Air-Weigh, Eugene OR, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Steve Womack, dealer sales manager, and Martin Ambros, president and CEO of Air-Weigh, display samples of products that the company has introduced recently.
Air-Weigh, Eugene OR, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Steve Womack, dealer sales manager, and Martin Ambros, president and CEO of Air-Weigh, display samples of products that the company has introduced recently.
Air-Weigh, Eugene OR, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Steve Womack, dealer sales manager, and Martin Ambros, president and CEO of Air-Weigh, display samples of products that the company has introduced recently.
Air-Weigh, Eugene OR, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Steve Womack, dealer sales manager, and Martin Ambros, president and CEO of Air-Weigh, display samples of products that the company has introduced recently.
Air-Weigh, Eugene OR, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Steve Womack, dealer sales manager, and Martin Ambros, president and CEO of Air-Weigh, display samples of products that the company has introduced recently.

Air-Weigh celebrates 25 years of watching weight

Oct. 1, 2012
Air-Weigh celebrated its 25th year of business by introducing a variety of products designed to provide real-time data on truck and trailer loading. The

Air-Weigh celebrated its 25th year of business by introducing a variety of products designed to provide real-time data on truck and trailer loading.

The original Air-Weigh concept was the inspiration of an Oregon truck driver who was tired of paying hefty overweight citations hauling logs but had no way to accurately determine his payload until it was too late. That led to a company formed in a garage with 2 employees, and prototypes of scales that measure weight by sensing how much air pressure is needed in air-suspended vehicles to maintain ride height. More weight on the vehicle requires more air in the springs; hence the name “Air-Weigh.”

Today, Air-Weigh's headquarters in Eugene, Oregon, comprise 20,000 square feet. The company distributes across multiple channels, including dealer and direct distribution for retrofits, and on new vehicles at OEMs. The distribution network now reaches Europe, Australia, and South America.

Air-Weigh has rolled out a range of new products this year, some of which have taken the company into new markets. For example:

  • The BinMaxx scale, which Air-Weigh announced in April, is a new product for a market outside the company's traditional market. The BinMaxx electronic scale measures the weight on the front-end loading arm of a refuse vehicle. Developed in conjunction with McNeilus companies, the scale can be loaded onto any front-end loader without having to purchase and install custom forks. It can provide both static and dynamic measurements of bin net weight.

  • Integrated data collection. Also in late April, the company announced it is teaming with Routeware to integrate data from on-board scales into the HomePort refuse solution system. The newly incorporated data will allow fleet managers in the refuse industry to monitor the weight of their vehicles and see vehicle weight information in real time.

  • Standalone trailer scale Air-Weigh expanding its low-cost QuickLoad on-board scale product line with the addition of a standalone trailer scale. The new QuickLoad Trailer Scale combines Air-Weigh's electronics, software and sensor technology in a sealed enclosure. The scale is designed to be mounted on the outside of any trailer, and can be installed in about 20 minutes with either permanent adhesive or hidden throughbolts.

The new QuickLoad Trailer Scale features an advanced graphics display with touch screen technology and molded electrical and air connections. The new design eliminates openings in the enclosure for buttons, switches, panels, connectors or air fittings.

  • Linking with trailer tracking. In March, Air-Weigh announced the availability of a data interface between trailer tracking solutions and the new QuickLoad Trailer Scale. Partnering with Blue Tree Systems, a provider of vehicle tracking and communications equipment, the interface has enhanced the R:COM Trailer Tracking and Temperature Management System to acquire trailer weight from the Air-Weigh scale.

For trailers with both the Air-Weigh QuickLoad Trailer Scale and the Blue Tree Systems R:COM equipment, real-time trailer weight information may be transferred from the scale to the R:COM equipment over the new interface. Trailer weight is then seamlessly transmitted over a wireless network to the customer back office software.

Air-Weigh credits its growth over the past 25 years, in part, to the advantages of on-board weighing that eliminate the prospect of overloading a truck and getting an overweight ticket. The company also says on-board scales saves the out-of-route miles to check-weigh, check-weigh fees, and wasted time reworking loads.

Air-Weigh scales are available as data-book options at most truck and trailer OEMs including Wabash, Utility, Great Dane and 125 other trailer OEMs; chassis manufacturers such as Mack, Volvo, Freightliner, Navistar and Western Star; plus Heil, McNeilus, Autocar, and Labrie.

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