OWL EYE® Truck Terminal
What is a load volume scanner? ＋
A load volume scanner measures the volume of a truck load with laser/LiDAR — no contact — instead of weighing mass mechanically. With OWL EYE® TERMINAL, two LiDAR masts flank the lane; the truck drives through at up to 10 km/h while the system captures it as a dense 3D point cloud and computes volume, payload and load height plus a 3D model per vehicle in about 8 seconds.
Compared with a weighbridge: no pit, no stopping, no civil works — and dimensions a scale never sees (load shape, overfill, off-centre loading, residual volume in partially emptied tippers). Use it as a weighbridge alternative or as a second source of truth alongside your certified scale. Details: OWL EYE® TERMINAL — drive-through truck volume measurement.
How does truck volume measurement with LiDAR work? ＋
Truck volume measurement with LiDAR works on the time-of-flight principle: sensors on two masts fire laser pulses at the passing load and reconstruct the surface profile from the reflections. OWL EYE® TERMINAL captures the vehicle as a dense 3D point cloud as it drives through at up to 10 km/h; the point cloud yields a 3D model of the load — volume to ±1 % accuracy, in about 8 seconds.
For payload, the volume is converted via material-calibrated bulk density; empty reference scans per vehicle type also enable residual-volume measurement in partially emptied tippers. Results are handed to truck management, scale software or ERP in under 10 seconds. System page: OWL EYE® TERMINAL; cost comparison vs the scale: weighbridge alternative.
How does a truck volume scanner measure the load volume? ＋
A truck volume scanner measures the load by its geometry, not by its weight. With OWL EYE® TERMINAL, two LiDAR masts flank the lane and capture the truck as a dense 3D point cloud while it drives through at up to 10 km/h; a pass takes about 8 seconds.
The software compares the loaded truck with a reference scan of the same vehicle empty: the space between the empty bed and the load surface is the load volume, measured to ±1 %. Multiplied by the bulk density of the material, the volume gives the payload in tonnes — truck load volume measurement and load height from a single pass.
A truck load scanner complements the weighbridge: for legal-for-trade billing, the certified scale remains the reference.
Do trucks need to stop? ＋
No. OWL EYE® TERMINAL is a drive-through scanner: trucks pass through the dual-mast gantry at 0–10 km/h and the system captures each truck as a dense 3D point cloud while it drives through, processed into a complete 3D load model. Total time per truck is around 8 seconds — no stopping, no manoeuvring, no driver action.
The scan itself needs no weighbridge — for legal-for-trade weighing you keep the certified scale. Volume, mass (density-calibrated) and load shape are delivered to your truck-management system before the vehicle reaches the exit.
How fast can the truck drive through the terminal? ＋
Up to 10 km/h drive-through speed — typical operations run at 5-8 km/h walking pace. The dual-mast LiDAR captures a full 3D snapshot in about 8 seconds.
The truck does not stop, does not need to align precisely (a ±0.5 m lateral tolerance is fine), and does not need a driver action — the system triggers automatically on entry via inductive loop, light barrier or RFID.
How does the volume data integrate with our weighbridge / WAA / ERP? ＋
OWL EYE® TERMINAL ships with REST and OPC UA interfaces and a dedicated weighbridge sync mode that pairs each scan with the matching net-weight reading via vehicle ID, time stamp or RFID. From there the data flows into your WAA, SAP or any ERP — same payload as a manual weighing event, just enriched with volume, load height and a 3D image.
Most terminals are live within one shift after the first commissioning day.
Can OWL EYE® TERMINAL replace a weighbridge for truck load control? ＋
Partly — it depends on what the figure is for. A weighbridge weighs the truck; calibrated and certified, it is the legal-for-trade instrument for billing and custody transfer. OWL EYE® TERMINAL measures the load volume (and, with material density, mass) as the truck drives through at up to 10 km/h — no stopping, no queue.
For legal-for-trade weighing, keep the weighbridge. For load control — checking that trucks are not over- or under-loaded, reconciling deliveries, measuring throughput, capturing load shape and off-centre loading — drive-through volume measurement is the faster, queue-free option, and it sees things a scale cannot (the geometry of the load).
Many sites run both: the weighbridge as the certified mass reference, OWL EYE® TERMINAL for fast load-control on every pass. If you only need load control and not fiscal weighing, a volumetric drive-through measurement can replace the weighbridge process entirely. Tell us your case at info@sachtleben-technology.com.
