The use of new technology, called Viper, means that VOSA is cracking down on overloaded vehicles. It is time for the waste industry to take action, but to do so they need accurate and reliable solutions argues Chris McAllister, market manager for Avery Weigh-Tronix’s waste division.
VOSA states that overloading continues to be one of the most frequent offences for HGVs, ranking alongside tachograph and drivers’ hours offences. It is a serious health and safety issue because it increases braking distances in an emergency and makes the vehicle more difficult to control. None of us want to be associated with the consequences of a serious road traffic accident.
Overloaded vehicles also cause extra wear and tear on the road network and VOSA is taking the issue very seriously.
According to the Road Traffic Act, overloading your vehicle is an absolute offence. This means that an offence is committed even where the driver or operator had no knowledge of the overloading. Beware if someone else loads the vehicle, as the consignor can and often does state the weight incorrectly. Wherever possible get the consignor to confirm the cargo weight in writing and make sure that this information is printed on the weight bill as this can be used as evidence in mitigation.
If your vehicle is stopped and directed to a weighing site and is then found to be overweight, the driver and any other person who permits the use of the vehicle may be liable for prosecution.
In addition the authorised officer will issue a prohibition notice making it illegal for the vehicle to travel on the road. This notice must be cleared in writing before the vehicle can proceed and it is up to you to meet the costs of offloading excess weight safely.
The penalties for overloading can be severe. There is a maximum fine of £5,000 per offence i.e. per axle, per gross and per train overload and you can also have your licence disqualified. Convictions can also affect the decision of the traffic commissioner to suspend revoke or renew an HGV driver’s licence.
In practice there are two statutory defences. First it must be shown that the vehicle was proceeding to the nearest available weighbridge or was proceeding from the weighbridge to the nearest suitable offloading point. The second defence is that the vehicle was loaded to within its legal limits and that the weight had increased in transit by no more than 5 percent and nothing had been added to the vehicle since it was first loaded.
In the past enforcement may have been an issue. The only solution was to have random checks at fixed sites with police officers stopping vehicles. Once word got out, many vehicles could easily avoid inspection sites. In 2003/04 for instance VOSA weighed 41,731 UK and foreign vehicles with a prohibition rate of 7.84%.
Beware the Viper
Now, however, VOSA is using new technology and has new powers to make enforcement more effective.
In 2004 it gained the power to stop vehicles itself, following accreditation from chief officers. The police have now trained a number of VOSA staff who can operate in specially marked cars. Since that time there have been significant increases in the number of vehicles stopped and prohibitions issued.
More recently the organisation has started using a combination of weighing in motion sensors and automatic number plate recognition called VIPER. In-road piezoelectric strips measure a vehicle’s weight and each individual axle to a margin of better than 5% and cameras record the number plates of any overloaded vehicles. The system will identify the type of vehicle and, if it is overweight, will record its number plate and other details. Such targeting reduces the need to stop law-abiding drivers, but increases the chance of those that are inadvertently overloaded being caught.
A recent pilot study recorded a 700% increase in identifying and prohibiting overweight vehicles. In this study the system identified 434 vehicles as being overweight. These vehicles were stopped and 379 were found to be actually overweight. A total of 344 weight prohibition notices were issued. Since then road checks between February and April were 100% effective and only non-compliant operators were stopped.
Such was its success that VIPER has won the Intelligent Transport Society’s technology award for excellence. There are now four sites operating with another 10 to be added by April 2008. Negotiations are ongoing for further sites.
Weighing up a solution
So it is no longer good enough to estimate the weight of your vehicle or, if a third party is loading it, accept their word that it is within legal limits. It has always been the responsibility of the operator and/or driver. Some may have been tempted to gamble in the past, but the chances are that they will now be caught.
Equally with fuel prices increasing and margins tight, you do not want to err too much on the side of caution and significantly underload your vehicle.
Potentially there are several proven solutions. One, of course, is to visit a weighbridge, but this is not always convenient.
For most, the best option is to install On Board Weighing. You can then monitor and check the load yourself. In theory this is the ideal answer, but unfortunately some systems have in the past been unreliable.
The good news is that the technology is getting better and there are now more reliable and accurate systems on the market.
So if you are specifying on board weighing what should you ask the supplier?
Chris Hodge of Commercial Motor magazine has some recommendations. He suggests asking: “Can it be tailored to suit an individual vehicle or operation? Can it be transferred from one truck to another? Is it accurate to within 50kg? Is it simple to operate? Is it robust and reliable? Does the system come with a tailor made warranty? Is it quick and easy to install? Does the system come with a nationwide aftersales and service backup?”
He finishes off the list by questioning whether the system allows your drivers to load safely and if it helps ensure that you’re not losing money by underloading.
I would add to this list and suggest that you ask for references and proof points. For example, how many technicians are in my local area? How quickly can they get to me – time off the road is money lost. And can simple repairs be done at the roadside?
One recent advance that makes such systems inherently more reliable is the introduction of digital load cell technology. This is not new technology for weighbridges and other applications, but it is new for On Board Weighing.
Using digital load cells halves the number of wires in the chassis cable from four to two. It also reduces the amount of cable needed, eliminates any need for a junction box and minimises the number of chassis cable contacts. Quite simply there is less to go wrong.
In addition, reliability is better because the temporary presence of moisture in the connectors will not affect digital data transmission. In an analogue system this would stop it working.
Will all of this make overloaded vehicles a thing of the past? Probably not, but new technology means that VOSA will catch more of those who transgress and genuine errors are not a defence in law. So beware the VIPER and make the most of current technology to help you stay legal while also maximising your load for efficiency. It’s a delicate balancing act, but one that you have to get right.
