Afternoon,
I know your supposed to add the kerbside axle weights to your payload axle weights when working out your axle loading but how do you know what they are. If you know your kerbside weight is say 10t with fuel, driver, eggy vest and ■■■■ etc. How do you work out your kerbside axle weights for this?
Cheers
Jonny
Jwalsh8:
Afternoon,I know your supposed to add the kerbside axle weights to your payload axle weights when working out your axle loading but how do you know what they are. If you know your kerbside weight is say 10t with fuel, driver, eggy vest and ■■■■ etc. How do you work out your kerbside axle weights for this?
Cheers
Jonny
Payload is GVW minus empty weight
Axle weights always add up to more than GVW to allow for some weight flexibility when loading
Example
GVW 18000
Axle 1 8500
Axle 2 10500
Total axle weight = 19000
Empty weight 8000 - weighbridged to find that out
Max payload 10000
don’t know what you mean by kerbside axle weights and payload axle weights, the axle weights are stamped on a small metal plate which is attached to the chassis somewhere. if your in any doubt about overloading find the centre point between the kingpin and first axle and load outwards towards the headboard and rear of the trailer/vehicle. in laymans terms find out the tare at a weighbridge and deduct that from the gross weight and your left with your payload i.e what you can carry this is what you need to watch for to save a gross overload, naughty, naughty in mr vosas book and the fines increase according to the size of the overload…hope this helps
ROG:
Jwalsh8:
Afternoon,I know your supposed to add the kerbside axle weights to your payload axle weights when working out your axle loading but how do you know what they are. If you know your kerbside weight is say 10t with fuel, driver, eggy vest and ■■■■ etc. How do you work out your kerbside axle weights for this?
Cheers
Jonny
Payload is GVW minus empty weight
Axle weights always add up to more than GVW to allow for some weight flexibility when loading
Example
GVW 18000
Axle 1 8500
Axle 2 10500
Total axle weight = 19000
Empty weight 8000 - weighbridged to find that out
Max payload 10000
Cool I get that but how do you work out the kerbside axle weights? So you have 10 tonne payload and work out your axle loading. You then need to add the kerbside weights to that to have the true axle load. How do you work out the axle weights when unloaded?
think your getting in a fankle over knowing the axle weights, why you would need to know is not relevant when loading properly but as I said if you must need to know "they are stamped on a little metal plate that says “AXLE WEIGHTS” and its rivitted to the chassis somewhere or on the door post in the case of a rigid. your tare and your gross weight are the figures you really need to know. if you have an overloaded vehicle you will most likely be able to tell its overloaded as soon as you move
Jwalsh8:
How do you work out the axle weights when unloaded?
Take it to a weighbridge that does axle weighing
Jwalsh8:
Afternoon,I know your supposed to add the kerbside axle weights to your payload axle weights when working out your axle loading but how do you know what they are. If you know your kerbside weight is say 10t with fuel, driver, eggy vest and ■■■■ etc. How do you work out your kerbside axle weights for this?
Cheers
Jonny
Hi Jonny,
Below is a worked example, but it comes with a caveat…
This will only work for a 2-axle rigid, because the calculations for multi-axle rigids and artics are quite different.
In this example, we know that the vehicle weighs 8,000Kg with you in the cab and when fuelled and ready to go.
You know this because you went to a weighbridge and got a weight ticket when you had a full fuel tank and with you sitting in the cab when they weighed the vehicle. ( = Kerbside weight.)
We also know that the vehicle is allowed to weigh a maximum of 18,000Kg, cos that’s written on the vehicle plate in the cab.
We have measured the distance between the axle-centres and found that it is 5 metres. ( = Wheelbase.)
The sender of the goods has promised you that the load weighs exactly 10,000Kgs ( They never tell lies. 
)
In this example, the load is of regular dimensions and density.
Method
Measure the length of the load and find the center of gravity.
(It’s the blue spot in the centre of the cargo in the picture)
Using the dimensions I’ve added in the picture, we can now apply the formula as follows:
“P” = Payload (10 Tonnes) multiplied by “D” (2 metres)… so 10 X 2 = 20
“D” is the distance from the rear axle to the imaginary line downwards from the centre of gravity
Now divide the 20 by 5, (the wheelbase) which gives you an answer of 4 tonnes imposed on the front axle.
Therefore, the load imposed on the rear axle is 6 tonnes
You chose to use the dimension from the rear axle to the centre of gravity, so the 4 is the weight (in tonnes) imposed on the front axle.
If you took the dimension from the centre of gravity to the front axle the calculation would be
10 X 3 = 30
30 divided by 5 = 6, so the load imposed on the rear axle is 6 tonnes, therefore the load imposed on the front axle is 4 tonnes.
It doesn’t matter whether you use the forward OR rearward dimension for your calculation, please remember that the answer will always be for the other axle.
Once you know the answer to that, the other axle is carrying the rest. 
The above is highly theoretical, but it will give you the basis to make adjustments for use in the real world when you need to use your judgement for irregularly shaped loads, or machinery which is heavier at one end than the other.
