Air-Weigh has introduced its newest on-board scale, the stand-alone Self-Weighing Trailer Scale. The new scale was first shown during the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky. It was included on more than 60 trailers at the show.
The new Air-Weigh trailer scale has a keypad and LCD display screen, so that an operator can weigh and calibrate even if the tractor is not equipped with a scale. It has pre-calibration menus available for most popular trailer suspensions. The operator can select the suspension model during set-up and the scale immediately displays the actual on-the-ground weight to within 300 pounds of a DOT scale, says Peter Powell, vice-president of marketing.
At the Mid-America show, the Self-Weighing Trailer Scale was demonstrated on refrigerated trailers, dry vans, platform and lowboy trailers, tilt-deck, dump trailers, and trailers with walking floors. Among the manufacturers equipping their refrigerated trailers with the scale were Great Dane, Martin-Marrieta, and Utility. The self-contained scale is said to help fleets cut costs by reducing the need to spend time and fuel driving to stationary scales and by eliminating overweight fines and missed delivery appointments caused by traffic stops.
The scale is calibrated to the specific characteristics of each trailer manufacturer and displays weight in 20-pound or kilogram increments. It is environmentally sealed and mounts on a frame rail or bracket. The scale measures 6.5" by 3" by 1.7", and the entire system weighs less than three pounds.
The trailer scales automatically communicate trailer weights to an in-cab display if the tractor is equipped with an Air-Weigh scale to show axle weights, gross vehicle weight, and net payload. Up to seven trailer scales can operate on long combination vehicles like 19-axle heavy haulers or Australian road trains. Air-Weigh communicates through existing vehicle wiring, so additional trailer disconnect wires are not required. Weight receipt printers are optional. Data can be automatically downloaded to the vehicle's J-1708 data bus.
“Dial-type air gauges have been used since the early 1970s, but very few fleets have been able to consistently rely on their accuracy to eliminate trips to a permanent scale,” Powell says. “The Air-Weigh Trailer Scale measures the pressure in an air suspension, much like an old-style air gauge, but displays actual on-the-ground weight with incredible accuracy. The precision of a digital display means that even the least experienced driver can always rely on Air-Weigh.”
If a fleet weighs only one or two loads a week at a permanent scale, driving just a mile or so out of route, the cost per trip to a scale can easily add up to $20 to $25 in time, scale fees, and fuel, Powell says. Savings of that magnitude will quickly pay for an on-board scale, he says.
The Air-Weigh Self-Weighing Trailer Scale can be installed in less than 15 minutes on late model US and Canadian trailers with a standard ABS wiring harness. It can be retrofitted to older trailers in less than 30 minutes. It mounts directly to the frame rail or is suspended from a lower siderail from optional mounting brackets.
