weights and axle slides
 

Hi all,, very new to potential overweight situations and would like your thoughts on the best thing to do. Yesterday I had the following load of pallitized stone ( each pallet 2800# )
Total Gross--78620
steer ---------10920
drive----------34460
trailer---------33240

53' trailer
T800 KW day cab

with my drive 460# over and my steers 9000 light, I was thinking that sliding my 5th wheel forward a notch or two would have taken care of the drive ( couldn't do it cause my slide was froze up but thats fixed now )

I guess the VA scale house was still having their coffee because I got that lovely green light anyway :-)
Thanks a lot,
David

You would have just been heavier on the steers and drives. You may have been able to slide the fifth wheel up and then continued adjusting the weight off the tractor by sliding the tandems up. I would have just probably slid the tandems up two holes and reweighed.

He could have slid his 5th wheel forward and moved the weight on the steers although I would opt to have slid the trailer tandems foreword

Piggy back questons related to OP
 

Rule of thumb 200 per hole on trailer slide?
Another :?:
I would think you would want more weight on steers especially in bad weather ie rain and snow is this correct?

I always preferred to run the trailer at max weight to allow room up front for fuel or grocery stops.

Moving 800 to the trailer would move the steers down maybe 150 and the drives down 650. Not a lot of wiggle room if you were running a sleeper with all the extra gear that goes along with it. But in a day cab, that would be great.

Re: weights and axle slides
 

Most of the time if you are that little over on one axle or axle set, they just let you through...but you should never count on it...you might just get a guy who is having a bad day and feels like taking it out on you. Watch your gross though, some let you slide but not many!!

I agree with the others...don't mess with the 5th...slide your trailer tandems up a couple holes. reweigh then do it more if you need to.
You should never be in the situation of wondering if the scale house will pinch you or not though. Back in the old days a lot of us an heavy (as in waaaayyyyy too heavy)....dodged the scales or even ran them...but most of us have wised up. The only way to fly is to run legal...run safe. Know your weight before you even get near to a scale house. Insist on accurate weights on your bills (but never trust them 100%), weight at the shipper if they have scales, have on board weighing instrumentation that you keep well claibrated and check at a CAT scale(or similar place) if there is any doubt. If you get caught overweight these days, depending on how much you are over its going to cost you...perhaps big $$$ and may eve get you an OOS order. Then, if you can't get legal by moving your tandems or your 5th you have to get in the box and move freight around...not easy if its big rocks like you have, or it is palletized or a big hunk of equipment on a flat. Then you have to pay to have equipment come out to you to move stuff around....VERY expensive. And do not even THINK about moving until you weigh legal..if you violate an OOS order things get VERY nasty!

As for trying to shift more weight to your steers..that is not necessarily what you want anyway. True, you need a % of weight there to maintain steering effectiveness god weather and especially bad, but don't get too caught up in thinking about that.
Unless you are packing a pretty big axle up front you are only 1080 light on your steers anyway...not 9000 as you indicated. Most trucks have a 12K front, maybe a 14 or even 16, 18 but rarely a 20. You should be aware of what your truck/trailer has and never exceed it. For safety as well as legality.

YES and NO. Depending on the state. Maryland let me slide on being over by 340# on the (48') trailer tandems every Friday.
But I have had VA make me move some cases to shift the weight towards the front on being over by 300#.
Man I hate bring back sugar :D

I would have move the tandems forward three holes to be on the safe side and not even have done a reweigh. I hardly ever do a reweigh.

Depending on the weight on the trailer and how it is loaded, you should be able to move from 200-500 pounds per hole. I usually counted on about 250 per hole to be safe. You can tell for certain once you reweigh. Always slide toward the weight. You are heavy on the drives, so you should slide the trailer tandems forward. I always reweigh. I like to know exactly how my weights are distributed. When I have my spread axle apart, I rarely weigh because I am so used to how the weights run. If I am heavy, I will almost always weigh, just to make sure. It usually only costs $1 to reweigh. It is worth it for the peace of mind, for me. In your situation, 2 holes should do it for you. You won't help your weights that much by moving the 5th wheel. You can do more in your situation with the trailer tandems. Once your 5th wheel is in the right spot, you should very rarely need to slide it.

Wish some one would tell are drivers that. $500.00 in MD for being 7100# over on the trailer. Guess he should have spent the $8.50 plus the $1.00 for reweighs. :D