Freight Seesaw

Freight Seesaw™ helps truckers comply with axle weight regulations by calculating the balance point of palletized freight, a number that measures the nose‑to‑rear weight distribution of a truckload based on its pallet pattern.

Anytime you haul a heavy load, enter the pallet pattern into Freight Seesaw to get its balance point. If the drive and trailer axles scale about the same, this is a good balance point for your rig. If the drive axles are way heavier than the trailer axles, the balance point is too low. If the trailer axles are way heavier than the drive axles, it is too high. It only takes a few trials to discover which balance points work best for your equipment. For best results start with loads that have the same freight on every pallet.

CAUTION: Exact pallet dimensions must be entered to get accurate results. Measure one pallet with a tape measure if you are unsure about the pallet size.

CAUTION: Freight Seesaw assumes there is no space between rows. When freight overhang prevents the pallets from touching, enter the freight dimension in place of the pallet dimension.

Freight Seesaw also assumes the freight is centered on each pallet. This is usually true. When it is not, either try to adjust the balance point accordingly, or do not use Freight Seesaw at all.

CAUTION: Freight Seesaw does not measure gross weight or replace scaling. It only helps to get the individual axle weights legal before scaling when the gross weight is already legal.

The balance point is where a seesaw support would balance the load perfectly without tipping to either the nose or rear. Freight Seesaw calculates this point for any loading pattern on same‑sized pallets. It appears beneath the red triangle.

NOTE: The balance point is expressed in the same units as the pallet size. Users outside of North America may wish to use 2 cm as the base unit instead of 1 inch.

For those familiar with physics, the balance point is just the nose‑to‑rear center of gravity of the pattern. For a given rig, any two pallet patterns with the same balance point will always yield the same axle weights (assuming the freight weighs the same).

DISCLAIMER: Use Freight Seesaw at your own risk. The app is offered as is without any warranties, explicit or implied. The developer will not be held responsible for any damages or failures of any kind associated with use of the app, including but not limited to: reloads, overweight citations (of any kind), hardware malfunctions, inaccurate data entry, or failure to understand what the app does.

The calculation Freight Seesaw performs is based on time-tested physical principles discovered by Sir Isaac Newton hundreds of years ago. When used properly, it can help avoid returning to the dock for reloads after scaling.