TruckWeight Onboard Scales & Analytics, a Canadian company that has built on-board scales for military and logging environments since 2005, has introduced its modern wireless, cloud-connected technology to the Southern African market.

Overloaded trucks face heavy regulatory fines, but the bigger risk is what extra mass does to a truck's handling. Longer stopping distances and reduced control raise the stakes if something goes wrong on the road, and that exposure can be business-ending, both civilly and criminally, if a loaded truck crashes or rolls.

Underloading is the quieter cost. A truck running below capacity is still burning full fuel for a partial load, which pushes up the cost per tonne on every extra trip.

Then there's the time penalty. A truck flagged as incorrectly loaded at a static weighbridge has to have the load adjusted and go back to be weighed again. That "load, weigh, return, adjust" cycle eats into driver hours and truck time that a forestry operation can't easily get back.

Log density and moisture content fluctuate constantly, the terrain is hard on equipment, and the standard tools for managing load weight, such as visual estimates, crane scales, and distant weighbridges, can carry massive penalties.

The technology

TruckWeight's systems are built to survive military deployments and harsh logging environments, which means they are built entirely differently from traditional wired scales.

• No cabling to fail. There are no cables and wiring looms running down the trailer to fatigue, snap, or snag on obstacles. This removes common failure points like wire fatigue and mechanical vulnerabilities inherent in harsh forest environments.
• No Bluetooth.
• Long-range radio frequency (LoRa). It runs on industrial LoRa, providing a stable, two-way connection over 100 metres without pairing issues.
• High precision, low cost: Non-intrusive strain and air sensors deliver high accuracy without the cost of buying, servicing, or replacing traditional load cells.
• Cloud-ready from day one. Built on a Google Cloud backend, the system is API-ready, so live weight data, GPS coordinates, and alerts can feed straight into a fleet's existing telematics and fleet management platforms.
• Local installation. TruckWeight's certified South African agent network handles the full sale, installation, and on-site calibration. Fleets that prefer to handle it themselves can also install the system on a DIY basis.

Remote calibration and setup are also part of the system's bi-directional design, cutting down on the need for repeat site visits once it's up and running.

Real-time data

At the loading site, drivers get real-time axle and gross weight readings on a dedicated wireless display, or on any connected smartphone or tablet. It ensures that every truck leaves within its legal and operational limits, with no fines waiting down the road and no wasted payload left behind.

Beyond Timber

TruckWeight's South African push starts with timber, but the underlying technology isn't sector-specific. The same case for precision loading applies wherever bulk product with variable weight moves by road, sugarcane, and coal among them.

Source: TruckWeight Southern Africa