Overweight concerns
 

Scaled today after loading and got the following weights (after sliding axles and fifth wheel)
Steers 12520
Drives 34040
Tandems 34040
Gross 80560

I know, Over on gross and all axles. Qaulcom'ed my dispatcher he said to "run with it", and gave me a route to use that had the fewest scales on it. Dispatcher says company will pay for ticket(s) if needed.

My question is what are the negatives for me? I ask because I realised that if I am involved in an accident I will be the one in hot water with the law. Is it reportable to DAC or DMV or others? Points on license? Am I missing anything?

Points on license, no. Reportable to DAC... Perhaps, but may not be considered a black mark. I would doubt DAC would know about it. Some scales may not even pull you around back. But, you didn't say how much fuel you have. At 7 1/2 pounds per gallon, if your tanks are full, you may have to run with half tanks and fuel twice as often. And, make sure you keep your log book up to date. If you get pulled around back, they'll check that.

Does your truck have an APU? If so, I understand they allow 2K over for that. It was an incentive for companies to install them.

Leave the trailer tandems where they are, that's fine, but slide the 5th wheel further back until you get the "correct" setting and just leave it there! No point in sliding it up for lighter loads, and back for heavier ones. Maybe do 100 lbs over on the steer. You'll be ~400 lbs over on the drives.

My "rule of thumb" is 1 mile = 1 less pound of fuel. You'll be fine within 500 miles. Choose your fuel ups wisely(using the computer estimated fuel usage is great).

Do all this, and you only have to worry about scales for the first 300 miles or so.

BTW, where are your tanks located?

I believe they allow you 400 pounds for an apu, not 2000.

That is correct. 400 lbs for the APU.

What's going to happen if you get stopped at a scale that won't let you move until the weight is legal, such as Maryland or Ohio. Are they going to pay you for the time you'll be sitting there waiting on another truck to arrive and the labor to transfer some weight from one truck to the other?

At one point, I had been told 2,000. And, I was told that it was incentive for companies to get them. I don't remember where I was when I was told that, and it came from another driver. Might be one state, I don't know. I had never heard that it was 400, but I'm sure that comes from a much more reliable source then mine.

allan5oh wrote:
Up front next to the steers. Fuel definitely affects the steers.

Windwalker wrote:
About 3/4 (200 gal total capacity). If I burn off fuel to get weight down that will put me at about 1/4.

Jumbo and Rev.Vassago mentioned an allowance of 400lbs. for an apu, which is what the paperwork in my permit book says. However our safety dept. says Florida does not allow it. Of course I'm in Florida now. Company is based in Florida.

My main concern is not how to fix the problem, (although I appreciate the help) but how does it affect me when the DOT issues an overweight ticket.

Windwalker wrote:
Of course if an accident/incident occurs I guess it will automatically be my fault because I didn't follow the law by being overweight.

I'm thinking in the future I'll let Mr. Dispatcher know that he should take he risk and drive that load, and find a load that will be legal for me.

Thanks to everyone for your help,
Dan

Thanks, another good point to think about,
Dan

I dont run OTR so I dont deal with this nearly as much as some of you guys but I have been stopped twice, once in Mich and once in OH. In Mich I was somewhere between 1-2k over on my drives and total gross and the guy let me go. He said they give the first 1000lbs anyway cause we'll just dispute the scale's accuracy in court. The time in OH I was way under on gross but 1400 over on my drives and he did and said basically the same thing as the MI DOT guy and also let me go. Does this sound normal or have I just been lucky. Is it possible the name on the truck (UPS) gets a little leeway over an OTR carrier or O/O? BTW I pull doubles with a single screw tractor and there is no sliding axles or fifth wheels. All we can do is rework the way the freight is loaded. Will this guy really have a problem being only 500 over total gross?