1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152 
Willie 1 Eli The name sounds innocent enough but WIMS
Page 46
Page 47
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
(weighing-inmotion systems) work on the same principle as Gatso speed cameras and could significantly increase the number of convictions for overloading. Guy Sheppard weighs up the pros and cons of the Vehicle Inspectorate's latest tool designed to make sure you don't put on weight. The wonders of modern technology...now they can check your truck's weight without even stopping you, let alone leading you to a weighbridge. The latest weapon in the Vehicle Inspectorate's armoury will certainly make overloading a far easier offence to detect—but it's likely to cause resentment among the law-abiding majority of hauliers.
Weighing-in-motion systems (WIMS) work on the same principle as speed cameras. which many road users feel are an underhand way of enforcing traffic regulations. WIMS are placed on or in the road to gauge the weight of every passing vehicle. Some are no bigger than a length of cable so drivers probably won't even know they've been weighed.
For now, at least, readings from WIMS will not be used as evidence in court. But if a truck is overweight a camera or automatic numberplate recognition device will be activated, providing the VI with intelligence about which operators should be targeted by Traffic Examiners.
Bob Kime, director of Lincolnshire-based George H Kime 8e. Co, is among the many hauliers who believe the money spent on WIMS would be better used elsewhere, particularly as overloading, unlike speeding or hours offences, can be outside the driver's control. "We've just had a 44-tormer loaded with potatoes at Sheerness and it was only when we got to the delivery point that we found we were three tonnes overweight," he says. If we had been wise to it we would have said take it off but the driver didn't have an inkling; he thought he was doing 40 tonnes gross."
Transport lawyer Michael Carless says: "You are at the mercy of the consignor as to what is being sent. Drivers are given information that is wrong and they can't weigh every aspect of every load. Enforcement is seen as over top and there is a general sense that the lc driver and the haulier are always being got.
WIMS is likely to be in widespread use the summer. The L14o,000 allocated to project is part of a i31n cash boost from government to give the VI more tee Initially WIMS will be located so that vehic shown to be overweight can be sent ti nearby VI weighbridge for a check.
Alan Campbell, the VI's roadworthiness icy manager. predicts that WIMS will ben law-abiding hauliers by helping weed unfair competition as well as reducing the ti spent queuing at weighbridges during s as. "It's a case of finding out which ones worth a proper look as opposed to ones that in the clear," he says. "I think it's another brcernent tool that legitimate hauliers don't KI to worry about. We are trying as far as posie to target as much of our enforcement on Tie who aren't complying."
7,ampbell adds that WIMS will help Mite intelligence about individual hauliers t is already built up through records of ir previous convictions and prohibitions, well as tip-offs from drivers and other fliers. In recent years, Traffic Examiners ,e faced increasing difficulty in identifying .rloaded vehicles by eye because air susision is more widespread and the carrying oachy of trucks often far exceeds their pertted weight levels.
..ast year, the VI issued 3,627 prohibitions overloading, an increase of nearly 13% on previous year. Campbell is unwilling to !ciliate about any big increase in prohibiis as a result of WIMS, but adds: "We will able to sift a lot more vehicles than we uld otherwise do. We are talking about getfour initially and then moving on to iut a dozen in the first handle. It won't be y high numbers in the early stages:
M S were first evaluated in the UK in the J-199os using metal plates with sensors lerneath. One big drawback was the high t of installation which meant it would be ficult to move the equipment to different ations. Campbell says the VI is now looking ;ystems that utilise piezoelectric sensors to :ulate the load from an electric charge as a dcle passes over. They can easily be installed iporarily on the road surface.
[-he ability to move WI MS around easily is portant because it will make it more diffit for operators to avoid crossing over them. The experience of the Dutch government's traffic inspectorate, which began installing WIMS last June, shows some of the advantages and potential drawbacks of using the equipment. So far seven have been installed on motorways in the south-west of Holland with each one linked to a video camera. As soon as the sensors detect an overloaded vehicle, a picture is sent to a computer which can identify the owner immediately.
This information is used to target trucks for checks at weighbridges as well as to identify hauliers who need to tighten up their loading procedures. A Dutch transport ministry spokeswoman admits there were teething problems with the computer software but overloading convictions are expected to rise significantly. "When everything is working as we want we will think about expanding it to other parts of the country." she adds.
Clarisse Boma, spokeswoman for the Dutch road haulage association TLN, says initially concentrating WIMS in one part of the country has created resentment: if you are a haulage company in the western part of the country you always have to be very careful because of these weighing sites. Some are complaining that companies in the northern part can still overload their truck which is unfair competition."
Resentment is also being fuelled because hauliers often find it almost impossible to avoid axle overloading. "You start the day with a full load of, say, Coca-Cola which you unload from the back of the trailer at each stop during the day," says Buma. "By halfway through the day all the weight is in the front part of the trailer so there's a good chance the front axle is overloaded. We say it's necessary to fight overloading but concentrate on the total weight. The problem of axle weight should be tackled in another way" She adds that, although this is a long-standing problem, hauliers are probably angrier about it now because more lorries are being intercepted.
Mike Farmer, Midlands and Western regional director of the Road Haulage Association, agrees that it is very galling tube nabbed for axle overloading when under the permitted gross weight. But he acknowledges the advantages of WIMS as well: "It will achieve more targeted enforcement and the number of lorries queuing for half-an-hour or so to go on a weighbridge should be reduced."
Jim Sims, managing director of Glasgow based JCS Sims. is also positive: "Anything that will stop cowboy operators on the road has got to benefit the industry. If we as a reputable haulier complain about rogue hauliers, then we've got to accept it when the VI are doing something about it."