Final answer:
Gross combination weight is the total weight of a vehicle combination such as a truck and its trailer, including their loads. It is calculated by adding the weights of the empty truck, empty trailer, and cargo together. When adding, one must convert all weights to the same unit, either grams or kilograms, to get the sum of weights.
Step-by-step explanation:
The phrase gross combination weight refers to the total weight of a vehicle combination, such as a truck and its trailer, including their loads. To calculate the gross combination weight, one needs to add together the following: the weight of the truck when empty (known as the tare weight), the weight of the trailer when empty, and the weight of the cargo being carried by both the truck and trailer. This calculation involves adding weights in grams and kilograms to get the sum of weights.
For example, if a truck weighs 5,000 kilograms empty, the trailer weighs 2,500 kilograms empty, and the cargo weighs 10,000 kilograms, you would add these weights together:
- Weight of empty truck = 5,000 kg
- Weight of empty trailer = 2,500 kg
- Weight of the cargo = 10,000 kg
Therefore, to calculate the gross combination weight:
5,000 kg + 2,500 kg + 10,000 kg = 17,500 kg
The gross combination weight would be 17,500 kilograms.
When dealing with weights, one must often engage in mixed operations to find metric weight, such as addition, subtraction, and conversion between grams and kilograms. It's essential to perform these operations accurately to ensure safety and compliance with legal weight limits on roads.