Originally Posted by rubbergearsnextyear

Well this has been one of the most trying weeks of my career so far and it's not even Swift's fault (mostly anyways) however, tonight has really tested my patience.

Ok so Sunday' I get a run from IN to FL. Drop n hook, wal mart right? I get to WM to pu load and the trailer has a flat. I mean FLAT! So i went to the TA and they repaired it and I drove down to Decatur (Atlanta) and shut down at the terminal' after creating my own parking space (never seen it so packed regardless of the fact it was a Sunday).

I wake up and get on down to FL and the drop number ain't takin', so I had to wait a couple hours until the CSR got one that worked. Dropped and went to the rest'a'rea and shut er' down for the night. 900 miles in 2 days, (Sunday n Monday) I'm thinkin things are lookin' up.

Wake up, and there's no pre-plan. So I head on up to Wildwood and sit. Now I know Florida can be bad news for freight, even in the good times, so I didn't really have any expectations of getting out of here quickly. So Thursday rolls around and I finally get a load pickin up Friday morning and my dm even paid me layover for tuesday and wednesday.

So I head on up towards Lee, Fl for the pu (customer said I could sleep there and get loaded Friday morning) and on the way, I remembered I need to get my IFTA stickers and documentation, so I went by Ocala to get my stuff. While I was doing so, it was brought to my attention that the registration I had was illegal! This is the one I got from Gary terminal, so I thought it was good, but if you're reg'd in Oklahoma, you have to have the original, not a copy like i had.

Okay no biggie, called Phoenix and they overnighted it to Ocala, but in the meantime, I had to get the load taken off me because I wasn't going to get the reg until well after pu time 120 miles away to boot.

So today, I get my reg and talked to my dm apologizing for my ignorance regarding the reg (if you are registered in AZ, a copy is legal). After the conversation, I get a load picking up near Orlando. Did I mention that these loads were getting me home? Been out three weeks and ready to get there by God!

So I get moving on down to the shipper near Disney World land and drop 'n' hook. Signed the bills and ready to roll. OH wait a minute, the BOL says 41,050, guess I better scale er out right? Well, across the street from the shipper is a trucking terminal which happens to have a scale. So I go over there and find the guy and scale out. WHOA! She's 550 lbs over gross AND 5000 pounds overaxle on the trlr tandems! RUH ROH! There's a lot more than 41,050 on that load lol (only 5/8 of a tank of fuel to boot).

So I go back to the shipper and look to see if anyone's there to straighten this out. Of course, they've shut down for the day, so I called Greer and asked what they wanted me to do about this crappy situation (I seem to always catch hell getting home, is it just me???).

So I talk to the guy on the phone and he ponders a bit and then asks another guy there what to do (I could name names but I won't here). They tell me to roll it to Ocala terminal to have it t-called and see if they can take it back to the shipper monday to get it straightened out.

Okay, I know what ya'll are thinking probably and YES i had them send me a message on the QC! They did, and told me to roll to Ocala. I knew I wouldn't be crossing any scales so I got er' done. Even took it to the pilot up there and put it on the Cat which said I was even heavier! 80,700.

11,780
30,000
38,940

Now folks, there ain't no fixin' that slidin' the tandems even all the way to the ###! So I get there and go to dispatch window and tell em I'm here to t-call. Nobody told them anything about no t-call! Ok, I said look on my QC, they told me to bring it here! Doesn't matter blah blah. Then I showed him why I was t-calling. Well he was like, you should have gone back to the shipper! OK I DID! Nobody home, now what?

You shoulda called your home terminal! I DID! Why don't you look on my QC and see!! Blah Blah. I was getting pissed at this point. So I go back to my truck and ask why hasn't a planner t-called this yet? I get a reply back stating the night planner isn't going to set it up so call back to Greer in the morning lol.

DAYUM! Sittin' all week and two loads going near the house and I can't take either lol. WHAT A WEEK!

And before ya'll start preachin', yes I know it was overgross and I shouldn't be drivin blah blah blah. No chicken coops to cross on 441 to 27N to 75 comin out at xit 354, with the terminal at x352 so no biggie!!! What else could be done? The bol was signed and in my custody and had I left load there I'd get a load abandonment. Nobody there til monday as far as I know so then I'd have to sit on it all weekend for practically nothing!!

So what would you have done? Especially when they tell you to run it to the nearest terminal (about 65 miles)?

Originally Posted by TruckrsWife

Well I would have first set the tandems all the way back and rescale, evidently your trainer (excuse me Mentor) didn't tell you about false weight--the gravitational increase on actual weight effected by heavy pallets beyond the axle (behind), and then adjust your fifth wheel. By moving 10 holes back on a Swift trailer (usually a Wabash) at approximately 350 lbs per hole this would transfer 3500 lbs forward, and two spots on the fifth wheel approx 200-250 lbs forward might have solved the entire problem. The 700 lbs of gross might have diminished to about 150 or so and that gets you into the acceptable (allowable) arena of over 80k. (BTW-this is otherhalftw posting on wifes screen). So there you go it probably could have been done, will never know for sure since the load is gone, but always try all your options before giving up. It may be some extra work on your part but it is well worth the effort especially in the Ocala zone as the freight there is beyond sucky.
Sorry I wasn't there earlier to help you out when you had the problem. Good luck in the future--Be Safe

Originally Posted by rubbergearsnextyear

With all due respect, you are wrong. Gross doesn't change with sliding tandems dear. The tandems were already halfway back and the trailer was loaded all the way to the tail. You don't know what you're talking about. I know how to scale a load and have done my fair share of getting some really tough loads legal.

What you're also forgetting is the bridge laws. You can't slide the tandems all the way to the rear and be legal in Georgia for sure. The kingpin laws are different in many states but in some states having the tandems all the way back or past the point they mandate can get you a ticket in a hurry. It is my responsibility to ensure the shipper has loaded the trailer that complies with federal and state laws. If they can't do that and I can't dodge all the scales in route, they're going to fix it or it will sit there.