Axle scales, also known as vehicle scales, truckload scales or truck scales, are a type of axle weighing system that help keep vehicles safe and road legal.
There are many different types of axle weighing systems or onboard truck scales that fall into one of two categories - fixed axle scales and portable axle scales. They are an incredibly useful tool, especially if you know what they are and how to use them.
What Is an Axle Scale?
Axle scales are incredibly good at what they do - weighing heavy load vehicles. The scales weigh each individual axle and the combined total gives you the overall weight of the truck with an accepted accuracy error margin to with 0.25%.
Whether it is a large flatbed truck or a van, axle scales are available in a huge range of lengths, capacities, and sizes to suit a large range of vehicles and loads.
Vehicle Weighing scales are designed to provide incredibly accurate results in terms of determining the weight of heavy vehicles and are known to last a very long time thanks to their durable design.
Many modern weighing axle scales can be connected to a computer to transfer scale weights for customers and can print out a record with the required data.
There are two main types of axle scales available on the market - axle scales that are fixed to the ground and portable axle scales. A portable axle scale has the added benefit of being smaller and light weight, making them more convenient to move and take with you, they are also more affordable than fixed axle weighing systems.
Most axle scales are built using aluminium for several reasons. Unlike steel, Aluminium is incredibly durable, which gives axle scales a longer lifespan, they are also ultra-lightweight, which makes them suitable for portable use.
Why Should You Use an Axle Weighing Scale?
Some of the reasons to use an axle weighing scale and its functionality include:
- Vehicle scales weigh goods and vehicles dynamically, which can be useful for assessing the weight of a vehicle with their goods. It is a fast method of weighing which makes it perfect for quick weigh-ins for vehicles like trucks and vans.
- Axle weighing scales are available in both static and dynamic formats and the right one will depend on the user’s needs. Either way, they both provide an excellent approach to weighing vehicles.
- Axle weighing systems are designed to provide accuracy values. They don’t require a direct power supply to work either, which helps keep costs down. Once the axle weighing scale is fully charged, it can handle work for an extended period.
How Does an Axle Scale Work?
Understanding what an axle scale is and how it is used is only part of the story, the other aspect of axle scales is how they work. To give you a good idea of how axle scales work, we have outlined the functionality below:
- A vehicle is driven over the axle weighing pads. This allows the wheel load to roll over the scale which activates sensors that will pick up data points about weight. Unlike other types of scales that require all 4 wheels of a vehicle to remain stationary, vehicle scales can work while a vehicle is still in motion.
- When the vehicle drives past the Anyscales Wheel Pad Weighing System, metal plates underneath are bent, which gives a gauge of what pressure was emitted from the tyres. The greater level of stress that is exerted onto the plates, indicates a heavier weight from the vehicle.
- The scale then records the total weight of the vehicle by using data from each individual wheel and calculates weights of them altogether. This is known as the gross weight of the vehicle.
Axle scales have dramatically changed how we measure heavy vehicles and loads. They have made the process much more efficient and easier to handle from the user’s perspective so they can weigh different loads more quickly. Some newer vehicle scales are even capable of measuring up to 8 wheels at a time, which increases efficiency and productivity.
Top Axle Scale:
Anyscales Axle Weighing System
The AS-WP-10t is a wheel pad weighing system that allows for a single axle to be weighed
As the controller can save the axle weights - multiple axle weights can be stored to allow for a complete truck to be weighed
The printout will show individual wheel weights, as well as axle wieghts and total vehicle weight
