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Well, it's like this. Someone else typically loads the trailer during the week. And then I get it on Sunday.
My feeling is that the load should be weighed and adjusted by the guy who loads it (who is paid by the hour!) and ready to go Sunday. When I get it, the place is closed, and the closest scales is 75 miles away, past a scale house. And they have always told me to go ahead and take it when I was over in the past. There's nothing I can do at this point with the load except to go 75 miles back to the terminal, and get in my car and drive 50 miles back home. A 150 mile day and wasted 4 or 5 hours is not my idea of a productive day. So, the answer is NO, I didn't scale it. I did check the air gauges at the tandems and in the cab, they both said about 60 psi, which is usually good, and I wouldn't have weighed it anyhow. Apparently, the trailer gauge isn't right. Do you think I'm asking too much? I don't want to be a prima-donna, but, what the F-? I don't see any reason why the guy who loaded the trailer shouldn't make it right and if necessary, go back to the shipper and take some off. I don't have that option on Sunday night. How do other companies handle this and how much overweight do you consider acceptable? |
every company i have ever worked for (all the big ones included) has stressed, scale the load. they reimburse. its not another drivers responsibility to scale the load, its yours. if its over legal weight, you dotn run it or take the risks. if anther driver does scale the load. its only courteous and professional to leave a copy of the scale ticket with the bills for the load. if the company did not authorize you to run an over weight load then by al rights and purposes, its your baby.
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I ALWAYS scaled my load, unless it was VERY light.
Even if the load is legal, that does NOT mean that it's properly balanced. I see the time and effort in weighing out as being an issue of safe operating practices as well as staying legal. |
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You are so right. My husband just started hauling doubles and tankers. Very new to that type of work, and wouldn't you know it, He got his first overweight ticket. He has never gotten a ticket before, well in a CMV. But they did cut him some slack he was like 900lbs over weight and the ticket was only 81.00. It was a bargain for the lesson learned the hard way. He scales out on a Certified scale now. He was weighed at the shipper but... if must be way off. His employer paid the ticket but its still on his record. Gotta be Proactive. |
Overweight
"I don't see any reason why the guy who loaded the trailer shouldn't make it right and if necessary, go back to the shipper and take some off." Apparently your co-worker gives a rat's butt about you and what you do on Sunday. Maybe you should introduce him to the curative mind altering protocols of the results of screwing over a co-worker. BOL
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With the cost of fuel, other costs associated with operating a truck, and lost time, lost productivity, and wasted miles, few companiws can afford to dole out money for fines unnecessarily. Time to start rattling some cages!! |
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The O.P. is referring to the CDL holding "local" driver who goes to pick up the load. He then brings it back to the yard (often without passing a scale) and the OTR driver must take it cross country! If the shipper loads a trailer that CANNOT be made legal, and the LOCAL P&D driver doesn't CATCH it, the OTR driver is then SCREWED!! Happens to ME all the time! :shock: My advice to the O.P. is..... find a certified scale between you and the nearest DOT scale and USE IT.... regardless of whether or not it is "out of route." IF you have to turn around and return to the yard MORE THAN ONCE.... tell your dispatcher you will refuse to haul another load that doesn't have a scale ticket attached to the BOL! Keep in mind, also, that a LOCAL truck may have a different weight empty, AND a different 5th wheel location. Unless your load is extremely light, and YOU are convinced that you are legal..... NEVER cross a DOT scale without knowing your weight and its distribution! That is part of your JOB! |
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Apparently you are not familiar with air gauges. They are on the dash and mounted to the trailer axle area. The pressure reflects the pressure in the air bags. This is a very good reference for axle weight. 60PSI is about equal to 32,000 pounds. In other words, if it reads under 60 PSI, I don't really need to weigh it. However, it is very easy to get an inaccurate reading, that is where experience and good sense take over. I do realize that I am responsible for the load and need to be sure it's legal. I was really just bitchin about the guy who picked up the load for not weighing it, and the company's' nonchalant attitude about me finding a place to weigh it on a Sunday. Bottom line is, I weigh all my loads now, even light ones. And if it's overweight, I just take it back. They can't afford to have a delivery sitting in the yard that was supposed to be delivered the next day. It won't take long before they start requiring loads to be weighed by the guy who picks them up. And, all our trucks are basically the same, so the weight is pretty accurate. Or, more to the point, since we don't have spread axles, overweight tandems is the most common problem, and this doesn't change much from one truck to another. With an accurate tandem and gross weight, I can accurately assess my drive axles weight. |
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Thanks Golfhobo. It at least makes me feel better knowing that I'm not alone with this problem. And I do weigh all my loads now. Only problem is, the closest scale is past the state scale! I got a load last week that the day driver picked up from a place that has a scale. He went over the scale to make sure it wasn't overweight, good. But nobody bothered to tell me, so I still had to go out of my way and waste $8.50 of the companies money and an hour of my time to get it weighed. Sometimes people just don't stop and think past their own selfish life! |
Re: Overweight
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Don't give me any ideas............ :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: |
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