How Often Should You Service Your Truck Scale?

When you own your own truck fleet or drive a truck professionally, you know the importance of having an accurate truck scale. Truck scales not only weigh product, but they ensure your vehicle is safe to drive on roads and highways. The key to maintaining your scale is to service it—but how often and when does your truck scale need service?

Here’s a quick guide to truck scale service.

Why service your scale?

Servicing your scale not only guarantees that you get accurate measurements, but it offers a few other benefits, too. First, servicing your truck scale regularly ensures you encounter less downtime due to repairs. It’s better to discover a problem during routine maintenance than when you’re pressed for time and need to get a load out. This will also make it easier to discover problems before they become major issues.

Second, servicing your scale regularly ensures that you’ll enjoy longer equipment lifespan. A properly maintained scale can last up to 25 years, and sometimes longer. That keeps your investment in great shape—and brings down the purchase and operating costs over time.

Regular truck scale service tasks

Here’s when to perform regular truck scale service tasks:

• Daily: Each day, you should make sure your scale is free of debris. Sweep it off and look to see if the readout says “0” before a truck drives onto the platform. Visually inspect the scale to see if the side and end frames are fouled. If you own a pit-mounted scale, check the drainage systems and pumps to see if they’re working correctly.
• Weekly: Every week, check the load cells for debris buildup. Carefully remove any debris or other buildup that’s accumulated. Then weigh a loaded truck on either end of the platform as well as the middle. If you have any inaccuracies, record them so you can schedule a calibration appointment as soon as possible.
• Monthly: Each month, inspect the scale for ponding, debris buildup and damage to the foundation. Report any platform movement to the maintenance crew so it can be repaired immediately. Perform the weekly end-middle-end test, then power wash the platform. Perform the test once more, post-wash, and see if the readout is different. If there are discrepancies, you may need to recalibrate.
• Every six months: Twice per year, take a good look at your scale’s foundation and frames. If you notice any damage, such as cracking, movement or other signs of damage, report them to your scale maintenance provider for repairs.
• Additional tasks: After thunderstorms, it’s important that you check the scale and lightning conductors for any damage.

Taking care to keep up with your truck scale service is the best way to guarantee decades of smooth operation. The team at Rockwell Scales is happy to help you, no matter how often you need truck scale service. Reach out to us today to learn more about our services, availability and pricing—we’d be glad to schedule a consultation to get more information about your operation and show you what we can do for you.

Categorised in: Truck Scales

This post was written by Writer