If you’ve been traveling on road, you must have undoubtedly seen few familiar orange lights blinking and reading ‘Weight Station’. Whenever the lights are flashing and you’re driving a truck, you know that you have to stop there. Throughout all the states in the US, there are weigh stations that are set up in order to check that the trucks that are moving across the roads are carrying the permissible weight load. Apart from adhering to the weight regulations as set by the government, there are several reasons behind the commercial trucks having to abide by the federal weight regulations.
Although there are truck scales which measure the weight load of the trucks even before they set on the roads, still there are not many truck owners who have invested in buying these onboard truck scales. In fact, many haven’t still heard about this technology. So, what are the reasons to use truck scales? Here are few.
SAFETY
One of the most vital reasons behind trucks being weighed is to ensure maximum safety. The different states to which the trucks travel over the nation might have different structural limitations and one among them is weight. There are roads which allow a maximum weight to handle and the vehicles which drive within those limits are cargo vehicles. In case the truck is heavier in accordance with the restriction for the road on which the truck was traveling, it can lead to damage over time. Few weaker places may be overpasses or bridges.
PROFITABILITY
Probably the most vital reason to weigh all the commercial trucks is profitability; this is at least true for all business owners. There are several goods, of which the value depends entire on their weight. The operation managers should compute the weight of the entire load that is shipped in an accurate manner to make sure decreased costs and fair trade leads to better profit. If you don’t take into account the weight, inaccurate measurement of weight for a long period of time can cost a company thousands of dollars.
TAXES
One more reason trucks should be weighed is for calculating the taxes on the truck. The carriers usually pay several dollars in the form of taxes to exert stress on the roads and this is calculated by the weight load that the truck carries. Such taxes play a role in maintaining the bridges and the roads. In case there is a truck which carries more weight than the permissible level, they should split the load or else apply for an overweight permit.
In what way are the trucks weighed?
There are different truck scales to weigh the load of trucks. There are concrete decks, wheel-weighers, digital truck scales, portable truck scales, concrete decks and many more forms of machines which can weigh trucks. Each of them has different applications depending on the weight limits and depending on their permanency.
Hence, when you’re driving a truck, you should take into account the above mentioned reasons to weigh trucks in order to stay safe.