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Weights & measures

Tare Weight

The measured weight of an empty vehicle or container, subtracted from the loaded weight to get net cargo weight.

Also calledEmpty weightFirst weight

Tare weight is what the weighbridge reads with the vehicle empty. In a standard two-weighment cycle, the empty vehicle is weighed on arrival, loaded, then weighed again — the difference is the net weight of the cargo actually loaded.

For containers the tare is stencilled on the door and is a fixed specification, which is why container operations can use a single weighment: gross minus the stencilled tare gives the cargo weight without a separate empty run over the bridge.

The integrity risk in tare weighment is well known to anyone who has run a weighbridge. If the tare is captured with a part-full fuel tank and the gross with a full one, or if the driver is on the bridge for one weighment and not the other, the net is wrong. Consistent procedure matters more than bridge accuracy.

Same category

Weights & measures

How load is measured, charged and legally limited.

Axle Load Limit

The maximum weight permitted on a single axle or axle group, independent of the vehicle's total weight.

CBM Calculation

Cubic metres of cargo — length × width × height in metres — used to price and plan volume-limited freight.

Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)

The total permissible weight of a vehicle including its own weight, fuel, crew and payload.

Kerb Weight

What a vehicle weighs ready to drive but carrying no cargo — with fuel and fluids, without payload.

Overloading Fine

The penalty for carrying beyond permitted weight, charged as a base amount plus a rate per excess tonne.

Payload Capacity

The weight of cargo a vehicle can legally carry — gross vehicle weight minus its own kerb weight.

Volumetric Weight

A notional weight derived from a shipment's size, used to charge for the space light cargo occupies.

Weighbridge

The platform scale used to weigh loaded vehicles, and the control point for both billing and compliance.

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