Imagine being robbed of millions of dollars and having no idea how or when it even happened. You could be putting your trust in weight readings that are a cheat and costing you tons.
Cheating at a truck weigh station is surprisingly easy and becoming more common in all parts of the world. This type of theft can take many forms, and without proper protection, can go undetected for months. So what are you doing to ensure your business is protected from fraud and theft at the weigh station?
To help protect you and your business, the experts at Active Scale have put together the five most common ways thieves are cheating truck scales and how you can stop it from happening to you.
1. Incorrect truck positioning
One of the most common and simplest ways to trick a truck scale is to position it improperly on the weighbridge.
If the station is unattended or so busy that the attendant cannot closely supervise each truck, a driver can potentially drive onto the scale while leaving his back axles off or pull so far forward that his front axles are off. If guard rails are not present, then a driver can also pull off to either side.
Any of these tactics will cause the truck to have a lighter weight reading, and if the driver is buying from you, then they are stealing your product off the scales.
On the other hand, if the driver is selling to you and they want to weigh heavier than it actually it is, they may pull so far forward that another truck can place its front axles on the scale to create the illusion of a far heavier truck.
2. Lightening the truck’s load
This type of deception happens most often at a place with two-pass transactions that have some distance between the scale and the loading/unloading location.
Many times, a driver will weigh in initially and then either load or unload additional materials, including people! The change will happen between weigh-ins and the driver gets paid for the excess.
3. Altering weight data
Sometimes a driver and a scale-house attendant will work together to alter the data from a truck’s weigh-in. Then the attendant takes a cut of whatever the driver makes off the deception.
There’s also the issue of insecure software that can be easily hacked and altered, resulting in the same type of catastrophic loss for businesses.
4. Load cell tampering
Tampering with load cells is gaining popularity as a method of cheating truck scales. It can go unnoticed for months and cost a company thousands of dollars.
Sometimes, the load cell itself is tampered with, or it may be the cables or junction box. Usually, a device is put in at some point in the system, which allows the weight to shift in the truck driver’s favour.
These devices can, unfortunately, be purchased online, and the driver simply has to install them under the cover of the night, allowing the weight reading to be controlled by a remote from the comfort of the driver’s cab. Regular inspections of all components of your truck scale can help to identify and prevent this from taking place.
5. Disappearing goods
Sometimes employees decide they want a raise, and they steal to get it.
After loading up initially with the goods or materials they are transporting, they will stop somewhere along the way and stash a small amount of the goods in a secret location. When they arrive for the weigh-in at their destination, the difference can’t even be detected. Over time, however, this type of crime can amount to a huge loss for the company.
So how can you keep your truck scale protected and prevent theft or other costly problems? There are numerous options for safeguarding the integrity of your truck scales from gates that prevent additional trucks from entering the scale to very secure software.
As the largest Canadian manufacturer of electronic truck scales, protecting your business from scale theft is one of Active Scale’s top priorities. Contact us today to learn what Active Scale can do for your business.
