I'd be calling my company if I saw a sign like that - BEFORE getting loaded. Make them take responsibility for it in advance. I've had trailers both getting overloaded on drives or tandems and also overgross. I've never had a problem with a shipper taking everything back out and trying again.
I've never seen a sign like that - a sign like that tells me that they have obviously had problems with loading the trailer correctly - lack of experience/training/knowledge on the part of the forklift operaters.

I've run into a couple problems related to this. Once at Anchor Glass in Lancaster,OH trailer was 2500# over, and they refused to reload. I didn't argue, just dropped the trailer in the yard and proceeded to bobtail out the gate. The security stopped me and asked what was going on...after explaining, the warehouse had a change of heart and reloaded.
And at another place in Ontario,CA....boxes hand stacked floor to ceiling, all the way to the doors. 1800# over on the trailer, and I can't stretch it out because of the 40' law. So shipper takes it all off the trailer and reloads it again....the same way that it was. When I argued, he tells me that that was the pattern that their computer called for them to use.

Originally Posted by ssbowles

I've run into a couple problems related to this. Once at Anchor Glass in Lancaster,OH trailer was 2500# over, and they refused to reload. I didn't argue, just dropped the trailer in the yard and proceeded to bobtail out the gate. The security stopped me and asked what was going on...after explaining, the warehouse had a change of heart and reloaded.
And at another place in Ontario,CA....boxes hand stacked floor to ceiling, all the way to the doors. 1800# over on the trailer, and I can't stretch it out because of the 40' law. So shipper takes it all off the trailer and reloads it again....the same way that it was. When I argued, he tells me that that was the pattern that their computer called for them to use.

Tryin' to make a dollar outta 99 cents?
Re-loadin' the trailer the same way would only reduce the weight of the lumpers.

Campbell's Soup in Central California used to have a sign similar to the one in this thread --- located at the weigh-in/weigh-out scale.

They'd weigh you empty to determine how MUCH weight they can get in y'all's wagon.
Load the trailer -- HEAVY.
And re-weigh it on the way out when fully loaded.
But just for their own records.
In other words, they were well aware they were releasing illegal weights out onto the highways.

The drivers had the option to request how their trailer was loaded, but those not familiar with load location would often screw up, and the loaders often knew it, but loaded it the way the driver requested anyway.
And if a driver showed an attitude, well, ........... see where I'm goin' with this?
Over axle is one thing but not much can be done for over-gross.

I met a rookie driver relocating his load in the trailer tryin' to get axle legal. He showed me his scale weight --- about 3,000 pounds over GROSS.
And Campbell's wouldn't adjust the load.

I had the solution though.
YuP!

I found a piece of cardboard, and fetched my felt-tipped pen, and made a sign for him, reading;
Campbell's Soup For Sale
~~~~~~~ CHEAP ~~~~~~~

We figured he'd be legal in about an hour or two.
And a tad richer.

Originally Posted by Lurchgs

Hrm... maybe I'm going to a different campbells plant (Sacramento). All loads for me are pre-loaded and sealed. Of course, the first thing I do is scale it, but so far they've never burned me. Been a bit uneven a time or two, because I couldn't run my tandems back to a reasonable distance... but all axels and gross were legal.

No doubt.
I heard the D.O.T. had a word or two with Campbell's about the
over weight load citations that originated at their facility ---
and the FACT that Campbell's was well aware that they were releasing illegal Big trucks out onto the highways.

I think the word "liability" caught their attention.

My last time at that Campbell's it took me almost two hours to get out of there. I showed up at 2300 so it should have been fairly quick. The trailer was preloaded and sealed but the top latches on the door weren't latched so I had to go inside and get a new seal so I could open and close the doors properly. Then when I got to the scale they said I was missing 700lbs off the trailer so I had to go bump one of the docks so they could re-count the load. They confirmed that the load was correct and sent me on my way.

The other thing that drives me nuts about Campbell's, and some other places, is that you could be the only person around and they wont let you check your axle weights on the way out, even though you won't be slowing anyone down.