Hello All,
What type & Brand of Scales are you using?
Do they save you money or are they a headache?
Most logging trucks here run them. Careless loader operators tend to be hard on them but they take the guesswork out and save a lot of tickets.
Thank you Saw Guy for the BC (Canada) perspective.
I guess I should re-phrase my question with,
How many Log Haulers roll the dice daily on their Loads trying to stay Legal and guesstimate their loaded weights?
Being everybody is bashful regarding this string,
Another Question:
At what load weight (or percentage of max GVW) do you start making a profit hauling Logs?
And, how far over the GVW rating are you allowed before receiving a fine (that impacts the above profit)?
You can get a fine and a citation at one pound over what the vehicle is designed and licensed for.
There are a lot of factors regarding profit margins. What are you hauling and what are the mills paying? Fir peelers pay a lot better than aspen pulpwood. How far do you have to haul? When prices were strong my landlord was hauling one load 300 miles per day and everybody was making money. Now mills are cutting back or shutting down, seems hardly worthwhile getting out of bed. Fuel prices are rising but income isn't.
Air bags have taken most of the guess work out of trucking . Air gauges in truck and on the trailer will put you very close to gross .
Quote from: Gearbox on May 17, 2019, 09:48:31 PM
Air bags have taken most of the guess work out of trucking . Air gauges in truck and on the trailer will put you very close to gross .
This is how we handle it hauling grain off the farm. After weighing a few loads and getting the fifth wheel set. I can get very close using the air gauges. I haven't had a ticket in years and we have a lot of DOT around the areas we haul to so you better load legal not like the old days when we would load the grain trailer full.
I have to question the accuracy of just using a air pressure gauges to accurately measure a fully loaded Tractor & Trailer weight.
If you have Tapered Air Bag Supports, a wide dead band Ride Height control Valve and a large Lbs. to PSI ratio, being accurate within +/- 2,000 lbs. would be tough to accomplish.
Example:
34,000 LBS. Axle group
150 PSI Air Pressure @ Max Load
Equals 225 Lbs. (weight) per 1-PSI (Air Pressure)
(150PSI / 34,000 Lbs.= 226.67 Lbs. per PSI)
There are lots of variables when relying on simple Air-Gauges with a Tapered Air Bag suspension system.
Again, this process is better then nothing, but if you need 85% Load weight before making any profit and Over-Weight Fines start at 1 Lbs. Over Legal Limit.
I would think Accuracy beats Low Cost to make more profit per Legal Load on a long term basis.
Your thoughts?
I crossed the scale 2 to 3 times a day hauling wood to the mill and stayed within 1500 pounds on every load . could have been closer if I would have wanted to get back up on the loader and swing one more bucket .