Author Archives: Scale Man

Truck Scale Manufacturers in the USA

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Quite often readers will ask who are some of the top truck scale manufacturers in the United States? So in today’s entry we wanted to provide you a list of a few of the top truck scale designers and builders in the U.S. This is just a partial list of manufacturers. There are others but our experiences with many of the others are either limited or non-existent so we decided to just list the ones that we had experiences with.

Cardinal Scale offers vehicle weighing technology and applications and was the first company to produce an all-steel truck scale. Cardinal’s wide variety of USA-made truck scales includes options for every type of weighing need, including electronic and hydraulic truck scales with concrete, steel, and pit type decks. Wireless truck scales are a convenient way to wirelessly transmit data from the scale to the indicator to peripheral equipment like printers, PCs, remote displays, and networks.

Avery Weigh-Tronix truck scales weigh trucks and other vehicles dependably and accurately, even in tough industrial environments. These truck scales and motor-vehicle scales are manufactured to last with a rugged design, robust weight sensors and are all backed by industry-leading warranty options. The truck scales come in either steel or concrete to suit your application and they can be either surface or pit mounted, depending on the location and use of the scale. Each vehicle scale is fully factory assembled and performance tested to NIST, NTEP, and ISO specifications, prior to shipment. AWTX also has a lot of shipping supplies and weighing equipment as well.

B-TEK Scales, LLC was started in 1995 by the third generation of the Brechbuhler family, originally the objective was to have a manufacturing arm to supply Brechbuhler Scales and their offices. Since that time, B-TEK has grown and now boasts a distribution network of over 100 independently owned companies. The company’s corporate headquarters still remain in Canton, Ohio and the Brechbuhler family stays actively involved with the business.

Rice Lake Weighing Systems is an international leader in the manufacture and distribution of weight-related products and process-control equipment. The company roots are planted firmly in the principles of quality and customer service. Through three generations of family ownership these ideals remain unchanged. Today, Rice Lake Weighing Systems is world renowned for delivering the highest standard of product and the best service in the weighing industry.

Rice Lake Weighing Systems’ SURVIVOR® truck scales are known as the Toughest Scales on Earth®. Designed to provide reliable performance under the most demanding conditions, SURVIVOR truck scales are built with more structural steel, a superior support structure and innovative design features that provide consistent accuracy, less downtime and longer scale life. Each SURVIVOR is built with our exclusive five-step finishing process, and guaranteed with a five-year lightning protection warranty.

Since 1918, Thurman Scales has been providing top quality weighing equipment for industries including Agricultural, Mining, Timber, and Steel. Thurman Scale specializes in off-road type vehicle scales. Thurman Scales are built to the highest standards in the industry as a direct result of years of truck-weighing experience in demanding workplace environments. The Double-Ended Shear beam design helps set Thurman industrial scales apart from the competition. Its design is self-restoring, providing users with one of the most reliable, durable, and forgiving scales in the industry.

Rock Quarry Increases Efficiency With Cardinal Scale Computer Software

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Companies all across the United States are looking and searching for ways to make their business more efficient and profitable. And it doesn’t hurt to make the the employee’s job a little easier while collecting more data relating to your business. In the article below, a rock quarry does just that with the help of Cardinal Win-VRS computer software.

Cardinal’s powerful WinVRS software keeps traffic moving over your scale by providing fast, accurate collection of data on vehicles, accounts, orders, and materials. Unique, user-defined fields allow you to easily configure the system to meet your needs. A wide range of reports are available to provide period histories, material totals, customer information and more. WinVRS’s convenient file utilities menu allows data to be exported to other applications such as accounting and materials control. NTEP legal-for-trade certified. WinVRS-TOUCH offers all the same great features as WinVRS, but comes with larger fonts and buttons for convenient touchscreen navigation. When a user enters into any WinVRS window with input prompts, an on-screen keyboard appears.

winVRS truck scale computer software

White River Materials has seen their business grow by over 530% since 2002 with truck weighing transactions currently occurring every five minutes on average all day long. This busy shale rock quarry is a division of Atlas Asphalt, Inc. and they have been servicing central and northeast Arkansas with driveway and road base materials, concrete aggregate, and asphalt aggregate since 1968, providing materials for general contractors, homebuilders, municipalities, and other commercial clients. Their specific location in Cord, AR was selected due to the abundance of shale in the area along with its close proximity to a new highway expansion project which made the site convenient for transporting material to many different locations.