I hope this helps.
dieseldave:
Jwalsh8:
Afternoon,I know your supposed to add the kerbside axle weights to your payload axle weights when working out your axle loading but how do you know what they are. If you know your kerbside weight is say 10t with fuel, driver, eggy vest and ■■■■ etc. How do you work out your kerbside axle weights for this?
Cheers
Jonny
Hi Jonny,
Below is a worked example, but it comes with a caveat…
This will only work for a 2-axle rigid, because the calculations for multi-axle rigids and artics are quite different.
In this example, we know that the vehicle weighs 8,000Kg with you in the cab and when fuelled and ready to go.
We also know that the vehicle is allowed to weigh a maximum of 18,000Kg, cos that’s written on the vehicle plate in the cab.
We have measured the distance between the axle-centres and found that it is 5 metres. ( = Wheelbase.)
The sender of the goods has promised you that the load weighs exactly 10,000Kgs ( They never tell lies.
In this example, the load is of regular dimensions and density.0Method
Measure the length of the load and find the center of gravity.
(It’s the blue spot in the centre of the cargo in the picture)Using the dimensions I’ve added in the picture, we can now apply the formula as follows:
“P” = Payload (10 Tonnes) multiplied by “D” (2 metres)… so 10 X 2 = 20
“D” is the distance from the rear axle to the imaginary line downwards from the centre of gravityNow divide the 20 by 5, (the wheelbase) which gives you an answer of 4 tonnes imposed on the front axle.
Therefore, the load imposed on the rear axle is 6 tonnesYou chose to use the dimension from the rear axle to the centre of gravity, so the 4 is the weight (in tonnes) imposed on the front axle.
10 X 3 = 30
30 divided by 5 = 6, so the load imposed on the rear axle is 6 tonnes, therefore the load imposed on the front axle is 4 tonnes.
Once you know the answer to that, the other axle is carrying the rest.
The above is highly theoretical, but it will give you the basis to make adjustments for use in the real world when you need to use your judgement for irregularly shaped loads, or machinery which is heavier at one end than the other.
I hope this helps.
Hi thanks for that 
Im pretty happy with how to work out how much of the load is being imposed on each axle but my DVSA book says you then need to add Axle Kerb Weights to that to get the true figure.
Say in an 18 t truck the vehicle plate says 8.5t front axle and 9.5t rear axle.
That doesn’t mean I can put 8.5t of a 10t load on the front axle (does it?) because some of that 8.5t would be taken up by the truck itself.
So what I want to know is… How do I know how much I have left from those axle limits to use for the load?
Sorry if I’m missing something I just really want to understand this.
Jwalsh8:
Say in an 18 t truck the vehicle plate says 8.5t front axle and 9.5t rear axle.
That doesn’t mean I can put 8.5t of a 10t load on the front axle (does it?) because some of that 8.5t would be taken up by the truck itself.So what I want to know is… How do I know how much I have left from those axle limits to use for the load?
By taking it empty to an axle weighing weighbridge - that is the only way
you are over complicating and confusing yourself thinking about kerbside axle weights, the axle weights are stamped on the vehicle weights plate. as per your example, to put 8.5t on a 10t axle would have to be (hypothetically) something like 4 x 2t pallets double stacked at the headboard to make that possible, think about it would you load a rigid truck that way.
if you consider the “axle weights” plus the weight of the vehicle itself THIS IS THE TARE WEIGHT, now as you already know the gross weight subtract the TARE weight from the GROSS weight and your left with your payload. now 99% of the time common sense would say spread the load evenly over the bed of the truck not only to evenly distribute the weight but also for stability when driving, so what I’m really saying to you is don’t worry about how much weight you can impose on any given axle, KNOW your payload and always allow 250kgs leeway on a gross weight in case you need to fuel up en route distribute the load as evenly as is possible and the axle weights will take care of themselves. you would never leave the yard if you constantly worry if you have overloaded an axle it sounds complicated maybe but gross and tare weights are the weights you have to keep in your head
Jwalsh8:
Hi thanks for that
Hi,
I think you might have slightly misread your book mate.
You only need to start thinking about imposed weights when you’re carrying something fairly heavy, because at all other times, you’ll be well within the limits.
Jwalsh8:
Say in an 18 t truck the vehicle plate says 8.5t front axle and 9.5t rear axle.That doesn’t mean I can put 8.5t of a 10t load on the front axle (does it?)
That’s right mate, the figure given on the plate (per axle) is the total weight that the axle can transmit to the road.
Jwalsh8:
… because some of that 8.5t would be taken up by the truck itself.
Correct!!
Jwalsh8:
So what I want to know is… How do I know how much I have left from those axle limits to use for the load?Sorry if I’m missing something I just really want to understand this.
That’s done by knowing your kerbside weight and the weight of the load, then doing the calculation in my picture.
Most drivers will develop a ‘feel’ for the job as they go along, because they get the idea of roughly what their vehicle is legally allowed to carry as a maximum.
You will also develop a ‘feel’ for this once you do it for real.
My tip for now is… please don’t look too deeply at this subject, cos there’s probably no need at this stage once you’ve got the basics.
Cheers guys that’s a big help .