Technical Feasibility of Deceit While a Vehicle is Weighed in Motion with a Very Low Speed

Authors:

• Zbigniew Lozia

Abstract

The study concerns the problem of overloading the vehicles driven on public roads. The gross vehicle mass and individual axle loads are limited by legal regulations. However, a tricking method, applicable to most popular designs of motor vehicles and multiaxial tractor-semitrailer units, has been shown that the weighing inspectors, even if provided with precise scales, may be deceived without any interference in the scale operation. In such a method, the current vehicle state may be changed by modifying the stiffness of individual pneumatic suspension springs, which is now technically feasible. The author used two authorial vehicle models and a simulation program. Calculation results obtained for a four-axle motor vehicle and a five-axle tractor-semitrailer unit, taken as an example, have been demonstrated. They show that a deceit is possible when a vehicle is weighed in motion with a very low speed.