What does a truck volume measurement system cost? ＋
The OWL EYE® TERMINAL base configuration starts at approximately €25,000 plus an annual maintenance fee. The scanner gantry is simple steelwork — built by your local contractor to our drawings, or we organise the complete installation. Vehicle identification via number plate recognition (ANPR) or RFID is available as an option. Send us your gate layout for a firm quote.
What is drive-through truck scanning and how fast is it? ＋
Drive-through truck scanning captures the volume, height and shape of a truck's load with 3D-LiDAR while the vehicle passes through a gantry — no stop, no manoeuvring, no driver action. With OWL EYE® TERMINAL two LiDAR masts flank the truck lane and capture the vehicle as a dense 3D point cloud as it drives through, which the edge unit turns into a complete 3D load model.
Trucks drive through at 0–10 km/h (typical operation is 5–8 km/h, walking pace). End-to-end the system delivers volume in m³, mass in tonnes (density-calibrated) and a per-truck 3D snapshot to your truck-management system in roughly 8 seconds per truck.
Compared to a weighbridge, a drive-through truck volume scanner removes the queue and adds load shape — useful for over- / under-load checks, supplier reconciliation and off-centre loading alerts. For legal-for-trade billing you keep the certified weighbridge; for everything else, the scan is the faster instrument.
How many more trucks per hour can OWL EYE® TERMINAL handle vs a weighbridge? ＋
In practice 2 to 4× the throughput of a stop-and-weigh process, depending on layout.
A weighbridge typically processes 30 to 60 trucks per hour — each truck has to stop on the bridge, the driver has to wait for the ticket, and the queue builds at the entrance during peak hours. OWL EYE® TERMINAL measures the load volume as the truck drives through at up to 10 km/h: no stopping, no queue, no driver interaction. Realistic throughput sits at 120 to 200 trucks per hour on a single drive-through lane.
The throughput gain only translates to a real operational benefit if the rest of your terminal (gate-in, gate-out, ERP booking) can keep up — we model that for you. For sites where the weighbridge is the bottleneck on peak shipping days, a drive-through volume lane often removes a queue that costs more in driver demurrage than the sensor itself. Tell us your peak-hour truck count at info@sachtleben-technology.com.
Can LiDAR truck scanning replace a weighbridge? ＋
For dispatch, reconciliation, load-shape control and per-truck volume — yes. The OWL EYE® Truck Terminal gantry runs at ±1 % volume accuracy and ±2–3 % mass after a one-off material density calibration, which covers the vast majority of operational use cases at higher throughput than a weighbridge.
For legal-for-trade billing (MID / OIML certification) a weighbridge stays the reference instrument — LiDAR is not certified for custody transfer. The practical pattern at multi-material sites is to keep one calibrated weighbridge for invoicing and run a LiDAR gantry for everything operational: dispatch, queue management, under-/over-fill flagging and per-material reconciliation. The full positioning argument is on the weighbridge alternative page.
What is the accuracy of LiDAR vs a weighbridge? ＋
A modern certified weighbridge sits at 0.1–0.5 % mass after legal-for-trade calibration. OWL EYE® Truck Terminal LiDAR delivers ±1 % volume directly from the 3D scan and ±2–3 % mass after a one-off per-material density calibration.
The accuracy difference matters at the level of a single fiscal invoice — it does not matter at the level of dispatch decisions, daily material balance or under-/over-fill control, where ±2–3 % is far inside the practical tolerance bulk operations already accept (loading variation between trucks is typically larger than this). The detailed side-by-side data table is on the LiDAR vs weighbridge page.
How much does a weighbridge cost vs an OWL EYE® gantry? ＋
A 60-tonne legal-for-trade truck weighbridge — pit, civil works, load cells, software, gate hardware — typically lands in the €120k–€180k range before site preparation. Recurring annual cost: legal recalibration, load-cell replacement, pit drainage.
An OWL EYE® Truck Terminal gantry — two synchronised 3D-LiDAR heads, gantry steel, dashboard licence, commissioning — typically sits in the €30k–€50k envelope for a complete project including commissioning; base configurations start at approx. €25,000. No pit, no load-cell replacement, no annual legal-for-trade recalibration. Recurring cost is one yearly window service and the software subscription.
Where the comparison decisively flips is on civil works: a new weighbridge pit alone can run €30k–€60k, and the prepared LiDAR surface is closer to €5k. For the full TCO break-down see the weighbridge alternative page.