Diminishing Payloads

The Department for transport code of practice requires 50% of the load to be secured to prevent rearward and sideways movement.

When an entire load is delivered in one drop using the appropriate securing, it’s quite straight forward. However, this becomes more difficult for vehicles involved in multi-drops or carrying diminishing loads.

Multi-site deliveries can cause issues with responsibility for the safety of the load.

Plan For The Diminishing Load

Diminishing loads should be accounted for at the planning stage.

You should develop a clear system of work and communicate it to all parties so there’s no misunderstanding about what should be done at each delivery.

Axle Weights

The axle weight is the total weight transmitted to the road by all the wheels on ONE axle. The formula for calculating the axle load is shown in the video below

Overloading An Axle

It makes the vehicle less stable, difficult to steer and will take longer to stop. Vehicles can react differently when the maximum weights which they are designed to carry are exceeded

Strain is put on vehicle tyres. Overloading can cause the tyres to overheat and wear rapidly which increases the chance of premature, dangerous and expensive failure. Brake fade can be a common occurrence and the steering may become heavy if an axle is overloaded

Overweight Penalties

When a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer is issued for an excess weight offence, the examiner will also prevent the vehicle going any further.

This is to stop an overweight vehicle being used on the road and to preserve road safety. A fixed penalty is the preferred option for dealing with excess weight offences unless:

The offence is too serious and the maximum number of penalty notices would be exceeded.