How come NO ONE talks about the importance of weight scales?

schools dont teach enough all they want is your money,then boot you out so they can get the next sucker through

 

Here is another tip on loading. Ask the shippers if you can see the whole load they want to put on your truck. Get them involved with what skids weighs the most and the least. Find out the total weight of the whole load before you load it, look at your bills. I had a DOT officer walk up the side of my truck, and when he got to me he says " What you hauling, Flowers?" I said no, "Drugs" always puts a smile on them. He had a driver one time tell him he was hauling flowers, but when they opened the back doors , he had the whole truck filled with skids of bagged dirt. It was overloaded. You have to learn how to make a judgment call on your load.

 

after learning how to read my axle weight gauge I hardly scale anything under 30,000 now. But only if I can see in the trailer. If they loaded me close to the headerboard then ill just put my tandems where I see fit, within reason and legality.

Any load under 18k and ill ride with tandems all the way forward that way its easier to turn and back. Although I try to keep more weight on my drives

 

You've got no load gauge on your dash? That sucks. Do you know what the weight limits are supposed to be per axle? What kind of truck are you driving and does it have one of those fancy electronic readouts?

 

If your loading pallets of items and the fork lift driver has the weight of each pallet either on his fork lift or a scale on the dock then check the load out.. what you need to do is add it up then figure out how to load it so your not overweight..if its a pre loaded trailer then you need to look at the bills and see the total gross weight with pallets if they are used.. you want to know an old veteran trick i use.. i look at my tires and i can just about tell you how much i have on my drives or tandems...if ya dont belive me ill have you call my sister she will tell you... and if you were over were you over gross or over on an axle..most scale will be good enough to let you slide it and re-weigh..something dont add up

 

Which is great if you're not picking up a pre-loaded trailer.

On I-55 in IL there is a TA and Pilot north of the scale and a Pilot south of the scale.

Oh and the reason you never see anyone using the CAT scale is because you're supposed to pull on the scale, push the yellow button, give them your info, then you pull off the scale and go inside for your ticket. Inconsiderate people park on the scale and then go inside for their ticket. REALLY inconsiderate people slide their tandems while still on the scale which probably screws the scale up.

...and your trainer was awful for not going over scaling a load. Their boss should be notified of this since they're probably not doing it with other students, too. That's a problem that needs to be stopped pronto.

 

Good Info Sequoia, If I were to pick up a pre loaded trailer, first thing, look at the bills, for the total weight. If you feel the load is over weight, call your company, let them know you need to scale it, and do they know where a scale is. If you go around a DOT scale house and get caught, dont come crying. My company always said, never avoid a scale house, go across it, I can remember a few times, they got an overweight. They worked with the guys on the dock, on what to put on the truck, and have had no problems. TheRoadWarrior, has some very good tips, Bulging tires, and Mudflaps dragging on the ground, DOT uses these tactics to identify overweight trucks.

 

The vast majority of trucks running around over weight are over by a minimal amount>air ride keeps ride heights consistent and it's tough if not impossible to notice an additional ton on an axle @ 60 mph.

 

12,34,34 not to hard

 

Providing its all the same product. I used to load my own truck the freight was staged, and I would look over the whole load on the dock, and identify, the heavy vs. light freight. But the big problem I see here is pre - loads. When a company take advantage of using the maximum weight on a trailer, you have no idea if it was loaded properly on each axle. When in doubt, call your company, and go to the NEAREST scale. If its over loaded, while at a scale, call your company before you go on the road, and let them know. Dont let the company say, its O.K. we`ll pay for it. NOT A CHANCE. SIT, Until you can go back and have them reload.