On-Board Scales?

OTR=Over the road
LTL=Less than truckload

 

Here's my issue with these digital scale systems. 90% of the trucks on the road don't need them. All they need is a cheap air pressure gauge with a mark on it at what pressure is "legal". If the needle is to the right of that mark your over and you need to move something to get that needle back to the left side of that mark. I know that 60-62 psi is 34k on my drives and it's the same for all 5 trucks I currently have and has been that way for the last 10 at least. (all have KW 8-bag air ride)

We've known for years that all our flats with 30k suspension was legal as long as it was under 65psi. Guess what, Hendrickson says at 64psi each axle is carrying 20k and has been that way for at least 20 years. I've got grain hoppers with closed tandems with 2 different brands of 25k suspensions (Hendrickson and Neway). Both are good as long as they're under 68psi, this is not rocket science and does not require thousands of dollars in equipment.

I know that in Michigan I'm allowed 17k on each trailer axle and 32k on my drives. Each lift axle came with this handy little sticker that was less than $1 and a cheap gauge.


As long as they're all under 70psi and the drives are under 60psi I'm good and I still have that $2k in my pocket I didn't spend on a digital readout. I have swapped the factory truck gauge in a previous truck for an aftermarket one with a more accurate gauge face but quickly found out I didn't need it and didn't like the look.

Again on my drives 60psi is 34k.........
I don't need air weigh or any other brand to tell me this is over.


I just need a gauge that reads over 100.

Our grain trucks load by air gauge, they know at what pressure to pull up when loading. When I used to pull a hopper I put a digital air pressure gauge from the trailer inside the truck. I knew the load on the truck and trailer from the drivers seat and this was 10 years ago and was less than $200.

 

Have you ever thought about using a KW single needle 150 psi air pressure gauge? It wont say AIR SUSP on it but at least it will be the same face style as the rest of the gauges.

 

Ha, well I guess I could but all it really has have on the face is a line and one side of that line says "ticket" and the other says "no ticket". The actual air pressure at that point is just for entertainment.

The gauge could also say "cross scales"-"bypass scales".

 

How exactly are people buying "piece of mind that IF something should happen they're covered" with your scales? Are you going to pay their fine if your system shows a legal weight when in fact they are overweight? Are you going to go to court to fight the overweight citation? Or is the driver on his own?

I'm guessing the driver would be on his own...so what "piece of mind" did he buy?

ANY on-board weight system is what it is...be it air, load sensor, or your fancy system that reads out in actual pounds...and subject to error. Just as a person needs to "calibrate" your scale system, they need to scale a load or two with ANY on-board system to see where the system reads out when they have a legal load. Once they learn where the needle needs to be on the air gauge, or what reading any other system gives them, they can get their weights pretty darn close on a fairly consistent basis.

With or without an on-board system, I still recommend running the truck across a certified scale (CAT, etc.) prior to crossing a state scale if think your weights are close to the legal max.