We have a saying that echoes throughout everything we do within our measurement and service operations, and that is:
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”
When it comes to legal-for-trade and weight-based-billing is this especially true, as when your profitability is determined by using an on-board weighing system to calculate the container weight, you need to get it right the first time, every time.
The Importance of Accurate Weighing Capabilities
It’s not altogether uncommon for weight-based-billing operations to be 3-5% off with each measurement event. At the end of the day, these systems do ware down over time as do the reliability of their readings, so this is a reasonable expectation to have especially for high-volume and active vehicles.
In the instances of under-weighing the contents of a container, you’re at a direct loss with your potential to legally charge your customers. Over time, whilst appearing insignificant initially, it will have significant implications to your overall profitability potential.
On the other end, if each measurement event is resulting in weight readings above the actual weight of the contents of the container, then you are liable for compensating your customer for what you’ve overcharged them. Not just that, though. If your operations can be proven to be significantly negligent regarding these procedures, you can be held legally liable and face legal proceedings.
Regular Calibration To Remain Profitable and Legal
With what has been described above, the optimal way to ensure your vehicles are correctly weighing and displaying your customer’s container contents is two fold:
- Have a weighing system that works for you. We offer a whole suite of options from on-board systems to drive-on systems like weighbridges.
- Have expert service technicians regularly service your weighing systems.
On the second point, engaging with a reputable and proven service provider is critical to ensuring that not only are you following best practice with having your vehicles and weighing systems be calibrated in the first place, but also that the quality of service you are getting is actually going to enable you to operate at the highest calibre and efficacy until your next service.
We have services tens of thousands of vehicles throughout our operation and enjoy regular return service and calibration requests from our customers.
A Prime Example: Calibrating Waste Vehicles
One of the primary examples of ensuring that you are effectively measuring what you intend on managing is with waste vehicles. For customer-centric operations that collect waste from sites, the above outline of effective weighing procedures isn’t more applicable than it is here.
A client of ours had their routine calibration scheduled and our expert service team was there to certify their vehicles.
For this client we were certifying a range of their front-lift loader trucks, which is a very common type of waste collection vehicle. It consisted of utilising our certified test masses to ensure the bin contents were being precisely measured and that our client could continue to operate in confidence, knowing they are charging their own customers correctly, whilst adhering to legislative requirements surrounding weight-based-billing.
With service centres and expert technicians around Australia, we’re always here to assist you with your service, calibration, and maintenance needs wherever you are.
