Cat and weigh scale question

I've always done that myself, not set the brakes, jus let everything even out and then push call button once it's settled and not going to roll.

 

I do this when weighing my load, never set the brakes, make sure your not tolling before contacting truck stop

 

Setting your brakes adds weight, it isn't much but I've watched it happen.

 

According to an old timer at my company I was scaling overweight on my steers because I set my parking brake on the cat scale. I've had no more problems since I stopped doing that.

 

I never knew that,howcome?I've always set my parking brake when weighing at a cat scale mainly because I couldn't push the call button without reaching.Then sometimes I would use my 5th puller to push the button,lol.

 

when the trailer brakes are applied the air bags deflate,( on some trailers), and the suspension pushes forward and down on the tractor.

depending on how heavy you can feel the tractor roll an inch or 2.

 

Especially with air ride trailer and tractor, it's best to only set the tractor brakes (if any) and leave the trailer aired up, and free to roll (neutral bag position). Problems occur when you roll up, do a hard, quick stop, hold brakes then set both tractor and trailer brakes, with the weight all out of kilter and the bags system holding weight in place that should not be there. because the wheels aren't free to roll allowing all 8 bags to come back to "neutral" position holding only their fair share.

And if you're going to set the tractor brake (as I do when standing on the running board to talk to the lady inside the truck stop), take your foot off the foot brake and allow the rig to "sit" before setting any brakes, level or not, I've had 45 MPH winds blowing at the trailer doors trying to roll me forward while sitting on level scales, so set the tractor brakes ONLY, AFTER releasing the foot brake. It's not critical and it will only affect weights significantly in rare situations, but the CORRECT procedure is easy, safe, and assures as much accuracy as you're ever going to get.