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Axtec weighbridge helps Leyland Trucks meet WVTA rules
26th July 2013
A highly accurate dynamic weighbridge installed by axle weighing specialists Axtec is helping the UK's only remaining volume truck maker, Leyland Trucks, to meet the recent European Community WVTA (Whole Vehicle Type Approval) regulations.
The Axtec 4000 weighbridge has been installed at the company's showcase assembly plant in Lancashire where it is being used to weigh every vehicle built, as required under WVTA (Directive 2007/46/EC, as amended).
The vast majority of trucks produced by Leyland are badged DAF and are sold throughout the European Community and worldwide. DAF is the fastest growing truck brand in Europe and has been market leader in the UK for over a decade, currently accounting for around a quarter of all sales.
The Axtec 4000 dynamic axle weighbridge is the most accurate of its type in the world and holds two test certificates; one for accuracy to within 0.5% and the other to within 0.25%. It is the principal weighbridge used by Vosa across its national network of roadside enforcement weighbridges.
Major benefits to Leyland Trucks are the small footprint of the Axtec 4000 and the speed and accuracy with which it can weigh a vehicle with any number of axles. The plate over which the vehicle being weighed travels is flush to the ground and occupies a space of just over two square metres compared to around 45 square metres for a conventional plate weighbridge. Weighing all the axles on a vehicle, whether a two, three or four axle model, is carried out at walking pace and takes less than half a minute.
Of particular appeal to Leyland Trucks was Axtec's ability, using its own in-house resources, to undertake every part of the installation from the civil engineering work to integration with the company's existing data capture software. Axtec was also able to carry out the civil engineering work during a holiday shutdown in order to minimise disruption at the busy plant.
Axtec staff worked closely with Leyland Trucks' IT team to integrate the data being recorded at the weighbridge direct into their vehicle build specification recording system. For DAF Trucks this is a key part of Whole Vehicle Type Approval as it allows a 'Certificate of Conformity' to be produced for each vehicle and accessed and printed in any country in the EC. Vehicle weight information is an important part of this specification data.
The installation was calibrated using Axtec's specially designed testing vehicle based on a DAF XF105 tractor unit. Built at the Leyland plant, this unique vehicle has been designed to provide the different configurations of truck required for testing dynamic weighbridges.
Keith Gresham, Axtec managing director, said: "We are delighted to have been chosen by Leyland Trucks to carry out this installation. Their plant at Leyland is regarded as the most efficient truck assembly operation in Europe and I believe that our 4000 dynamic weighbridge is contributing to this high level of efficiency by providing very accurate data to assist the company in conforming with the WVTA legislation."
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