OVERLOADING 

The timber industry's Load Accreditation Programme was a precursor of the RTMS and in order to comply, timber hauliers made use of load cells from Loadtec.

With increased anti-overloading measures being implemented by traffic authorities around the country, operators are becoming increasingly compliant with required load mass restrictions. Reports from weighbridges confirm that the 2% 'grace' is still being used which suggests that loading techniques are improving. FleetWatch asked Loadtech's John Harrison to share his thoughts on how overloading control affects the industry and how technology can assist in the compliance process.

The Loadtech on-board weighing system allows the driver to monitor and report on weighing procedures, effectively protecting him should there be a run-in with the law. Accuracy of the system depends on the specific truck design and is usually within 1% of GVM. This means that trucks can be loaded to the legal limit and still be within the allowable tolerances.

Historically, transporters' initial reaction to overload control regulations was to ignore the threat as it seemed to be distant and would not have too much effect on operations, says Harrison, whose company has been supplying load cell and on-board weighing systems to the local transport industry for over seven years. "Laws governing loads had been in existence for years and occasionally the authorities would set up a weighbridge operation and a small fine would have to be paid. The cost of the fines could easily be budgeted for and included as an expected cost of business. Very few transporters paid much attention to the laws and I believe that many transporters openly flouted the law and intentionally loaded way over the limits. For those paid by the ton this meant big profits," he says. 

Flying in the face
With intensified action against overloading on the part of government, a point has been reached where all long distance transporters are being affected on a daily basis. Short distance transporters operating in and around the metropolitan areas have not yet been affected but no doubt this will change, adds Harrison. 
"Increased inconvenience, time delays and fines are the order of the day with a resultant increase in frustration for the transport operator and the client. The biggest resultant effect on the market however is an overall decrease in payload. Operators are loading less to be on the safe side of the law."

The consequences of underloading are felt immediately by transporters who are paid by the ton and effectively suffer drastic drops in nett profit. "Typically, he last ton loaded is the nett profit," adds Harrison. "If the truck is underloaded by one ton, the nett profit is probably reduced by 50%."

A lesser talked about result of underloading is the effect on the consignor and consignee (depending on who is paying for the transport). In this case the transporter is being paid by the trip and therefore only interested in not overloading his trucks. The result in most cases is that the tucks are running underloaded, resulting in a loss of payload per trip for the consignor/consignee, explains Harrison.

Seek to optimize 
"If trucks are running underloaded it also means more trucks on the road. In all cases somebody in the transport chain is losing out, be it the transporter losing money or the consignor paying for more trips.
All parties involved in this chain should be looking to optimize the loading of the trucks. Often consignors paying by the trip are complacent and have not evaluated the cost savings possible by optimizing the loads. It is difficult to believe that they have not noticed a reduction in the total loads transported over the past few years," Harrison says.

"Some of the larger operators have been targeted by the state and threatened with closure if their overloading is not brought under control. In some cases this looks a little unfair as they have been targeted because of the high number of overloads reported. In most cases the worst offenders (by weight) are smaller operators and cross-border trucks. To avoid business closure these operations have had to implement new procedures to control their loads."

For many operators, controlling the loading procedure is not a simple task. "Many trucks are loaded by the consignor who is only interested in moving the trucks as fast as possible. Reloads, delays and overload fines have been left for the contractor to deal with. In his case the operator needs systems that can be used to prove his intention to load correctly in a court of law," says Harrison. "In addition he will need to document his system and have it available for scrutiny. Where this is a requirement, the Loadtech on-board weighing system will provide documentary proof that each load is loaded correctly." 

Burgeoning self-regulation 
The future Road Transport Management System (RTMS) is being designed to give truck transporters a framework for operating to a set standard, which will require procedures for controlling divers, truck roadworthiness and loads to be in place. "Implementing this system may also assist in covering consignor /consignees from prosecution when the new distributed responsibility law is enacted. Future possibilities for the RTMS are relief from the weighbridge operators where designated trucks are stopped less frequently and therefore benefit from a time saving. If the authorities can see that such implemented self control is reliable there may be a possibility of extra payload allowances for approved and trusted operators. Truck manufacturers and insurance companies may also be open to discussions on rates if overloading can be eliminated," Harrison says.

Protect the driver
The current law holds the driver solely responsible for overloads. The driver in most cases however has had little or no control over what was loaded onto his truck, says Harrison. "A truck fitted with a Loadtech On Board weighing system allows the driver some control over his load, and should feature in all internal load control strategies."

While a weighbridge at the gate can help the compliance process, it can also be problematic, Harrison believes. "On reaching the gate weighbridge, an overloaded truck is returned to the loading zone to correct the load. Depending on the product being loaded this can cause major delays. Many loading sites are not designed to offload small amount of product back into their system. On some sites it is physically impossible to do this automatically and off loading must be done by hand. Where automatic loading systems are employed additional manual paperwork is needed to return a small amount of the product."

A typical example is a tipper where it is impossible to tip a small quantity of product. The whole load will have to be tipped and the loading process started from scratch, adds Harrison. "In some cases, a small quantity of the product can be offloaded by hand. In all cases, time is wasted.

"The solution here is to have a means of controlling the loading process so that the trucks are loaded correctly first time every time. In many cases a Loadtech On Board scale will provide a means of getting the loads correct first time as well as allowing the driver to monitor load distribution en-route and at off-load points."

Once again, technology provides the solutions to problems that left unchecked can fast ruin an operation.