White River Materials initially had a system in place for their truck scale operation that only allowed 200 ID’s for trucks, and they had to write all the IDs down on a legal pad along with the tare weights and associated company. Once the customer’s truck was on the scale, the scale operator had to dig through sheets of paper, key the appropriate numbers into the indicator, hand write the job ticket on 3-part forms, subtract the gross and tare weights by calculator, add up the daily net tons of every job material for each respective driver as well as cumulative net tons for job material, and then have the driver sign the ticket.

Daily business is now much easier for this privately-held small business with WinVRS-TOUCH in place for their truck weighing. The USA-made software utilizes an Access database to store all of the vehicles, materials, jobs, and account IDs for every customer, and they now have an unlimited number of IDs. Profiles are easily built for every ID, with a stored tare weight for every vehicle. Continue reading →

How Does a Truck Scale Work?

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Have you ever driven by a truck weigh station on the interstate highway? Or perhaps you’ve driven by a feed processing plant and noticed a truck scale out front? The odds are that most of us have done one or the other of the scenarios above. So, how does a truck scale work?

A truck scale is a large set of scales, typically installed permanently on a concrete foundation, either above ground or in a pit that is used to weigh trucks and their cargo. By weighing the vehicle both empty and when loaded, the load carried by the vehicle can be calculated. Typically the truck scale will have several load cells underneath the platform.

Truck scales can be installed above ground with a ramp leading up a short distance and the weighing equipment underneath or they can be pit mounted with the weighing equipment and platform in a pit so that the weighing surface is level with the road. They are typically built from steel or concrete and by nature are extremely robust. In earlier versions the bridge is installed over a rectangular pit that contains levers that ultimately connect to a balance mechanism. The most complex portion of this type is the arrangement of levers underneath the weighbridge since the response of the scale must be independent of the distribution of the load. Modern devices use multiple load cells that connect to an electronic equipment to totalize the sensor inputs. In either type of semi-permanent scale the weight readings are typically recorded in a nearby scale house or office.

how do truck scales work?

Truck scales are usually utilized to either sell or charge by weight (Trade Approved) or by check weighing both axle weights and gross vehicle weights. This helps to stop axle overloading and possible heavy fines. Truck Scales are used in industries that manufacture or move bulk items, such as in mines or quarries, garbage dumps / recycling centers, bulk liquid and powder movement, household goods, and electrical equipment. Since the weight of the vehicle carrying the goods is known (and can be ascertained quickly if it is not known by the simple expedient of weighing the empty vehicle) they are a quick and easy way to measure the flow of bulk goods in and out of different locations.

A single axle truck scale or axle weighing system can be used to check individual axle weights and gross vehicle weights to determine whether the vehicle is safe to travel on the public highway without being stopped and fined by the authorities for being overloaded. Similar to the full size truck scale these systems can be pit mounted with the weighing surface flush to the level of the roadway or surface mounted.

What are Truck Scales For?

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Have you ever wondered why do we even need to weigh trucks? Or why do we even need weigh stations on the interstate highway? Weigh stations were created to enforce safety regulations for big trucks that you see on the highway. These truck scales allow each state to check the freight carrier’s compliance with fuel tax laws; to check weight restrictions; to check equipment safety and to check compliance with Hours of Service Regulations. A Truck scale is a large set of scales, usually mounted permanently on a concrete foundation, that is used to weigh entire vehicles and their contents. By weighing the vehicle both empty and when loaded, the load carried by the vehicle can be calculated. Weigh stations are regulated by individual state governments and therefore have vastly different requirements from state to state. They are typically operated by the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT) or Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in conjunction with the state highway patrol or state police, thus enabling enforcement of applicable laws. The federal maximum weight is set at 80,000 pounds.

