I'm going to the local stone an gravel yard for some sand. The scale is too short to weigh my truck and trailer together, so they will weigh the rear axle of my truck along with the trailer axle when I arrive empty, then weigh them again when I'm loaded. Is that accurate? I would think I'll pay for more sand than I'm loaded with.

 

Yes, it's accurate.

 

I don't think it's accurate, so I took some extra time on the scale to get some additional weights. Here is what I found.

Weights when the trailer is empty

3260 - Front axle truck
6300 - Front and rear axle truck
4060 - Rear axle truck and trailer axle
1280 - Trailer only (unhitched)

Weights with the trailer loaded

3100 - Front axle truck
6680 - Front and rear axle truck
7800 - Rear axle truck and trailer axle
4880 - Trailer only (unhitched)

According to my calculations, the front axle of the truck is 160 lbs lighter when the trailer is loaded. Where did that 160lbs go? I was charged for 1.88 ton (3760lbs) of sand. The unhitched trailer full 4880 minus the unhitched trailer empty 1280 is 3600lbs.

 

To your rear axle. Which is why that method of weighing will get you close, but will favor the gravel yard slightly.

 

That's what I was thinking. At $25 a ton, it cost me about $2.00.

 

I leave more than that for a tip in a restaurant.........

 

If you think about it, what you've done is no different than going to the large truck scales anyways. Each axle would be on it's own scale/platform giving you a weight for that axle. Same end result.

When you weighed the trailer unhitched, where was the tounge?? Was the entire trailer, including the tounge, sitting on the scale?

If you went throught the trouble of unhooking your trailer for the weights of it and the stuff in it, why did you even bother weighing the truck anyways...or am
I missing something??

 

OK, so I'm leaving a tip at the gravel pit. Fine with me.

 

I drive the truck off the scale, leaving the trailer only on the scale. Then I drop the bulldog on the scale to hold up the trailer tongue. The trailer is then the only thing on the scale. The chains are still on the truck, but I don't care about that much detail. I did that to get my tongue weight. This was my first load on the trailer with a scale, and I wanted to know how much weight was on the truck vs on the trailer wheels. I knew they were not going to use that for calculating my bill. I asked permission first, and the scale was not busy at the time. The other weights were more for my curiosity than than anything else.

This whole question is more for the sake of discussion than anything else. I think if I took a poll, more people would say it was fair than would say it is not.

 

They weigh in your truck as you enter, do they not?

Then you exit, get weighed, and you pay for the difference.

I don't see how you're over paying. The missing weight over the front axle wouldnt be all on the rear axle, it would be dispearsed down the frame due to the leverage. And the weight of the front of the pick-up would counter-act the weight on the tounge.