Friday, 27 September 2013

These things aren't accurate, mate!

A topic that comes up time and time again is the subject of accuracy. If I had a £1 for every time someone has approached me a comment along the lines of, ‘my brother has a mate who met a bloke down the pub who says these things aren’t accurate” I’d be very rich now.

But the truth about weighbridge accuracy is somewhat different.

It’s not unusual to find a variation between weighbridges; if one weighbridge is working at +20kg and another is working at -20kg, that’s a 40kg difference and yet both could be weighing within specification.
The dynamic axle weighbridges we produce can be installed to an accuracy of 0.25%, good enough to allow them to be offered as a Public Weighbridge and the best accuracy in the world from an axle weighbridge.

What many people don’t realise is that after initial calibration, there is no legal requirement to have any weighbridge calibrated ever again unless there is a major fault. In reality it’s just simple good practice to have your weighbridge calibrated regularly; once every two years ought to be enough.
Public weighbridges will often be tested by Trading Standards without notice but many go some considerable time between tests.

I know we have a few customers who won’t spend the money on a calibration and as long as the display keep showing numbers, they’re happy and assuming the weights are right. If they are then there’s no problem but if they’re not then someone is going to notice and spread the word about ‘these things not being accurate’.
Dynamic axle weighbridge being dead weight tested.
Axle Weigher under test using our unique calibration vehicle

The VOSA network of enforcement axle weighbridges aren’t treated the same way. We have to test them rigorously every six months including checking that the concrete approach levels are still within tolerance. A VOSA weighbridge cannot be used for prosecution if its calibration certificate has expired and each calibration certificate lasts a maximum of six months. So if you are weighed on a VOSA dynamic axle weighbridge you can be sure it has been well maintained, regularly calibrated and highly accurate.

Even so, the weighbridges are operated with a tolerance allowing hauliers some leeway.

That’s not to say you’re allowed to run above the legal axle limit. Even small overloads if they are consistently found will be prosecuted but the tolerance allows a margin for error in the event of an inadvertent overload.

Incidentally, we operate the only weighbridge test vehicle purpose designed for calibrating axle weighbridges. And as well as calibrating the VOSA network we use it for installing every single system we install and can hire it out to anyone who needs to check their axle weigher.

Accuracy is basically all down to good practice and routine maintenance. You’d do it with your trucks so why not the weighbridge?

Friday, 13 September 2013

An Expensive mistake!

We've just completed a very successful three days at the RWM exhibition at the NEC. Hard on the feet but good enough for us to provisionally book our stand for next year again.

All of the conversations we have with potential customers are interesting but some can be more interesting than others. And sometimes it's the ones who aren't going to buy anything which give us most to discuss when the customer has moved on.

The one that sticks in my mind this year is the conversation we had with a guy from a company who had bought an axle weighbridge from a company that clearly didn't know what they were doing. It was, as this chap said, a very expensive mistake.

The system in question had been bought from a company with quite an impressive website albeit one that gives the impression they are a bit of a 'jack of all trades.' They certainly aren't the master of the axle weighing trade.

Intended to weigh the largest of goods vehicles, it was actually installed with a slope either side of the weighing platform. This meant that no amount of adjusting the calibration, changing the load cells or electronics was ever going to make the system weigh accurately.
A Dynamic Axle Weighbridge correctly installed.
It may just look like a flat piece of boring concrete
but it's vital for system accuracy.
Multi-axle vehicles need to have perfectly flat concrete approaches either sided of the weighing platform. Years of research by ourselves and independent bodies have shown how important it is for weighing large, multi-axle vehicles accurately.

The customer we were chatting to had clearly been badly advised. Not only had he spent in the region of £8,000.00 on a system which didn't work, he then replaced it with a much more expensive system which, although it weighed accurately presented a number of other problems.

Not only did he pay twice to solve his problem, he now has a large structure in his yard taking up loads of space and is a target for vehicles to hit and get damaged. Tyre damage was one example he gave us while we were chatting.

One can understand how he might be shy of installing another axle weighbridge. I think anyone would if they have had a bad experience but with the correct advice on siting and installation, there is no vehicle an axle weighbridge won't be able to weigh accurately.

We couldn't help that customer but hopefully he's got food for thought and might pass what he's learnt onto others. We look forward to hearing from them if he does.

Monday, 9 September 2013

Think an axle weighbridge is an unnecessary expense? Think again!

As we're exhibiting at the Recycling & Waste Management Show at the NEC this week, it seemed appropriate to mention how we helped one of our customers in the waste industry.

D & E Roberts are a well established skip hire company based in Leatherhead covering large parts of Surrey. In recent years they have developed their site to incorporate a waste transfer station as well.

They are also within about a mile of the VOSA axle weighbridge at Junction 9 of the M25 and regularly had to drive past it in the course of their daily work. Any truck operation needs to run legally and being stopped for overloading can be costly.

Not simply in terms of the fines. But an overloaded vehicle will be prohibited from moving until the load has been reduced. That usually means finding another vehicle and driver and sending him to the prohibited one. Not an easy thing to do when every vehicle is out earning it's keep. And all the while there is an expensive vehicle and driver parked up at the weight check not earning a penny.

There are also knock on effects. You may be late for a pick up or collection because your're vehicle is prohibited from moving. And what happens to the customers who are awaiting the 'spare' vehicle you've had to find at short notice to take some of the excess load?

The repercussions can be serious too; a black mark on the 'O' licence, a poorer OCRS score probably leading to more vehicles being stopped, checked and delayed and possibly a court appearance.

Overloading is to be avoided.

Whilst it's true that some investment is needed to avoid the problem, it can also bring positive benefits as well.

D & E Roberts were deliberately underloading their vehicles to ensure they weren't caught in the weight checks at Junction 9 but it wasn't until they'd installed the axle weighbridge that they found out by how much and how much it was costing them.

The company discovered were wasting up to a third of their vehicles payload in trying to prevent overloading. Wasting huge amounts of fuel, drivers time, tyre wear and making far more trips to the tip than they needed to.

Dynamic axle weighbridge
D & E Roberts - the axle weighbridge paid for itself in a matter of weeks.
The axle weighbridge cost in the region of £15,000.00 including installation but by their own calculations, D & E Roberts had paid for it in around twelve weeks. From now on, they're adding around £60,000.00 a year to their profits simply by running their vehicles at maximum capacity on every trip.

And as the system has been installed and working for around ten years now, that extra profit adds up to a tidy sum.

Think an axle weighbridge is an expensive luxury? It's more likely to be a highly efficient money making tool.