Zero Out or Zeroing Out

Zeroing out is the rebalancing of the truck scale to offset any preexisting loads on the scale such as snow, ice, or rain. Consider this example, a standard truck scale is about 10’ wide by 75’ long or about 750 square feet in area. The water content of snow is anywhere from 5-33% meaning the weight of 1” of snow would range from a ¼ of a pound per square foot to 1 2/3 of a pound per square foot. Doing the math, a truck scale with 1” of snow would have between 195 and 1,245 lbs. of preexisting snow weight that must be removed so the customer’s shipment weight isn’t corrupted. The weigh master can zero out the scale before the truck is weighed so the weight of the truck and the shipment is accurately obtained. Arpin of RI uses Fairbanks Scales, the acknowledged leader in truck scales in the United States.