Metal Recycling, Scrap Processing & Salvage calculator
Truck scale capacity Calculator
A scrap yard's truck scale is the choke point that gates how many loads can be bought and shipped in a shift. This calculator estimates effective good throughput by taking weighings per cycle times available cycles, then derating for scale and traffic uptime and clean-ticket first-pass yield. Scale operators and yard managers use it to size staffing, decide whether a second scale or in-ground upgrade pays off, and quantify how reweighs and downtime erode capacity. When inbound trucks queue onto the road, this number tells you whether the bottleneck is mechanical uptime or ticketing errors.
What this calculator does
- Estimate truck scale capacity for metal recycling, scrap processing and salvage using production-ready inputs so teams can confirm whether capacity can cover demand before committing the schedule.
- Use it when truck scale capacity in metal recycling, scrap processing and salvage is being asked to take on more work and you need to know if there is room.
- It computes good truck weighings per shift after derating gross scale capacity for uptime and clean-ticket first-pass yield.
Formula used
- Gross truck scale capacity = truck scale capacity output per cycle × available truck scale capacity cycles
- Good truck scale capacity = gross capacity × expected truck scale capacity uptime × expected truck scale capacity first-pass yield
Inputs explained
- Trucks weighed per scale cycle:
- Available weighing cycles per shift:
- Scale & traffic uptime:
- Clean-ticket first-pass yield:
How to use the result
- Use it when planning shift staffing, evaluating scale upgrades, or diagnosing why the inbound queue keeps backing up.
- It models steady-state throughput and ignores arrival surges, so a yard meeting this capacity on average can still queue badly during a morning rush.
Current U.S. benchmarks
- The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
- U.S. iron and steel imports ran $2.1B in May 2026 (Census International Trade). The U.S. ran a trade deficit of $0.4B in the category that month. Import volumes are the pressure gauge behind tariff and reshoring decisions.
Common questions
- How do you calculate truck scale capacity per shift? Multiply trucks weighed per cycle by available cycles to get gross capacity, then multiply by uptime and first-pass yield. Here 4 x 480 x 0.90 x 0.97 = about 1,676 good weighings.
- What is gross vs good truck scale capacity? Gross is the raw ceiling, 4 x 480 = 1,920 weighings; good capacity, 1,676, is what survives after downtime and reweigh losses.
- How much capacity do reweighs and downtime cost? In this example downtime loss is 192 weighings and yield loss is about 52, so roughly 244 weighings, or 13% of gross, are lost before you count good throughput.
- What is a good first-pass yield for scale tickets? Top yards run 97-99% clean tickets; the 97% here means about 3 in 100 weighings need a reweigh or correction, a realistic figure for busy ferrous scales.
- Should I add a second scale? Compare good capacity, 1,676 here, against peak inbound demand. If demand routinely exceeds good capacity and uptime is already high, a second scale or bypass lane is justified.
Last reviewed 2026-05-12.