Moving scales are an essential tool for anyone who needs to weigh vehicles in motion. With the right scale, you can get accurate measurements of any vehicle, no matter its size or speed.

Weighing a vehicle that is in motion requires a different type of scale, and a different approach to measurement. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the science of moving scales, and find out how they work!

The Application

Weighing in motion scales are frequently used to promote weight overloading enforcement. Weigh-in-motion systems may be utilised with existing roadside inspection stations or as part of virtual examination stations.

One of the most common spaces to add weighing in motion scales is bridges. The application of weighing in motion to bridges is the evaluation of traffic loading. The amount of traffic on a bridge varies considerably, depending on which roads are more heavily travelled.

This is critical when it comes to bridges that have deteriorated, as a less-travelled bridge is safer and more traffic-heavy bridges should be prioritised for maintenance and repair.

The Sensing Technology

Moving scales are designed to weigh vehicles in motion, and they work by using a series of sensors to measure the weight of the passing vehicle. The sensors are located at strategic points along the scale, and they work together to provide an accurate measurement.

The weighing platform of the earliest WIM systems is still an instrumented existing bridge. The bending plates span a hole cut into the road surface and use the flexure as a way to measure weight when the wheel rolls over them. Strain sensors in the corner supports of a large platform embedded in the street are used by load cells.

The majority of current systems employ strip sensors, which are pressure sensitive materials installed in a 2 to 3 cm groove cut into the road pavement. Strip sensors utilise a variety of sensing materials, including piezo-polymer, piezo-ceramic, capacitive and piezo-quartz.

Many of these sensing systems are temperature-dependent, and algorithms are used to compensate for this.

The field of weighing technology has witnessed significant progress in recent years, with optical fibre grating sensors being used to weigh things.

The Calibration Process

The first step in using a moving scale is to calibrate it. This process ensures that the scale is accurate, and that it will provide consistent results. Once the scale has been calibrated, it can be used to weigh any type of vehicle.

To calibrate a moving scale, you will need to adjust the sensitivity of the sensors. This can be done by adjusting the amount of weight that is placed on the scale, and by adjusting the speed at which the vehicle passes over the scale. Once the sensors have been calibrated, the moving scale can be used to weigh any type of vehicle.

Types of Moving Vehicle Scales

There are two types of moving scales: static and dynamic. Static scales are designed for weighing vehicles that are travelling at a constant speed, while dynamic scales can be used for weighing vehicles that are accelerating or decelerating.

Other Considerations

When choosing a moving scale, it’s important to consider the type of vehicles that will be weighed. For example, if you’re weighing trucks, you’ll need a scale that can accommodate their size and weight. If you’re weighing cars, a smaller scale may be sufficient.

To learn more, get in touch with us today.

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To keep up with market demands, the trucking industry needs to keep its fleet on the road and constantly moving to supply goods all over the country.

And, all logistics companies rely on the road transport industry to keep the roads as effective as possible in order to achieve this.

Positively, weigh in motion systems do not require vehicles to stop when they need to be weighed.

Instead, they can simply continue to drive at a reduced speed and then measurements are taken and recorded, instantly and accurately.

Simply, a weigh in motion system is made up of a range of advanced technological devices that record, measure and collect data from vehicles on the road.

And, whilst this may seem like a simple piece of tech, they provide the most extensive solutions in the transport industry than ever seen before.

That said, here are 5 benefits of a weigh in motion system.

1. Reduce Costs of Road Maintenance 

A great benefit to weigh in motion systems is that it can prevent overloaded vehicles from causing damage to roads.

Therefore, this keeps the road network running smoothly for all users; excess weight on the roads can cause it to crack overtime.

As such, these systems can be used to help relevant authorities plan in advance the inevitable costs of road maintenance.

Simply, road maintenance comes at a high cost and creates problems for all motorists and businesses, but this problem increases when maintenance needs to be carried out repeatedly on certain offending roads, i.e. motorways.

2. Keeps Public Roads Safe

Following on from the previous point, weigh in systems are also effective at keeping the public safe when on the road.

Since these systems can monitor and keep everything in check, it reduces the risk of potential accidents by identifying those vehicles that have not been loaded correctly.

Consequently, with the abundance of heavy lorries on the road alongside the public today, overloaded trucks can not only incur thousands of pounds worth of damage, but in severe cases, potential loss of life.

3. Improved Productivity & Efficiency 

As vehicles are not required to stop to be weighed, this whole process becomes much more efficient.

With these systems, vehicle weights are checked in seconds, which means there are no unnecessary delays; drivers do not have to waste time by stopping at weighing sites.

With that in mind, weigh in motion systems are ideal for use in congested sites, like freight terminals, where speed is vital to prevent delays and ensure the smooth running of operations.

Furthermore, these systems allow weights to be checked fully unattended, thus boosting productivity.

