TIMBER LOADS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22475, 20 July 1936, Page 12

TIMBER LOADS

ROTORUA PROSECUTION ACCURACY IN WEIGHING METHOD DISCUSSED IN COURT [by TELEGRAPH —OWN correspondent] ROTORUA, Saturday A question of considerable interest to the timber trade was discussed in the Rotorua Magistrate's Court yesterday before Mr. S. L. Paterson, S.M., when tho Main Highways inspector, Mr. 1). M. Ford, proceeded against G. T. Lodge, contractor, of Rotorua, on a charge of exceeding the classification on the Mamaku Hill Road, and also of having an insufficient licence to cover his load. The inspector said the lorry, owned by Lodge and carrying a load of green timber, when weighed by means of loadameters, showed an overall weight of seven tons, whereas the road limit was 6>j tons. The question debated was whether loadameters, a device generally used by traffic inspectors for the weighing of heavy vehicles on the road, could be regarded as accurate. Mr. J']. Roe, who appeared for Lodge, closely questioned the inspector regarding his computations, and suggested to the magistrate that if the weighing had not been carried out on level ground, or if there had been stones or other irregularities under the base of the loadameter, an error might have occurred in the weighing. The inspector said he was always most careful when weighing and had taken particular care to ensure that the lorry was weighed on level ground. Mr. Roe said tho State Forest Department was now carting a considerable quantity of timber in the district, and as a guide to its carriers _ had drawn up a scale showing the weights of the various classes of timber, according to the length loaded. He suggested that, using this scale as a guide, Lodge was entitled to tho benefit of the doubt. The magistrate said that the accuracy of loadameters had been discussed on a number of occasions, and they had always been found to be accurate. His experience was that they usually weighed slightly lighter than weighbridges. He did not think council could bring a scale of computations or specialised evidence against accurate recordings taken by means of these devices. So far as the State Forest Department scale was concerned, he thought that if the department desired that this should be generally adopted it should co-operate to that end with the Main Highways Board.