Michigan overweight.

That's not what I'm asking, I know he is in Michigan but where did he hit the scale?

75 or 94 or somewhere else?

If it was in the scale, then the scale picked up the overweight issue as he pulled over them.

Also what is hauling because trains here are being stopped because they are running overweight and if that's the case, I understand why he was targeted.

If he was running dry van then it was a random if he was stopped outside the scale house, a lot of people claim they are stopped at the scale but not always the case.

We've had an increase in officers - I think 20 of them graduated a few months ago and are in the finally phase of their DOT training from what I was told (my wife worked with one who became a carrier enforcement officer for the MSP) so they are doing more checks and random stops.

 

Well you did ask where was he when he got it. Wouldn't be surprised if he got nailed on 94 though.

 

An overweight doesn't affect CVSA score.

Out of Service Equipment does... he far exceeded the load bearing weight limit of the tires on that axle. Any trucker with half a brain can observe an axle 9k lbs overweight during their walk around inspection. 9K lbs overweight on an axle, and far exceeding load bearing weight limit is dangerous to others on the roadway, no?

Heck, the DOT could have written the driver for both.

... do not see where anyone is being "picked on" here.

 

That all depends upon how the truck is spec'd. I run 11R24.5LRH tires on my tractor inflated to 105 psi. If I'm pulling a trailer with LP22.5LRG tires inflated to 100 psi, and I'm loaded heavy in the nose with 36K on my drives and only 32K on the trailer (perfectly legal on the state & local highways in MO), that "driver with half a brain" that you referred to would think it was heavy in the REAR during a walk-around because the trailer tires have more squat in them than my tractor tires do. Now a lot of the trailers I've pulled over the years have been spec'd with a pair of 30K axles, so their only limitation is tires...so if they're running the same 16-ply 11R24.5 tires I've got on my tractor you're looking at 46K before you've exceeded the manufacturer's ratings. That's 12K overweight on a closed tandem, if you're trying to keep up.

Heck, even a general LP22.5 tire is good to a little over 45K on the tire ratings, so 9K over the 34K tandem limit is still within the tire rating.

 

My brother inlaw runs a road construction crew up in Michigan, almost 20 years now. He has nothing good to say about Michigan DOT

 

He was nine thousand over on one axle which means he was 26000 on one axle.

 

Assuming that the driver was running bridge (under 80k), he is allowed 20K lbs on a single axle in a combination, total weight of 34k for the tandem. If he was 9k lbs overweight on the axle, the axle weighed 29k lbs (4k lbs on the other axle in the tandem, driver stated he CAT scaled @ 33k lbs).

Lets say the tires are rated at 5840 lbs each (typical in combination, 6150 lbs solo), you are looking at maximum load bearing weight of 23,360 lbs. At actual weight of 29k lbs, the driver exceeded the maximum load bearing weight by 5,640 lbs. Safe? No.

This violation is not uncommon. It is due to driver complacency. This type of overweight is easily spotted during a pre-trip. If the driver did his walk around, he would have recognized the defect, and adjusted accordingly. Taking into consideration this overweight is caused by a suspension defect, other defects are likely... such as poor condition tires? Poor condition tires + significantly exceeded load bearing weight limit on a single axle = ???. Soooo... the DOT officer is being unreasonable in this circumstance? You are OK with this guy rolling past you, next to a median, while cruising down I94's cratered roadways... or taking a short, sharp on/off ramp? I'm not!!!

Pedigreed Bulldog, agreed.... you are a squared away driver who knows his equipment. You don't strike me as the type of driver who find himself in this quandary. Also, as you already know, your tire configuration is not common. Cheers.

 

Under bridge (80k lbs), a single axle is allowed up to 20k lbs on a tandem. If the driver does a pretrip, he/she should easily identify significant squat compared to the adjacent axle. It isn't rocket science.

 

Your only allowed 17000 an axle on a closed tandem .ten foot two spread you're allowed 20000 an axle

 

NEGATIVE. Under bridge, on a closed axle tandem, you are allowed 34k lbs for the assembly, neither axle can exceed 20k lbs.

Under bridge, you are allowed 20k lbs on a single axle, as long as the spread is 9 feet or more.

....again, it isn't rocket science.

In the State of MI, when you exceed bridge, then you fall under normal loading. 16k lbs per axle in a single closed tandem assembly (apply to EITHER the tractor OR trailer, but not both at once... unless 5 axle A/A, then allowed 16k lbs per axle on both tandems). 13k lbs per axle on all others (assuming spread is 3'6" or more). A single axle with a 9 foot or more spread is allowed 18k lbs. Steer axle is rated by tire size, up to 18k lbs. State of Michigan allows up to 160k lbs for 11 axles (no wonder MI highways are crap!). People gripe, but then again, they can run 160k lbs without a permit in MI (try doing that in any other state). You CAN have your cake and eat it too, but it takes planning and diligence. Dropping the ball can get very expensive fast.

.... normal loading isn't rocket science, but the carrier/driver needs to be squared away and think ahead.