Your truck scale is your cash register
Your truck scale is your cash register. Raw materials come in and finished products go out, so having an accurate and dependable truck scale is essential to the success of your operation. A truck scale is a long-term investment that, with reasonable care, should easily provide 25 years or more of dependable service.
There are a variety of options in the truck scale market today, and to the casual observer, initial acquisition price may be the only differentiator. However, manufacturers promising great bargains are able to do so only because they’ve cut corners at some stage of the process; be it design, materials, components, finish or all of the above.
While the price may seem attractive now, the eventual failure of a lower quality truck scale could mean a higher Total Cost of Ownership, meaning extensive downtime, increased maintenance costs and lost revenue.
The differences between an exceptional quality truck scale and “economy” models aren’t always apparent. Unfortunately, the most critical differences are rarely realized until it’s too late due to customer’s fixation with price and price only. In future articles, we will help you identify the important characteristics of a vehicle scale that substantially affect the performance or longevity of your investment. First area of importance is the type of scale, above ground or pit.
Until the early 1970s, all truck scales were mechanical and installed in expensive concrete pits. Today, most scales are installed above ground or in concrete pits with slab type foundations. With the benefit of new modular construction, scales can also be installed in a shallow pit, as opposed to the deep pit required by older mechanical scales. One of the biggest reasons for choosing a pit type installation is space – or lack of it. A pit installation requires less space than a pitless installation as longer approaches are generally required for pitless foundations. However, pit type scales require sump pumps and drains, and are more vulnerable to accelerated rust and corrosion due to the potential of standing water in the pit.
Steve has been in the weighing industry for over 10 years. His areas of expertise include counting scales, balances, bench scales, and floor scales. He has recommended and written about hundreds of digital scales such as floor scales, used for personal, small, medium and large businesses. His special area of interest has been maximizing the value of a scale purchase. You can find out more at www.centralcarolinascale.com.
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