Everquip: load simulation cuts legwork from laden brake testing
Everquip Garage Equipment is reporting sustained demand from HGV and PSV operators for load simulation brake testing, a year on from DVSA’s approval of load simulation brake rollers at annual test in August 2025.
The company’s LiftBed system, manufactured by Italian brake testing specialist Vamag and distributed exclusively in the UK by Everquip, applies hydraulic force through the vehicle’s axle to replicate a fully laden condition. A cycle simulates 65 per cent of design axle weight in approximately 18 seconds per axle, replacing the physical loading of ballast that has typically added up to two hours to a laden test.
The system is built for continuous ATF lane duty, using 4.5-tonne load cells offering 18 tonnes per wheel, and soft start 15kW motors that reduce strain on the gearbox under repeated testing.
It also opens up a category of vehicle that has always been awkward to test, says Everquip: specialist electromagnetic braked motors are fitted as standard, reducing the risk of sparks, which allows operators of petroleum tankers, chemical trailers and refuse vehicles to test under simulated load rather than filling with water ballast or making the vehicle safe beforehand.
Commercial manager Richard Evans said: “The operational reason for testing unladen has largely disappeared. That matters, because an unladen result is a much harder thing to justify to an examiner than it was two years ago.”
Everquip supplies the system as a standalone tester or integrated into a full test lane alongside inspection pits and vehicle lifts, and manages civil works and installation directly. The company does not charge for the mandatory software updates required to meet DVSA-approved equipment requirements, which it estimates can otherwise cost operators between £10,000 and £18,000 across the working life of a tester.