Trucks exceeding the federal weight limit can still operate on the country’s highways with an overweight permit, but such permits are only issued before the scheduled trip and expire at the end of the trip. Overweight permits are only issued for loads that cannot be broken down to smaller shipments that fall below the federal weight limit, and if there is no other alternative to moving the cargo by truck. Permitted oversize trucks are often required to coordinate with the Departments of Transportation and law enforcement agencies of the transited states before the trip begins, as most states require oversize trucks to be escorted. Many states have weigh in motion technology that allow a continuous flow of truck weighing.

what are truck scales for?

Continue reading →

CASE STUDY: In-and-Out Railroad Scale

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When we read about this case study below, we felt that we just had to share it with our readers. A scale company in Iowa installed a very unique scale system which utilizes three LPRA railroad track scales. The system also utilizes Cardinal load cells, 825 digital weight indicator, SB500 Remote Display and Remote Weigh Mobile App for iPad.

The grain facility typically weighs 25 car sets of corn for ethanol or corn sweetener and 18 car sets of beans. The Cardinal railroad scale was purchased instead of an overhead load-out weighing system and offered significant savings for the customer. The way the system works is an eastbound train pulls railcars onto the scale to get the Tare weight on scale platforms #3 and #2 and then Gross and Net are determined when the train pulls forward onto scales #2 and #1 with a special tare. Custom software developed by Cardinal Scale and installed in the 825 Spectrum weight indicator allows the operator to turn scales on and off as railcars come across them to prevent weighing railcars when unnecessary. The 825 indicator’s special software also incorporates a temporary Tare weight for the operator to get a target fill weight using a fill program to fill up or top off the last part of a railroad car. Then, cars are pulled forward by a trackmobile into final weighment position to receive their Gross, Tare, and Net weights.

The USA-made 825 indicator is connected via Ethernet cable  to a wireless router which has a long-range radio (wireless access point) attached to it for Wi-Fi output. This allows the operator in the trackmobile to wirelessly control the railroad scale through an Apple iPad using Cardinal Scale’s Remote Weigh mobile app. This system replaces their old method of two-way radio communication back and forth from the scale house and allows them to use one less person for the operation. The trackmobile operator can move the railcars and see when  each car is positioned on the scale for weighing without ever leaving the cab. This efficiency allows the grain facility to reduce the amount of man power needed from five people down to four
people. Case Study (pdf file)

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Cardinal Introduces New Railroad Track Scale

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Even though we mainly focus on truck scales, we thought many of our readers would appreciate the new Cardinal LPRA railroad track scale which is now available. Cardinal Scale Manufacturing low-profile LPRA railroad track scales come with either electronic or hydraulic USA-made stainless steel load cells, up to 270-ton capacity, rugged steel weighbridges, Wi-Fi and mobile app options, NTEP and Measurement Canada legal-for-trade certification, and E-80 Cooper AREMA rating. Twenty different standard models are available from Cardinal Scale in different lengths and capacities to accommodate any combination of car length, and custom applications and configurations are also readily available.

Mounted above ground in a shallow, concrete foundation, Cardinal’s LPRA rail scale is engineered to stabilize shifting ballast resulting in weight errors. Installation is rapid, simple, and can be handled locally requiring usually only about two days. Weighbridge sections arrived assembled, ready to set in, and load cell assemblies are easy to install. Grain dump grating is also available to expedite the unloading process. Accuracy is in accordance with NIST, AAR, and AREMA requirements (railcars uncoupled at both ends).

A Great Foundation For Success

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We mention it all the time on this website but a truck scale is a major investment and anytime you invest in something like that you want to make certain that you protect your investment. One key area of importance is where you locate the scale on your property and the scale foundation.

Producing over one million tons of product per year is an impressive feat for any industry. At Giant Cement in Harleyville, S.C., this annual quantity reflects the effective strategies implemented throughout their lean manufacturing process. Producing and transporting this amount of cement requires a devoted workforce and equipment that never stops. The 24/7 demands can take its toll on equipment and installing durable scales is integral to keep product moving. Giant Cement requires the most durable truck and rail scales to handle its high volume of trucks per day and constant stream of rail cars. They turned to Rice Lake’s SR truck scale and a custom-designed railroad scale to meet their needs.

