On-Board Scales: Benefit?

I have a riteway...accurate to 100 pounds so far...about $125.00...took about an hour to install...calibrated to my trailer loaded to max...works well...has a digital readout...

 

There are live loads and drop and hooks with preloaded trailers.

The main thing is the shipper has to know what and how much they are shipping. One to keep the driver legal and two, to create the shipping papers. You do it enough, you figure out methods of your weights.

Most know what a van, reefer, flatbed, etc can handle.

Shippers, might weigh each pallet. They might know what each box or container weighs and they add it up. All that info you can usually find on the packing lists. Tankers know how much their liquid weighs a gallon.

They just don't load a trailer until a driver yells whoa! It's predetermined and calculated in most cases.

Most of the problems lie on the driver getting their axles right. A few time it's gross weight. It usually plays out some shippers might have their own scales or the driver will proceed to the nearest truck stop and scale out. Usually you can find one close by. Some you have to travel to. An experienced driver knows what he can get away with and how to guessdamate his axles on lighter loads.

Most DOT weigh stations have truck stop scales strategically placed at the exit before. Very seldom does a driver get trapped where he can't scale before he has to cross a DOT scalehouse.

Then you can sit in a scalehouse and watch some dummy cross with 45,000 on his drives. There's no helping them few drivers even if you put a digital talking on board scale.

There's a market for a product like yours, but then that little market is broke down by competition. Who has the best value? With companies turning trucks in every 4 years, you really don't need an expensive device that is going to last 20 years.

 

All this talk about load scales prompted me to finally install and hook up the RightWeigh I've been toting around in its original packaging for over a year. It'll be a time saver for sure.

Thank you!

 

So Injun... how's about a pic of your new rig?

 

I'll have to wait until I get home to the big 'puter to do that. I'm posting from a Droid and it doesn't play well with TTR's picture upload feature.

 

Condo cruiser is correct. I can look at my bol and know just about where to place my tandems at. Don't hardly scale anymore unless I'm close to 43k. Cat scales are reimbursed by my company, so that onboard is not required. Thats as a company driver. Might be a different story as an O/O.

 

When I was a CO driver I would CAT anything over 35k, now I dont CAT unless its 40k+. I have been thinking about getting something on my tractor, but was concerned about the trailers not having a scale and the fact that shippers sometimes "Pad" the bills and if I set it up at 12000/33000 I might be 35000 on the tandoms eventhough the bills say 45k