What is a truck scale?
Also known as a weighbridge, a truck scale is a long-platform vehicle scale that weighs articulated lorries, rigid trucks and other heavy goods vehicles together with their load in one go. The platform is chosen long enough for every axle of the vehicle to stand on it at the same time. Load cells underneath measure the weight, and the weighing indicator displays the result and passes it to the weighbridge software.
Compared with weighing axle by axle or relying on the delivery note, it measures the whole vehicle at a single moment under the same conditions. The vehicle is weighed full on the way in and empty on the way out; the difference is the net load. A factory buying raw materials documents the tonnage it pays for, and a shipper the goods it sends, with that weighbridge ticket. Meram truck scales are built with platform lengths of 6–22 m and capacities of 40–100 t depending on the model.
This page focuses on the structural side of a truck scale: installation type, deck material, beam system, capacity and length, foundations and site layout. Weighing software, inspection for trade use and day-to-day care are covered on the parent Vehicle Scales page.
Which truck scale should I choose?
Choosing a truck scale comes down to three decisions: where the scale sits relative to the ground, what the deck is made of, and how long it should be. Length is set by the longest vehicle using the site; the site and the traffic answer the other two. In short:
- Room for ramps, short civil works wanted: surface-mounted models (WB-X800F, WB-X600, WB-X400F)
- Narrow entrance, little room to manoeuvre: pit-type models (WB-X400P, WB-X800P)
- Top segment, constant heavy traffic: premium I-beam models WB-X800F (surface), WB-X800P (pit)
- Upper-mid segment, quick assembly and relocation: the modular, plate-built V-beam WB-X600
- Mid segment, concrete deck preferred: standard concrete models WB-X400F (surface), WB-X400P (pit)
- Pickups and small vehicles, entry segment: the compact WB-X200
Models at a glance
| Model | Segment | Installation | Deck and structure | Highlight |
|---|
| WB-X800F | Top (premium) | Surface-mounted | Full steel, I-beam, IPE sections | Heavy constant traffic, concrete ramps |
| WB-X800P | Top (premium) | Pit | Full steel, I-beam | Ground-level deck, easy manoeuvring |
| WB-X600 | Upper-mid (professional) | Surface-mounted | Plate-built V-beam, modular | Quick installation, relocatable |
| WB-X400F | Mid (standard) | Surface-mounted | Steel frame, pre-stressed reinforcement, C50 concrete | Stiff concrete deck |
| WB-X400P | Mid (standard) | Pit | Steel frame, pre-stressed reinforcement, C50 concrete | No ramps, ground-level deck |
| WB-X200 | Entry (compact) | Surface-mounted | Compact platform | Pickups and small vehicles |
Platform length and capacity are chosen to order for every model; across the range, lengths run between 6 and 22 m and capacities between 40 and 100 t.
How to read the model code
Each truck scale code carries the key order details on one line. For example, WB-X800F-60-3x16-8L-DWS reads as follows:
- X800: model series (800, 600, 400 or 200)
- F: installation type; F surface-mounted, P pit
- 60: capacity in tonnes
- 3x16: platform size; 3 m wide, 16 m long
- 8L: number of load cells, here eight
- DWS: options; D digital touchscreen indicator, W wireless data transfer, S solar power supply
Option letters are added at the end; with no options the code ends at the load cell count. Seeing the same code on the quotation and the invoice makes it easy to check that the scale delivered matches the configuration you ordered.
Surface-mounted or pit type?
A surface-mounted truck scale sits on a levelled concrete slab or on foundation beams, and vehicles drive on via ramps at each end. With no excavation or pit concrete, civil works are lighter, and because the underside stays open, cleaning and inspection are easy. In return, extra space is needed at both ends for the ramps and a straight approach. WB-X400F, WB-X600, WB-X800F and WB-X200 belong to this group.
In a pit-type truck scale the platform sits at ground level and vehicles drive across it as if it were part of the road. With no ramps, it saves space at narrow factory entrances and on sites with little room to manoeuvre. Drainage to keep the pit dry and access for maintenance need to be solved at the design stage. WB-X400P and WB-X800P are installed as pit types.
When deciding, look not only at the space you have today but at how the site will be used in future. Where the scale will sit on the plant’s main internal road, with forklifts and other vehicles crossing it, a pit installation keeps traffic flowing. On leased land, a temporary works site or a plant whose layout is not yet settled, a surface installation keeps the investment removable.