Not to mention, operator errors can be avoided, which therefore improves efficiency.

Lastly, weigh in motion systems are useful at preventing under-loading too, and as a result, this means that operators can organise their loads to maximise outputs.

4. Instant Identification of Overloaded Vehicles 

As you already know, overloaded vehicles are a serious issue.

And, they can be very costly in a number of different ways.

Not only is it expensive to repair roads, but operators can receive financial penalties, which range in severity depending on the excess weight; police have full authority to pull a vehicle over and conduct their own inspection and can be up to £5000 per axle point.

Moreover, overloaded vehicles can incur premature wear and tear costs and increased fuel costs.

That said, weigh in motion systems provide effective protection against these and enable vehicles that are overloaded to be identified instantly before they go onto public roads.

5. Detailed Reporting and Full Integration

A final benefit of weigh in motion systems is that they can be fully integrated with other equipment like control barriers, traffic lights, CCTV, traffic management signs and more, which helps to improve all safety aspects.

Plus, data is captured and recorded automatically and can be combined with other computer systems and the internet to provide fleet operators with detailed management of data. For example, analysis by products or suppliers and vehicle statistics.

Rounding Up

Weigh in motion systems offer an easy, cost effective solution to businesses by monitoring the weight of vehicles whilst they’re on the move.

From increased productivity and efficiency to instant identification of overloaded vehicles and comprehensive reporting, it’s easy to see why these are becoming a first choice for many industries.

If you’d like more information, please contact us today.

Take a look at our Vehicle Weighing Solutions in the meantime.

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The post Top 5 Benefits of a Weigh in Motion System appeared first on Weightru.

Weigh in motion (WIM) devices are designed to capture and record a vehicle’s axle weights and gross vehicle weights as they drive over a sensor.

Unlike static weigh stations, WIM systems do not need the vehicle to stop and take a reading, which makes them much more efficient at recording weights.

Instead, they measure the vehicle’s weight whilst it’s traveling at normal traffic speed and can be used for both private and public operations.

As such, WIM systems are usually installed on the road or a rail track to provide data from the traffic flow and the specific vehicle.

However, there are certain conditions that apply as these will have an impact on the quality and reliability of weight recordings.

Simply, WIM systems measure the axle loads of the vehicles and try to calculate the best possible estimate.

And, these systems have to perform unattended, under harsh traffic and environmental conditions, with no control over how the vehicle is moving, or the driver is behaving.

Road Applications

The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has many WIM systems and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed across the UK.

The main reason being, it helps them to win the battle against overloaded vehicles that pose a threat to other road users and cause damage to the road’s infrastructure.

And, a combination of these systems and cameras have now replaced traditional weight control systems to make it easier to track down the offending vehicles.

As such, induction loops and sensors made up of piezo-electric strips are embedded into the road’s surface to record the weight of a passing vehicle.

Then, ANPR cameras record the vehicle’s registration number.

Essentially, the way it works is the system recognises the vehicle and measures its speed and weight, then compares this with the information on the DVSA database.

And, if the vehicle is overloaded, the system sends an alert to the supervising officer who will then inform the nearest patrol car.

Then, the officers will stop the driver of the vehicle from carrying on with their journey and direct them to the closest control point; on average, 4 trucks an hour are pulled over.

On British roads, these scales are very accurate and in almost every instance, the overloaded vehicle is re-weighed on a set of axle pads, or weighbridge where the original recording from the WIM system is confirmed.

Consequently, the driver and the company they work for will be given a fine or penalty and asked to lighten their load before they can continue to travel to their destination.

Moreover, these systems can recognise vehicles from abroad too, even if their information is not in the DVSA database; around 50% of the overloaded vehicles stopped are from overseas.

Strengths of Weigh in Motion Systems

Here are some strengths of weigh in motion systems:

• Processing Rate: Heavy goods vehicles can be weighed as they travel at “normal” traffic speeds, which results in a larger number of counted vehicles in quicker time compared to static weight sites
• Safety: minimising static weight sites will decrease vehicle accumulation on roads leading to these stations
• Ongoing Data Processing: data can be processed continuous, which can eliminate data bias
• Cost Effective: more vehicles can be weighed at the same cost as a static weight site
• Dynamic Loading Data: these systems can record dynamic axle load information which can be significantly larger than static load information

Weaknesses of Weigh in Motion Systems

Here are some weaknesses of weigh in motion systems:

• Accuracy: these systems are less accurate that static scales where the environment is better controlled
• Reduced Data: static weight stations can collect data like fuel type, year model, origin, destination and loaded or unloaded status, whereas WIM systems cannot
• Susceptible to Damage: WIM systems are sensitive to electromagnetic disturbances from things like lightning strikes

For more information, please get in touch today.

In the meantime, check our Vehicle Weight Checking solutions.

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