{{Short description|Axle-mounted distance measuring device}} {{tone|date=December 2023}} [[File:Hubodometro mecanico veeder root.jpg|thumb|Hubodometer Veeder-Root]] [[File:Vr hubo mech hubo wheel.jpg|thumb|Hubodometer Veeder-Root]] [[File:NMAH-DOR2012-1002-2285.jpg|thumb|Original Veeder Counter]] [[File:Veeder Cyclometer Poster.png|thumb|Veeder Company Cyclometer Poster 1900]]
A '''hubometer''' (from ''hub'', center of a wheel; ''-ometer'', measure of) or '''hubodometer''', is a device mounted on the [[axle]] of any land vehicle to measure the distance traveled based on the rotations of the wheel hub.
The whole device rotates with the wheel, except for an eccentrically mounted weight on an internal shaft. The weight remains pointing downwards, and drives the counting mechanism as the body of the hubometer rotates around it.
== Typical uses == Hubometers are essential for semi-trailers, serving as the primary method to track the accumulated distance traveled throughout the vehicle's lifespan. They find application in buses, trucks, or trailers, particularly those whose tires are provided to the vehicle operator through an independent company under a "price per thousand kilometers" contract. In this arrangement, the tire company installs the hubometer to obtain accurate measurements of the distance covered.
In [[New Zealand]], hubodometers<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/road-user-charges/ |title=Road user charges (RUC) |publisher=Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency |access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref> are used for the calculation of [[Road user charges (New Zealand)|road user charges]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Road user charges (RUC) handbook |issn=1176-9297 |url=https://nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/road-user-charges/docs/road-user-charges-handbook.pdf |date=April 2024 |publisher=Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency |access-date=2025-07-03}}</ref> for [[Heavy goods vehicle|HGVs]] powered by a fuel not taxed at source.
== Historical data == At the Veeder Manufacturing Company in [[Hartford, Connecticut]] production of cyclometers, hubodometers, and other scientific tools was underway for contracts with the United States government. Designed by Curtis Veeder<ref>{{cite web |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1420830 |title=Veeder Counter |publisher=Smithsonian National Museum of American History |access-date=2025-07-03}}</ref> in 1895, the cyclometer measured the distance traveled by bicycles<ref>{{cite web |last1=Muller |first1=Mary |last2=Strogoff |first2=Erin |title=Yankee Ingenuity: Curtis Veeder, a Mechanical Genius and Shrewd Businessman |url=https://connecticuthistory.org/yankee-ingenuity-curtis-veeder-a-mechanical-genius-and-shrewd-businessman/ |website=ConnecticutHistory.org |date=20 October 2022 |access-date=2025-07-03}}</ref> as Curtis was a bicycle enthusiast. He would later adapt the invention to measure distance traveled for [[Car|automobiles]], hubodometers,<ref name="veederroot">{{Cite web |url=https://www.specialtyproducttechnologies.com/veeder-root/products/hubodometers |title=Hubodometers | Electronic & Mechanical Hubodometers |Veeder Root |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=Specialty Product Technologies}}</ref> as well as hand-turned cyclometers for use by the [[National Weather Service|US Weather Bureau]]. The Veeder Manufacturing Company would produce these tools for use by the US government during World War One. These devices would be placed on the wheel of an automobile to measure the distance traveled by counting the rotations of its wheels.
Curtis Veeder acquired the Root Company of Bristol in 1928 before retiring to form the Veeder-Root Corporation.<ref name="veederroot"/> It has remained in operation up to the present day. Utilizing his industrial riches, Veeder constructed an intricate stone mansion located on Elizabeth Street in Hartford. This mansion currently houses the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History.<ref>{{cite web |title=Veeder Manufacturing Company |url=https://library.ccsu.edu/dighistFall16/exhibits/show/connecticut-manufacturing-duri/veeder-manufacturing-company |website=Central Connecticut State University Library |publisher=Digital History 511: Theory & Practice |access-date=2024-04-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Veeder's Successful Development of the 'Big Unit' Market |magazine=Printers' Ink |volume=103 |issue=4 |date=April 25, 1918 |pages=129–132, 137–138 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015016778758&seq=635&q1=Veeder |access-date=2025-07-03}}</ref><ref>{{citation |publisher=Veeder Manufacturing Company |title=[Catalog] |date=<!--no date--> |location=Hartford, Ct. |via=Smithsonian Institution Libraries Trade Literature Collection}}{{fcn|date=July 2025}}</ref>
== See also == * [[Odometer]] * [[Speedometer]] * [[Tachograph]] * [[Tachometer]] * [[Taximeter]] * [[Hobbs meter]] * [[Tach timer]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
[[Category:Vehicle technology]] [[Category:Measuring instruments]] [[Category:Length, distance, or range measuring devices]]
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