The LoadMaxx onboard scale from Air-Weigh provides liquid waste haulers with 98 percent accuracy for payload weights, enabling them to maximize loads while complying with road-weight restrictions, improving driving safety, and decreasing vehicle maintenance costs.
The LoadMaxx includes an easy-to-read dashboard-mounted LCD display that shows detailed weight information for things such as drive suspension, steering suspension, lift axle, gross vehicle weight and net payload. Easy to install and set up, the device can be retrofitted on existing vehicles or ordered as a factory-installed option, says Michael Ferguson, Air-Weigh national account manager.
Accuracy is enhanced because software filters remove high and low readings caused by factors such as vehicle jostling and environmental factors including wind, temperature and barometric pressure. In addition, the device features a dual-alarm system that alerts drivers — with either a blinking light or an audible sound — when they reach weight limits,
Ferguson says.
"The software includes alarm delays so it won't trigger until a load passes a preset maximum-weight limit for a preset amount of time," he explains. "That provides a truer alarm threshold by removing some of the environmental factors that can momentarily affect weight.
"The LoadMaxx also improves driving safety because any time you drive with an overloaded vehicle, it's a liability ... the more overloaded a vehicle is, the more dangerous it becomes because it can't stop as quickly," he adds. "Overloading also increases maintenance costs because it puts stress on suspensions and other components."
The system — comprised of sensors, a small "black box" computer, and the dashboard display — is simple to install and calibrate. Deflection sensors mount with brackets on a vehicle's suspension; this eliminates the need to remove the truck body from the frame, as required for installing traditional load cells between a truck frame and the body. The number of sensors required depends on the vehicle's suspension brand and/or type, Ferguson notes.
The LoadMaxx system is compatible with any onboard computer or communication system that offers standard RS232 or J1939 port connections, he says. 888/459-3444; www.air-weigh.com.
