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A weighbridge ticket, also called a weight ticket or weighing slip, is the record of a weighing, and it answers one question: how much the load weighed and where that figure came from. To be credible it has to show the gross weight (the vehicle with its load), the tare (the weight of the empty vehicle) and the net weight calculated from them, meaning the weight of the load alone, plus the vehicle identification, the date and time of both weighings and which weighbridge they were made on. A ticket without times or without the weighbridge is useless in a dispute, because there is nothing to match it against. In TraxSystem the ticket is produced automatically after the second weighing, with the weight read straight from the indicator.
What a weighbridge ticket must contain
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| Ticket number | an unambiguous reference in correspondence and in a claim |
| Gross weight, tare, net weight | all three; the net weight alone does not let anyone check the calculation |
| Date and time of both weighings | lets you match the ticket against the entry log and the CCTV footage |
| Vehicle registration number | ties the ticket to a specific load |
| Carrier and driver | shows who is responsible for the load |
| Type of load | without it the ticket does not say what the weight refers to |
| Weighbridge identifier | essential for reconstructing the weighing when the site has several weighbridges |
| Operator | the person responsible for the weighing |
These fields follow from what the ticket is used for in a dispute; they are not a list of legal requirements. Documentation duties for trading in particular goods (waste, aggregates, excise goods) come from separate sector regulations; confirm them with the person responsible for compliance in your company.
Why a handwritten ticket leads to disputes
Writing out a weighbridge ticket by hand takes a moment, and the trouble with it starts later. A weight copied from the display is no longer a measured weight, because there is a person between the indicator reading and the field on the ticket. A customer who weighs the delivery at their end and gets a different figure has grounds for a claim, and the site has nothing to rebut it with.
A ticket issued after the event loses its value as evidence: a document filled in ‘at the end of the day, from the notebook’ proves only that someone remembered something. A paper ticket cannot be searched either. A question about a load from two months ago means going through a lever arch file, and in a dispute every hour counts.
Automatic issuing removes one specific objection: that the figure on the ticket was typed in by a person. The reading goes from the indicator straight into the record, and there is no point at which anyone could make a mistake or adjust something.
Automatic weighbridge tickets in TraxSystem
In TraxSystem the weighbridge ticket is created during the weighing, and nobody has to issue it separately. With two-stage weighing, meaning one weighing on entry and a second on exit, the ticket is ready and printed by the time the vehicle drives off the weighbridge after the second weighing. A copy stays in the system, linked to the entry record, the driver and the transport document.
The ticket is stored with the entry it belongs to, so the question ‘what happened with this load?’ has one answer in one place, together with the entry and exit times and anything that happened in between.
The weighbridge ticket is part of the Weighing module, which covers automatic, two-stage and manual weighing. The module is priced by the number of weighbridges, and above the limit of the largest base package the price is quoted individually. What it costs with one weighbridge and what it costs with three is shown on the pricing page.
What TraxSystem does not do with weighbridge tickets
TraxSystem does not replace legal verification of the weighbridge. The weighbridge is subject to metrology regulations regardless of the software; the system records the indicator reading and is not a measuring instrument itself.
Nor does it automatically check the weight against the transport document. It shows both values side by side, and the operator judges any discrepancy.
It does not handle commercial settlements: a weighbridge ticket is not an invoice, and the system does not generate sales documents from it.
Questions and answers
Can the ticket layout be adapted to ours?
Yes. The layout and content of the ticket are set during implementation, as part of configuring the system to the customer’s process.
Can the ticket be sent to the driver instead of being printed?
How the ticket reaches the driver is agreed during implementation. Either way, the ticket stays in the system in electronic form and is available with the entry record.
How long are weighbridge tickets kept?
As long as the data controller specifies in the retention policy. The system has retention and anonymisation mechanisms, and the customer sets the periods.
See also: Two-stage weighing: net weight without subtracting by hand · Driver data at the gatehouse: how long to keep it and what to delete