Concrete or full steel deck?
In WB-X400F and WB-X400P the deck is made by placing pre-stressed steel reinforcement inside a steel frame and filling it with C50 concrete. Frame and concrete work together; the mass and stiffness of the deck limit vibration and local deflection on sites where heavy vehicles cross all day. The same construction comes in two installation options, surface-mounted (F) and pit (P).
In full steel platforms the deck consists of welded steel beams and the top plate covering them. It is lighter than a concrete deck, and easier to transport, position and, if needed, dismantle. WB-X600, WB-X800F and WB-X800P are built this way and differ in their beam type.
In practice the choice depends on how the site loads the deck. Tracked plant, lorries braking hard or heavy traffic that always follows the same line put intense local loads on the top surface; a concrete deck spreads such loads over a wider area. On sites with more regular traffic, where installation speed and portability matter more, a steel platform is the more flexible answer.
V-beam or I-beam?
In the I-beam models (WB-X800F, WB-X800P) the platform is carried by I-section structural steel profiles; WB-X800F uses IPE sections. Known in the trade as the classic beam-and-column design, it transfers the load through distinct main beams to the load cells and behaves predictably under heavy-duty conditions.
In the V-beam WB-X600, the load-bearing members are profiles made by folding steel plate into a V shape. The platform is built in modules that are joined on site, so assembly is quick and the scale can later be taken apart and moved elsewhere. On leased sites or plants whose layout may change, that flexibility is a real advantage.
WB-X200: compact model for pickups and small vehicles
WB-X200 is the compact, entry-segment model of the series. It is installed surface-mounted on sites that weigh pickups, vans and small lorries but see no articulated-truck traffic. Its shorter platform fits small yards; if heavy vehicles may arrive later, one of the higher series should be chosen. Platform size and capacity are set at the quotation stage; light-vehicle weighing is covered in detail on the Pickup and Tractor Scales page.
Choosing capacity: how to decide between 40 and 100 t
Across the range, capacity is chosen between 40 and 100 t. The right figure comes not from “the bigger the better” but from the actual weight of the heaviest loaded vehicle using the site. Rated capacity describes the total load spread over the whole platform, so both the total weight and the way it bears on the deck need to be considered.
Start from the heaviest loaded vehicle
Existing records, delivery notes or tickets from another weighbridge show the heaviest vehicle reaching your site when loaded. A margin is then added for overloaded vehicles and for heavier combinations that may come in future. The sums are simple: if the heaviest loaded vehicle weighs 46 t, a 40 t scale is not enough; something around 60 t leaves headroom without going needlessly large. If vehicles on the same site exceed 70 t, the 80 or 100 t class comes into play.
The cost of oversizing: reading resolution
The smallest step the scale displays, its scale interval, grows with capacity. If only heavy loads are weighed, this hardly matters. But if pickups or part-loaded vehicles also cross the same scale and net differences are tracked commercially, an oversized capacity makes those small loads read coarsely. Dual-range weighing softens the effect on some scales; even so, keeping capacity close to the real need is the soundest approach.
How the load is spread matters as much as the total
A long articulated lorry spreads its weight over many axles and most of the platform. A short, heavy tipper or a tracked machine puts the same total weight on a much smaller area. If such vehicles use the site, deck construction and capacity are assessed against that concentrated load; this is where a concrete deck or a stronger beam layout earns its place.
Platform length and vehicle combinations
Platform length is the dimension hardest to change later. The rule is clear: while weighing, every wheel of the vehicle must be on the platform at the same time, with no axle left on a ramp or on the ground. When setting the length, consider each vehicle type separately:
- Rigid trucks: 10–14 m is enough on most sites
- Tractor units with semi-trailers: generally call for 16–18 m
- Drawbar combinations and long special vehicles: depending on overall length, the upper end of the range, up to 22 m
- Sites receiving only short vehicles: the shorter platforms at the lower end of the range
Leaving some room at the front and rear means drivers do not have to position the vehicle perfectly every time, and weighing goes faster. If the platform exactly matches the vehicle’s length, a few centimetres of error is enough for an axle to end up on the ramp and the reading to come out short.
Weighing a long vehicle in two parts on a short platform, front first and then rear, may look possible, but it is slow, introduces error through load transfer at the split, and is not accepted as reliable for trade weighing. Even on a site that only sees short vehicles today, if articulated lorries may arrive within a few years, choosing the next length up costs far less than rebuilding the scale later.