An existing competitor’s truck scale still resides on its original installation site, inhabiting low ground on the lot and providing a reminder that proper installation is an essential ingredient for optimal weighments. Because of its location, every rainfall washed any nearby debris beneath the scale and would often create pools of standing water. “That scale was a maintenance nightmare,” explains Brad Locker, Industrial Controls Engineer for Giant Cement. “It seemed like we were always calling someone out here to make adjustments or clean the foundation.”

Just about every business is looking for ways to make their business more efficient and to save money. One easy way to do that is to research and plan ahead when it comes to things like locating a truck scale on your property. By putting a scale in a certain location it can increase uptime and profitability as opposed to leading to more service calls, increased cleaning times and increased down time.

Why is My Scale Printer Not Working With My Weight Indicator?

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Often end users will ask about adding a printer to their existing scale or perhaps to a new system they are requesting. And quite often the end user is under the impression that adding a printer to a scale is as simple as going to the electronics store and buying a computer printer and plugging it into the scale via USB. Unfortunately, adding a printer to a scale system is not usually a plug and play application.

So to answer the question, why is my label or ticket printer not working with my indicator? Let’s take a look at the answer provided by Cardinal Scale. Label printers come from the factory set in a graphics mode (called page mode) while Cardinal indicators send data in a line mode from the print tab setup. It is often possible to set the label printers to line mode, but this can be difficult and is ultimately the less effective option. We recommend creating a graphic-type ticket using Cardinal’s nControl software that can be used to create custom headers and set font sizes. This has been proven to work well with the label printers that Cardinal sells. Works great when designing print outs for indicators such as the 190, 205, 210, or 225.

What Should A Metal Recycling Company Ask When Purchasing a Truck Scale?

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For the next few entries we are going to answer some frequently asked questions about buying a truck scale. In the first entry we answer the question below.

What exactly is the difference amongst a full-length truck scale and an axle scale? Which variety do you notice recyclers employing most frequently?

An axle scale is designed to weigh only a single individual axle of a large vehicle at one time and may possibly give an overall total gross weight at the conclusion of weighing the truck. Axle scales are frequently portable, but could also be permanent installations as well. For example, check out the video below.

On the other hand, full-length truck scales, usually 70 feet long can weigh the entire truck (all axles included) in a single weighment, so axle scales need more time to weigh up a truck than full-length weighing machines. Recyclers will normally use full-length 18 wheeler scales due to the fact axle scales will not be NTEP legal for trade, which is needed in the recycling industry.

Recycling businesses are having to pay men and women depending on the load of the timber in their particular vehicle load, so consequently it’s important for the scale to be NTEP listed for correct weighments. In brief, the process involves individuals bringing in their recycled copper, the metal recycling company compensates these individuals for it depending on the weight displayed on their truck scale, and so the recycler then usually utilizes a railcar to deliver the material to steel mills. For more information on Cardinal Truck Scales, contact authorized distributor Central Carolina Scale, located in Sanford NC.

How Do I Install a Weight Alarm Buzzer into My Indicator so I Know A Truck is on the Scale?

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One of the questions that quite a few folks ask about from time to time is How do I install a weight alarm buzzer into my Cardinal Scale weight indicator to let me know when a truck is on my scale? Of course the driver could just call the scale operator using a cell phone. Or, the truck driver could lay on his horn until somebody noticed. Well, those are probably not the best choices. This installation is most commonly requested for the Cardinal 225 indicator, although a similar setup can be done on the advanced 825 from Cardinal.

For the 225, you will need to purchase Cardinal part number 6620-0016 which should mount in place of the larger gland connector in the back of the 225. The red wire for the buzzer will plug into pin 2 of the P15 connector. The black wire will plug into pin 10 of P15. Once this is connected, enable the weight alarm within the ID Storage mode of operation settings.