Many hazards present themselves to truck drivers on the road, from severe weather to fatigue and beyond. Common problems truckers must plan to avoid are overweight fines. A vehicle can become overweight for various reasons. For instance, a shipment can arrive too heavy, or the truck can have too much fuel. Thankfully, you can control critical variables in your journey to ensure ideal load weight from beginning to end. Check out these truck driver tips for avoiding overweight fines so that you can remain efficient and responsible on the road.
Know Your Route Clearly
A must-know tip for avoiding overweight fines is planning your route precisely. By looking at your path ahead of time, you can mark the location of fuel, scales, and other essential stops on your trip. However, by planning out where scales and gas stations are, you can account for weight fluctuations. After all, fuel does contribute to load weight.
If you have a light load, you can typically fuel up confidently. However, if your load is particularly hefty, having a map of fuel stations allows you to strategically refuel, ensuring you have enough to get to the next station but not so much that you make the truck overweight. Suffice it to say, having a severely overweight truck and no way to plan your route is far from optimal.
Use Personal Truck Scales
Instead of having to wait for every truck weighing station, consider investing in a scale yourself. Companies can easily find portable truck scales for sale, making weighing convenient. That way, the moment a driver picks up their shipment, they can weigh it accurately. Of course, companies must be wary when buying truck scales. If you stick with reputable, trustworthy brands and vendors, you can find scales that meet your needs perfectly. However, there is another factor to consider regarding scale accuracy: the driver.
Take Care of Your Scales
One of the most critical truck driver tips for avoiding overweight fines is to maintain scales consistently. Inspections will help you spot dirt, sand, and other debris. Plus, visual assessments will offer a chance to find any damage to the scale surface or wires. Of course, routine calibration is also essential for scale accuracy.
Committing to these routine tasks is an excellent way for drivers to keep their scales accurate, ensuring they can avoid overweight fines during routes. That said, the companies need to provide drivers with proper scale training. In doing so, they can make sure drivers have the tools they need to work responsibly.