Weight Limits

[Elwynhorton]

Hello All
There seems to be a lot of us on the forum who worry about our weights,
You might be interested in this link.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/weighing-vehicles-for-enforcement-consolidated-code-of-practice/consolidated-code-of-practice-enforcement-weighing-of-vehicles
A cure for insomnia at least!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello All
There seems to be a lot of us on the forum who worry about our weights,
You might be interested in this link.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/weighing-vehicles-for-enforcement-consolidated-code-of-practice/consolidated-code-of-practice-enforcement-weighing-of-vehicles
A cure for insomnia at least!

Thank you for the link - we have seen it before and other like it before.

Whilst the Gov.UK portal is a rich source of information, its pages are not the actual legal documentation that cover the subject , but are just a Whitehall mandarin's interpretation of what they think the legal situation is. In a large part the information may be correct, but we have proven examples in relation to driving licence descriptors where what might seem insignificant details have been misinterpreted, and if the portal definition were followed, the driver would be driving illegally. The devil is so often in the detail!

So whilst the portal is an easy source of information, it should always be verified against the official underlying acts of parliament of other legally binding documents.

 

[Raywood]

Hi Prof, You do cover the legal situation pretty fully but a word of caution if any of it turns out to be wrong. If you produce this in court it would be taken into account and a conviction because it was wrong is unlikely.
Must admit I did not understand the bit about accuracy at the end with the use of e. You might be better placed than most of us to interpret that.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Must admit I did not understand the bit about accuracy at the end with the use of e. You might be better placed than most of us to interpret that.

Hello Ray ,
Can you please be more specific, as its not clear what you are suggesting?

 

[Lutz]

Yes, it would be helpful if bulletins issued by the government would included references to the respective legislation which form a basis for the information contained therein, so one has a chance of verifying the details provided. In the past similar bulletins have been known to give incorrect or out-of-date information.

It is noteworthy that according to the information provided, weighbridges apparently only have to be accurate to ±50kg. So much for those who go to great lengths to have their caravan MTPLM uprated by less.

 

[Dodger524]

Yes, it would be helpful if bulletins issued by the government would included references to the respective legislation which form a basis for the information contained therein, so one has a chance of verifying the details provided. In the past similar bulletins have been known to give incorrect or out-of-date information.

It is noteworthy that according to the information provided, weighbridges apparently only have to be accurate to ±50kg. So much for those who go to great lengths to have their caravan MTPLM uprated by less.

But the weighing pads that the police use to check the weight are much more accurate.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Yes, it would be helpful if bulletins issued by the government would included references to the respective legislation which form a basis for the information contained therein, so one has a chance of verifying the details provided. In the past similar bulletins have been known to give incorrect or out-of-date information.

It is noteworthy that according to the information provided, weighbridges apparently only have to be accurate to ±50kg. So much for those who go to great lengths to have their caravan MTPLM uprated by less.

But the weighing pads that the police use to check the weight are much more accurate.

I'm playing devils advocate here becasue I suspect you have been persuaded that becasue a set of scales has a display with lots of digits, it must therefore be more accurate, than a scale with less resolution.

 

[otherclive]

Yes, it would be helpful if bulletins issued by the government would included references to the respective legislation which form a basis for the information contained therein, so one has a chance of verifying the details provided. In the past similar bulletins have been known to give incorrect or out-of-date information.

It is noteworthy that according to the information provided, weighbridges apparently only have to be accurate to ±50kg. So much for those who go to great lengths to have their caravan MTPLM uprated by less.

But the weighing pads that the police use to check the weight are much more accurate.

I think it’s DVSA who conduct roadside weight checks. The police only become involved if an offence may have been committed ie gross overload.

What accuracy do the DVSA weighbridges work to? When I was stopped and weighed it looked a pretty standard weighbridge to me. Able to go from caravan to HGV.

 

[Raywood]

Must admit I did not understand the bit about accuracy at the end with the use of e. You might be better placed than most of us to interpret that.

Hello Ray ,
Can you please be more specific, as its not clear what you are suggesting?

It was this bit that lost me.
In order to ensure the accuracy of results obtained during enforcement weighings, weighpads must have the same limits of error irrespective of whether they are new, repaired or in use and this must not exceed (where e is the value of a scale interval):

up to 50e +0.5e/-1.0e
more than 50e to 200e +1.0e/- 2.0e
more than 200e to 1000e +1.5e/- 3.0e

 

[Lutz]

Surely it doesn't matter how accurate the DVSA weighbridges are. If the requirement is ±50kg then one cannot expect anyone else to be able to check with any more accuracy than what is required. In other words, it must mean that there is an accepted ±50kg margin of error.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Must admit I did not understand the bit about accuracy at the end with the use of e. You might be better placed than most of us to interpret that.

Hello Ray ,
Can you please be more specific, as its not clear what you are suggesting?

It was this bit that lost me.
In order to ensure the accuracy of results obtained during enforcement weighings, weighpads must have the same limits of error irrespective of whether they are new, repaired or in use and this must not exceed (where e is the value of a scale interval):

up to 50e +0.5e/-1.0e
more than 50e to 200e +1.0e/- 2.0e
more than 200e to 1000e +1.5e/- 3.0e

In the context of this document "e" is given as "where e is the value of a scale interval" This is the finest scale graduation of the range being used. Most weighbridges used for checking road vehicle weights will now have digital displays. The value of "e" will be the least significant digit or teh graduations of the display.

 

[Raywood]

Must admit I did not understand the bit about accuracy at the end with the use of e. You might be better placed than most of us to interpret that.

Hello Ray ,
Can you please be more specific, as its not clear what you are suggesting?

It was this bit that lost me.
In order to ensure the accuracy of results obtained during enforcement weighings, weighpads must have the same limits of error irrespective of whether they are new, repaired or in use and this must not exceed (where e is the value of a scale interval):

up to 50e +0.5e/-1.0e
more than 50e to 200e +1.0e/- 2.0e
more than 200e to 1000e +1.5e/- 3.0e

In the context of this document "e" is given as "where e is the value of a scale interval" This is the finest scale graduation of the range being used. Most weighbridges used for checking road vehicle weights will now have digital displays. The value of "e" will be the least significant digit or teh graduations of the display.

Thanks, at least you make sense!