Gross weight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gross weight is the total weight of something, when combined with something else. For example, when buying a cake, the gross weight will be the weight of the cake and its packaging.
[edit] Gross weight in vehicles
a vehicle when fully loaded with passengers and/or cargo. It usually refers to the fully loaded weight of trucks, automobiles, or train cars like boxcars or tank cars. The term can be even seen at chainsaw manufacturers' product logistics.
Most U.S. cars have a placard (sticker) with this information. It is located typically either in the driver's side door or doorframe, and also may be present on another sticker immediately under the hood near the radiator, although that sticker more typically contains information about the size of the motor, various fluid capacities, etc.
The gross vehicle weight restriction (GVWR) is a term used by vehicle manufacturers to indicate the maximum amount of weight the vehicle is designed to handle. The door-frame placard will probably use this abbreviation. The limiting factor of the vehicle might be the strength of the frame, struts or suspension, tires, or drivetrain components. Knowing the GVWR helps a vehicle owner to not break the vehicle by overloading it.
Most U.S. commercial trucks (especially semi-trailer trucks and dump trucks) are required by licensing authorities to have this information printed on the outside of the vehicle and for it to be clearly visible from a specified distance. Many do so by painting these numbers in a large font on the driver's side of the truck near the door.
Gross weight is often confused with curb weight, which represents the weight of the vehicle with no passengers or cargo. The difference between gross weight and curb weight is the total passenger and cargo weight capacity of the vehicle. For example, a pickup truck with a curb weight of 2000 pounds might have a cargo capacity of 3000 pounds, meaning it can have a gross weight of 5000 pounds when fully loaded.
For vehicles containing no fuel or driver, the gross weight is the is the sum of the tare weight (the unladen vehicle weight) and the weight of the load carried. For the measuring of loads picked up at a depot or materials yard (such as gravel or rock, or other bulk goods), the weight of the driver, fuel, and existing loads are assumed to be constant between the weighing of the vehicle upon entrance (tare) and laden (gross) upon exit. Such weights are determined by a specialized scale called a weigh bridge, and such scales will usually have a computing function within the display to compute tare weight.
