Four different weighing systems were tested.
Researchers in Australia investigated the impact of four different weighing methods on over and under loading of forestry trucks. The research considered two types of roads; gazetted (approved for higher legal gross vehicle mass limits (GVML)) and non-gazetted (standard public road gross vehicle weight limits). The four different weighing methods were as follows:
- Loader scale – weight measured using a load cell system incorporated in the grapple of the loader.
- Truck scale (driver) – truck based scale using either load cells or air pressure sensors integrated into the truck and trailer suspension and fifth-wheel; operated by a hired driver.
- Truck scale (owner/operator) – truck based scale using either load cells or air pressure sensors integrated into the truck and trailer suspension and fifth-wheel; operated by the owner of the truck.
- Loader and truck scale – both loader and truck scales being used.
For all the methods tested, there was substantial under-loading ranging from 5.3 to 6.4 tonnes per load on gazetted roads, while the same methods with the same operators on non-gazetted roads resulted in 1.4 tonnes under-loaded to 0.1 tonnes over-loaded on average. The large under-loading issue on the gazetted routes indicate that the GVML available was not achievable on the gazetted routes (i.e. not enough volume available to add the weight) or the operators were not aware of or not inclined to load the extra GVML available (i.e. not certain what routes were gazetted or not). Because this was so consistently close to the extra GVML allowed, it is likely that the lack of awareness of different road categories is the main reason for under-loading. The benefit of using the loader scale and truck scale in combination is not realised in practice with non-gazetted roads, where a poorer outcome results than when the technologies are used separately. This indicates that work methods and techniques can play as great a role as the technology itself. The research was titled “Timber Truck Payload Management with Different In-Forest Weighing Strategies in Australia”, and was published in the Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering, Vol. 37(1), 2016. The authors were M Brown and M Ghaffarian. Source: http://www.crojfe.com/articles-973