WEIGHING SYSTEMS
better than 2% for its excavator scale, according to Bundhoo. Rail weighing takes place while the train is moving. Railweight in-motion systems weigh individual coupled wagons and have OIML and NRCS approval for legal-for- trade applications. “The loadout corrects the next wagon instead of discovering the problem at the port,” he says. “An on-board scale is a loading tool. The in-motion rail weighbridge is an approved record you can invoice from.” Fewer loads, better utilisation Accurate payload information also provides a direct route to improved fleet productivity.
“Close a five per cent payload gap, and you move the same tonnage in fewer loads,” says Bundhoo. Every unnecessary trip carries a cost in fuel, tyres, engine hours and driver time. The effect becomes particularly significant on rail. “A wagon two tonnes light is a rounding error until you multiply it across a hundred wagons, every train, every week.” Because in-motion weighing does not require trains to stop or wagons to be uncoupled, the measurement process can be incorporated into normal operations. Compliance brings additional costs beyond the fine itself. Detention, offloading, and missed delivery slots
can have a greater operational impact. Bundhoo also points to the relationship between axle load and pavement damage, noting that pavement damage rises roughly with the fourth power of axle load. “I will not quote a payback figure,” he says. “Compare a month of weighbridge records to your legal payload. That gap is your answer.” The value of weighing technology increasingly extends beyond the scale itself. Once payload data is recorded, operators can analyse tonnes per machine, operator, shift, and material.
A loader running consistently eight per cent under is rarely a machine fault. It is a bucket, a technique, or a habit, and all three are fixable once you can see them.
CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS OCTOBER 2026 10
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