New VOSA powers could catch more overloads.

An increase in the number of vehicles caught running above their gross or axle weight limits could result from new powers recently granted to VOSA that no longer require inspectors to be accompanied by police officers.  According to Axtec (Axle Weight Technology Ltd), a UK axle weighing specialist, this revised legislation that will take effect in April will lead to more vehicles being stopped by VOSA officers, which will inevitably mean more overload offences coming to light.

“Overloading a vehicle isn’t necessarily about a deliberate breach of the law,” said Axtec’s Managing Director, Keith Gresham. “In many cases the overload can be completely inadvertent and a vehicle can be within its gross permitted weight yet still be over its weight on an individual axle.”

“The consequences for an operator and for the driver can be serious,” he added. “They range from points on the driver’s licence to heavy fines, not to mention the cost of calling out a second vehicle if part of the load has to be transhipped and upsetting customers because their removals are delayed.  And then there’s the question of an automatic notification of the offence to the Traffic Commissioner. The black marks can add up and if a pattern of disregard for the rules starts to emerge then this can lead to curtailment or even revocation of an operator’s licence.”

A solution, according to Keith, is to fit an axle weight indicator to the vehicle. The Axtec On Board system uses a traffic light colour system to warn of a likely overload, which can happen inadvertently on multi-drop work simply because the load is being progressively removed from the back of the vehicle and this causes weight to be transferred to the front axle.

Axtec’s On Board axle load indicator is particularly suited to this type of operation and can be used on any air-suspended or steel-sprung two or three-axle rigid vehicle from light vans up to 26 tonne 6x2 trucks with lift or trailing axles.   Axtec On Board is active as soon as the ignition is turned on and cannot be switched off or tampered with. It shows both the gross weight of the vehicle and the load on each axle using a simple graphic display with the load figures going from green through amber to red as a vehicle nears and then exceeds its plated weights.

An audible message can also be provided and a recent enhancement of the system enables the information to be relayed live back to the traffic office via a tracking device. Information is also stored in a SIM card, which allows later analysis which can be used not only to identify transgressions but also to highlight opportunities for optimising the load.

Full details of Axtec weighing systems can be found at www.axtec.co.uk.

The Axtec On Board system will help avoid inadvertent axle overloading.