Yeah, its something i should have remembered along the way, but never bothered. Since i dont go to CA much, its never worth remembering. I have a load i'm picking up going to CA...but i'm dropping it at a terminal in KC. But it has to scale out for CA. whats the rule of thumb to make it legal for CA's 40 ft law? no more than 8 holes from the front?

 

The only "dumb question" here is the one you DON'T ask!!

 

Why guess, break out your tape measure and measure it.

 

You nailed it!!!! Holes may vary ( and believe me they do ) Always measure it. Center of king-pin to center of back axle. I ran from Ga. to Ca. and back many times and NEVER a problem.

 

no single trailer is made the same. some can be 8 holes, some 5, and some 3 or 4. take a tape measure, stick the start of it on the rear of the trailer, and pull it 10'. that is where the 40' kingpin measurement is. most of the trailers are going to end up setting at about 39 1/2ft. some will set directly on the 40' mark. there's nothing wrong with setting it a hole or two, if possible, less of the 40' mark.

 

Only problem....... some trailers have different King Pin settings. Granted, most are now standard but there are some that are different.

 

that's why you take a tape measure and run it from the rear to the 10' mark. i've never had a problem doing it that way.

 

they ended up loading the trailer REALLY nose heavy. I scaled out first time with 4 holes from the front (newer trailer, so holes are close together), and my drives were 35k. i move the tandems full forward, and my drives and tandems were both near 25k. go figure.....

 

To answer the question:

For 53-foot trailers in California, the distance between the king pin and the center of the rearmost axle of a tandem group may not exceed 40 feet. It has nothing to do with holes or distance from the rear of a trailer--it's 40 feet maximum, king pin to rearmost tandem axle on a 53. Period. It can be less than 40 feet. Triaxles are another story.

You legal your tandem setting for weight, then you measure, then you slide the tandem if you have to; it may not be possible to legal a real heavy load in a 53 headed to California. It depends on how the weight is distributed in the box.

Best to use a tape measure--just lay it on the ground. Lay it straight.

I ran heavy going into California all the time and their KP rule was no big deal. Once in awhile, a shipper had to shift freight inside a trailer so I could comply with CA's KP rule; I can't recall that that was ever a problem. I didn't question the CA KP rule and I have no idea how it originated. Basically, CA is saying that it prefers rear overhang to off-track. Whatever.

The CA 40-foot king pin rule doesn't apply to 48-foot trailers.

 

That seems strange to me, as I've pulled trailers that would off-track even with the axles all the way forward. Granted, we normally run with our axles all the way back to be legal.
Also, some of our trailers have the kingpin depth marked (It's usually 42"). We do have some that are set deeper, though.

Since you're heading for Cali, I must ask. What is your company doing to be in compliance with their idling laws these days?