needing Dynamic Axle Weighbridges.

Bodybuilders, facilities providers, consultants, parcels companies – they all took time out of their busy schedules to visit our stand and discuss their vehicle weighing problems and requirements.

So now the CV Show is over for another year and the hard work really starts following up those enquiries over the months and in some cases years to turn them into new business.

And hopefully we’ll welcome those people back to our stand in the coming years to tell us about their own positive experience.

Some real world figures on overloading.

The statisticians tell us that around 80% of the vans on the road are overloaded. We’re not sure how large a sample that is based upon but it’s an alarming figure.

In the world of real vans, real weights and real drivers, one of our customers has established his own level of overloading and, whilst the sample figure is relatively low, the incidence of overloading is high.

As part of their drive to ensure they are operating legally, one of the major utility companies bought some portable weighpads from us last year. With a number of depots around the company, the Transport Manager wanted to have a weighing facility in his car to do on site spot checks and driver training.

The perfect application for weighpads incidentally.

Axtec OnBoard Load Indicator - preventing van overloads

During a recent exercise at one of his depots, he weighed 60 vehicles before they left for work. Alarmingly, he found 40 of them were overloaded. That’s two-thirds of them.

Some were only slightly over the legal limit but some were seriously overloaded, one or two approaching 300kg overweight. A significant figure on a 3.5t van and well within the area that could attract a prosecution.

The reasons were the usual ones given by drivers such as not clearing scrap from the van after a job, keeping ‘one-extra’  spare component in the back just in case etc. These are common, daily occurrences for many operators. All avoidable but all could possibly lead to a prohibition, prosecution, and a fine.

And with overloading adversely affecting the brakes, steering, clutch suspension, tyres, fuel consumption etc, all of which are not cheap, not to mention possibly invalidating the insurance in the event of an accident, overloading your vans is something to be avoided.

If overloading is something you would like to discuss a resolution to in detail, come and see us at CV Show next week where you’ll find us on stand 5A79.

The CV Show at the NEC will open it's doors on 25th April for arguably the most important three days in the transport calendar.

And we'll be on stand 5A79 by the way so come along and chat about all things axle weighing.

Even in this electronically connected world, exhibitions are still excellent for learning new ideas and discussing new ways of doing things. There's still nothing quite like a face to face meeting and getting a real feel for a customer’s operation and needs.

And the people who attend an exhibition and visit our stand have made a conscious decision to take time out of the office to come to the show, to see what's new and talk business.

Many have a specific problem and have to come to talk directly with people like us who have the experience and knowledge to offer a cost effective solution.

One such customer came to tell us that he was operating around 50 box bodies 7.5 tonners and that he’d been advised to fit load cells to them. The costs though were astronomical and although the problem remained, getting a budget to solve it would be an issue.

Axtec OnBoard find out if its right for you at the CV Show

At the CVShow we discussed his needs in detail. And whilst OnBoard system would have done the job a better solution was a Single-Axle Static weighbridge in his yard. Total cost around £7,500.00 and a far cry from the £250,000.00 he had been quoted.

More importantly, he bought the right system for his needs. Fully loaded 7.5 tonners taking products from his factory to his customers' sites with no multi-drop work really only needed to be check weighed before they left his site.

So if you need advice on what is the best system for your needs, make sure you visit the CV Show this year. Even if it's not an axle weighing system you're looking for, there will almost certainly be an expert there with a solution that could save you money.