4 Tips for the Preventive Maintenance of Your Weighbridges

There are plenty of reasons to check the condition of the weighbridges you use to weigh your trucks. One of the ways to ensure the proper functioning of your weighbridges is to regularly carry out preventive maintenance operations, using in particular a CMMS application (computer-aided maintenance management).

Preventive maintenance has the advantage of increasing the life of your weighbridges and improving your productivity. In addition, this type of maintenance allows you to save money, optimize system efficiency, and reduce downtime.

4 fundamentals of preventive maintenance

1. Conduct regular inspections

Dust, ice, or debris can cause varying degrees of disturbance during weighing. That's why it's important to have your scales inspected regularly. The frequency of inspections should be in proportion to the frequency of use of Weighbridges. If you use your weighbridges on a daily basis, inspections should then take place every day.

Pay particular attention to the parts adjacent to the weighbridge to eliminate the risk of friction or pressure. Check for corrosion on components such as the rear bumper. For this, your GMAO is your best ally : create checklists to make sure you don't forget every step.

Mobility Work allows operators and technicians to be autonomous: calendar, checklists, creation of tasks, maintenance plans, notifications for each new activity...

IMPROVE YOUR MAINTENANCE THANKS TO CMMS

Start your inspection with the entire platform, as well as the space between the scale and the floor. While checking for damage, remove all dirt such as leaves, dust, stones, etc. Check the overall condition of the machine, the removal and grounding systems, any safety issues, and electrical components and cables.

2. Check the calibration of the scales

The significant pressure exerted by the regular passage of heavy vehicles on the scales causes normal wear and tear. This means that even the smallest amount of debris on the scale can cause a measurement error. This is why you will need to adjust your scales after cleaning them.

To read: Preventive maintenance: 6 tips for better management

Once this step is complete, check the calibration of the scales. In this way, you can ensure the accuracy of the weighings. It is important to check the calibration of your weighbridges regularly. Several factors can help you determine the frequency of this operation. To name just a few: the acceptable margin of error, the number of daily weighings and the number of days of use per year.

3. Clean the scales regularly

Most weighbridges are installed outside, mounted on a concrete base, or mounted in a pit. So, if you don't clean them regularly, dirt will end up building up there. The presence of foreign objects will ultimately contribute to the malfunctioning of your machines.

Remove all traces of debris and dirt from your weighbridge, including the floor, junction boxes, and under the scales. The lower part of the scales is too often neglected, although a large quantity of dirt tends to accumulate there and compromise weighing.

Use a broom or hose to remove debris from the upper, lateral, and lower sections of the weighbridge. Remember to check that water does not accumulate around your pit-mounted weighbridges.

4. Schedule a professional inspection

You can carry out inspection and maintenance operations on your equipment by yourself. However, it is advisable to contact a professional to carry out a detailed inspection, to clean or repair the weighbridges when necessary.

You can use a CMMS to plan and monitor the preventive maintenance of your equipment. In particular, you can configure alerts by date, frequency of use or according to the status of your machine. You are thus notified when maintenance is required on your weighbridge.

Mobility Work allows operators and technicians to be autonomous: calendar, checklists, creation of tasks, maintenance plans, notifications for each new activity...

The technicians concerned are also alerted to the creation of a new work order and can consult important details such as repair history or maintenance checklists. Once the intervention has been carried out, maintenance technicians indicate it in their CMMS and update the status of the equipment. Maintenance managers also receive a notification when preventive maintenance activities have been completed. They can then use the data they need to create reports.

In conclusion

If your business has weighbridges, make preventive maintenance a priority and a habit. Otherwise, you may end up with incorrect weighing results. In the long run, it is the overall profitability of your business that is threatened.

About the author:

Kevin Hills leads the Marketing team at Quality Scales Unlimited, based in Byron, California. Outside of his duties, he enjoys writing about the different types of weighbridges and their importance in the industry. He also advises his readers on the maintenance of this equipment and how to improve its performance depending on the situation. Finally, he enjoys spending time with family and camping.