Got 2nd Over weight ticket this year...ouch $$$$
 

Picked up a shag at Pepsi in Omaha ,NE going to Grand Island , NE I weighed the load about 9 miles from pick up in route at the Sapp Bros at EXit 440 I-80 in Omaha ...it scaled at roughly


12,100
35,250
32,650

Obviously I needed to slide the tandems forward atleast 5 holes at 250lbs per hole to shift the minumim of 1250 to be axle legal ...so upon inspection of my tandems I noted I only had 5 holes of adjustment left ,and slid the tandems up those 5 holes ,and on down the road I went...UNTIL I hit the scales at MM 415 I-80 comming into Lincoln , Where the DOT had me scaled at roughly

11, 500
31,800
35,950


Well obviously I'm over on the trailer ,and it's over the 5% they allow you to be and still let you correct it without a ticket if able make legaL , So I made my donation to the state of Nebrask in the Amount of $120.00 .


What Pi$$ed me off is I showed the officer my scale ticket from sapp bros and told him I slid the tandems forward 5 holes to correct the axle weight , and he said those scale receipts don't matter ....? what kills me is that had I not weighed the load my axle weights would have been off but within in the 5% rule allowed for correction without fine .

Not sure what kind of trailer you pull, but I was taught.... and always figured 400 per hole on a trailer, 250 on a double pronged 5th wheel.

Sounds like the type of mess those knuckleheads at Wolfe Trucking in Van Nuys, CA liked to pull.
Pick up a purposely overloaded bottled water load from Poland, ME and take it down into Long Island.

Mom'n'Pops.

It always depends on the spacing of the holes.

Originally Posted by golfhobo:
Not sure what kind of trailer you pull, but I was taught.... and always figured 400 per hole on a trailer, 250 on a double pronged 5th wheel.

Our trailers like most trailers only move about 250lbs per hole my tractor like most tractors move about 500lbs per slot on the 5th wheel ...Some are different ,and it just depends on the gap between slots on the 5th wheel or trailer as to how much weight gets moved per slot , but the trailer I had was the standard 250lb per hole , and according to the scale ticket i got at sapp bros i should have been legal after sliding the tandems 5 holes forward , but obviously that ticket was not correct , and therefore my adjustments were not either .

The scale may have been correct, but your assessment of how much weight got adjusted per hole wasn't. I am with Hobo, we have trailers where it only adjusts about 250 and others where it is about 400. Always reweigh when it is so close.

And I have NEVER had a truck where it was more than 250 a hole on the 5th wheel.

I've picked up trailers where the holes for the tandems are about a foot apart, and then you have your normal spacing of about 4-5 in. But what i dont understand is how you're mad at the NE DOT for giving you the ticket? You knew you were overweight the first time, adjusted the tandems, but didn't rescale the load. HAD YOU DONE THAT, you'd have seen you slid them too far, and then could have adjusted. Not spending the $1 to reweigh ended up costing you $120.

also something i do, is i take a piece of chalk, mark the original hole i'm in, just to be sure i know where i'm adjusting from. I've on occasion forgot the chalk, and end up thinking i slid the tandems 3-4 holes, when i really slid them 7 or 8. (granted in your case you only had 5 holes to work with anyway). Something else i've got, one of those 'stoppers' i picked up from a Swift reefer trailer when i was on my mentor's truck. stick it in the hole in front of the hole you want to stop at, and its error free.) best 5 finger discount i've ever invested in. =)

"250 lbs." "400 lbs." per hole. There is NO formula. By your numbers, you shifted 660 lbs. per hole.

It depends on how the weight is distributed inside the trailer. If you slide a tandem under an empty trailer, you'll get so many lbs. per hole. Slide the tandem--same trailer--under 46,000 lbs and you'll get different numbers. Concentrate 45,000 lbs. into the first 35 feet of a 53 (hello, Budweiser!) -- you'll never legal it.

And, erm, you didn't reweigh after you slid the tandem?

I've gotta agree with Kev on this one, $1 to save the fine seems like a good deal to me. No sense in assuming that a 5 hole adjustment made it correct, too easy to confirm with a re-weigh. Those scales are not certified on axle weights anyhow only on gross, so you only get a general idea anyway.

Originally Posted by mike3fan:
I've gotta agree with Kev on this one, $1 to save the fine seems like a good deal to me. No sense in assuming that a 5 hole adjustment made it correct, too easy to confirm with a re-weigh. Those scales are not certified on axle weights anyhow only on gross, so you only get a general idea anyway.

Dammit Boy!! Sometimes Kev just pops off at the right time, with the right idea and information!! Bless his heart! :lol:

Yup Big J....you hosed yerself to the tune of $120. But...the state of Nebraska thanks you greatly ....... I am sure!!

Does Sapp Bros. use "CAT" or "Interstate" scales?? I do not trust "Interstate" scales.