> History Resource Centre
> Glass Negatives Collection
> Accreditation Program
> Community History Fund
> Advice and Training
v S.A. History Projects
   v Roads Through History
      > Road Making History
      > Heritage Objects
      > Restoration Projects
      > Men at Work
   > Sharing Their Legacy
   > SA Dry
> State History Conference
> History Matters Magazine
> Consultants and Designers
> S.A. Community History Directory

Vehicle Scales (pair)

Photograph courtesy HTSA.

Drivers, beware of overloading! Traffic Inspectors transported a pair of these solid steel scales in boxes to areas beyond the radius of a weighbridge for the purpose of weighing trucks on the roadside and checking for overloading. Compact in size (each set of scales fit into a box measuring 0.50 x 0.38 x 0.40 cms), the meters were heavy by necessity. Manufactured by the Loadometer Corporation of Baltimore, Maryland in the USA c1956, the scales were used for more than twenty-five years.

These scales were the first stage of on-road enforcement of vehicle mass limits. They were used for weighing the axles of suspected overloaded trucks. Stamped with ‘Not for Legal Trade’, they possibly acted more as a deterrent to overloading practices. However, the scales worked effectively enough to stand challenge in court from companies contesting their load weights.

As well as Departmental weighbridges located at many sites around the State the Highways Department had use of many private weighbridges. If vehicles were intercepted within six kilometres of a weighbridge the Traffic Inspectors were empowered to order the driver to attend that weighbridge for checking. Outside the radius of six kilometres the Inspectors carried the portable ‘Loadometer’ scales.

The sum of the axle loads is the gross vehicle mass inclusive of the truck’s load, with each axle being weighed independently, but at the same time. A meter on the top recorded the weight. A level surface on solid ground was needed for the scales to work accurately and blocks of wood were sometimes used to support axles so they would all be on a level plane. Progressively the ‘Loadometer’ scales were used in designated parking bays, usually with concrete weigh slabs. If vehicles were overloaded the driver would need to shift or unload before proceeding, or face prosecution.

When word got around the ‘bush telegraph’ that weighbridges were open for operation, some drivers would resort to various tactics to avoid detection. This included pretending your truck had broken down and returning to move it after the Inspectors had left the area, or going miles out of the way to avoid the weighbridges.

<< back to objects

Disclaimer, Copyright ©, History Trust of South Australia 2003
Currently viewing: http://www.history.sa.gov.au/chu/programs/sa_history/roads/objects/vehicle _scales.htm
Comments or Questions to: staff@history.sa.gov.au