Mobile weighers double checks
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• The enforcement agencies plan to almost double the number of checkpoints which are available to assess truck weight following the introduction of portable weighpads.
The Vehicle Inspectorate says 60 suitable sites have been found for using the Swiss-made pads alongside the existing network of 76 fixed weighbridges.
But a UK company which supplies weighing systems to fleet operators warns that the device could give distorted readings unless the surfaces used are absolutely flat.
Richard Stokes, managing director of Central Weighing, says the sites chosen for the pads are mainly laybys which are not constructed to the tolerances normally required for weighing vehicles.
"All vehicles with compensating axle suspension will transfer weight within the suspension arrangement if any axle is higher or lower than the others," he reports, so the pads might be unsuitable for checking individual axle weights, even though they give correct gross vehicle weights.
A VI spokeswoman agrees that sites must be level but says each one is checked and approved before use.
"We have plans to review the performance of the pads in the autumn but the general feeling is that they make a positive contribution," she says. "The flexibility they offer means we can stop operators where they are not expecting to be stopped."
The spokeswoman adds that the designated sites can easily be moved to take account of changes in the road network and traffic flows.