Light-duty trucks have grown in popularity relative to heavy-duty trucks in part because of their ability to achieve higher gas mileage. Due to the ever-increasing prices for oil and gas, the need for lighter weight and lighter duty trucks is expected to continue to grow.
Many truck owners, however, still choose to purchase a truck rather than a car because they have a need to carry loads that are less than ideal for cars to carry. For example, trucks with an open bed are more able to accommodate oddly shaped and large objects that may need to be carried when a vehicle owner moves from one residence to another. Additionally, a vehicle owner may prefer to pull a recreational vehicle such as a snowmobile or a jet ski with a truck rather than a car. A light-duty truck might be ideal for a consumer who will use the vehicle primarily as a commuter vessel, but who occasionally needs to carry loads that are less than suitable for cars.
Light-duty trucks sometimes have a physical appearance that is similar to that of a heavy duty truck. For this reason, it may be tempting for drivers of such vehicles to attempt to use light-duty trucks as though they were heavy-duty trucks on occasion. Such use can be problematic, however. For example, such use can reduce gas mileage performance of the light-duty truck. Such use can also harm the light-duty truck in many ways, including placing undue wear and tear on a suspension system and additional strain on the engine.
In presently available systems for light-duty trucks, it may be difficult for a light-duty truck driver to know when he or she has overloaded the vehicle bed or overloaded the towing capacity of the truck, or has an unbalanced load. Thus, he or she can unwittingly carry a load that is higher than that for which the truck is rated, and the load may be uneven.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a system for light-duty truck drivers so that they could readily know, when carrying a load in a truck bed or towing a trailer, whether the load is within the recommended limit for the truck or whether the recommended limit has been exceeded. It is desirable for such a system to be able to detect uneven loads. It is also desirable for such a system to be simple to manufacture, install and use. It is also desirable for such a system to be cost-effective.