How to avoid axle overload
There are several options to avoid overloading the axles, which are discussed below.
1 Train warehouse workers to load “correctly”
It is really difficult for many reasons. Firstly, it is not visible from a warehouse which vehicle is present for loading, how much it weighs, how large its capacity. Secondly, it is practically impossible to place several dozens of loads having various weights in the truck body so that the common center of mass is in the right place with an accuracy of several centimeters without long preliminary calculations. Thirdly, a warehouse is paid for loading speed, and not for balancing axial loads.
2 Reduce the total mass of cargo
Sounds like an obvious idea – take less not to overload the axes. But in practice, even reducing the load to 18 tons per truck did not improve statistics. And that’s why. The load must be “stretched” as far as possible over the entire length of the body, taking into account the rules of stability. For example, do not allow more than 3 rows of single pallets sequentially. And if the pallets are heavy, weighing 1 ton or more, the whole load is placed closer to the end of the trailer, exacerbating overload on the drive axle. It turns out that if in such case additional 3 tons were loaded, then the balance could have been leveled.
3 Control the loading with scales
Scales are an excellent means of checking completed loading. But they are not cheap and require constant maintenance, inspection, repair and are often unstable under snow and low temperatures. Also, scales will not tell you exactly how to load. If there is an overload, then you need to return the vehicle to the warehouse to unload and reload, increasing the loading time several-fold.
4 Loading simulation
If you want to carry more and load the first time correctly, do the loading simulation in the program. It determines the center of gravity of the load and accurately constructs optimal loading scheme, which will allow you to increase the average weight of the order and avoid axial overload.
We have considered four options – the choice is yours.
AXLE LOADING CAPACITY FOR DIFFERENT TRACTORS AND SEMI-TRAILERS: