Ever since Acting Sargent Graeme Shenton ran the trailer weighing operation in Newmerella, Victoria, caravanners around the country have started to take a serious look at the weight of their rigs. Many have been left scratching their heads after discovering they are overweight, some by a very disturbing margin. Since then, Matt Sutton from Everything Caravanning and Camping, with a little help from us here at RVeeThereYet, ran another weighing exercise in Mt Gambier, South Australia where over 50 rigs were weighed in a single day. Unfortunately, due to an issue with the scales, the data collected was inaccurate to a 5% variance. Still, the participants got some idea of their weights and came away with a better understanding of the critical issue of weight distribution. Then on Saturday 12^th August, Matt ran a second weigh-in, this time with a properly calibrated weigh bridge as well as more accurate scales. He also had Graeme Shenton on hand to assist with the exercise and to provide valuable information to the participants. It’s interesting to see the results of the day:

• 79% were over on ATM
• 23% were over GTM
• 6% were over GVM
• 27% were over on BALL WEIGHT

Those numbers are startling and very consistent with the results of the Newmerella exercise.

So what does this all mean?

Well it seems that the situation hasn’t changed much in the last 8 months in so much as nearly 80% of vans were overweight. That figure doesn’t seem to be reducing, but it is early days. At the very least, good numbers of RV owners are serious about finding out what they weigh and, if they find themselves overweight, they are prepared to do something about it. Compared to the relative ignorance of the past, this is a heartening development. As word about these weigh in days gets around, demand for more events like this are ever increasing. Rest assured, there will be one run in Melbourne in the not too distant future.

In the meantime, there are still plenty of opportunities for people to get their rigs weighed. Below you’ll find a link to a list of public weighbridges around the country. In Victoria, many Vic Roads weighbridges are being transformed into self-service operations where you can drive onto the scales and see what your rig weighs in total. It’s a brilliant service and the data you get is a great starting point to figuring out if you’re legal or not.

There is also a lot of help available on the internet and on social media although you will need to sort the wheat from the chaff.  Our site has plenty of great information, as does Everything Caravanning and Camping.

Finally, below is a link to some excellent advice from the man himself, Graeme Shenton where he describes the common misunderstandings when it comes to weighing caravans and how to do the job properly.

We hope you find this little ‘toolkit’ a valuable common resource for all the right information about caravan weights.

Safe Travels