Flatbed load distribution help

If you put 20K directly on center.... Then that should put 10 K on your drives & 10 K on your spread....

Did you know that you can legally haul 40K on the rear spread axle? 100% legal as long as you don't go over your gross of 80K

I've taken 48K coils & set them right on center... Weighed legal ever time.

 

Yep. You can also load about a foot forward from center (helps in the winter) for extra weight on the drives.. Plus gives a smoother ride and can raise your fuel economy. You can go farther, depending on what the load weighs.. I'd plop extremely light loads directly over my drives in the winter time, if the space allowed it, for now i wouldn't concern yourself with this too much, though, my advice might get you a ticket if you aren't experienced.. This stuff comes with time.

But for the most part, without getting overly complicated with all of my mumbo jumbo that comes with time REDD explained it perfectly.. With a spread axle, it's really hard to load it wrong.. you can have over 40k directly over them back two axles and still be perfectly legal.. So as long as your center (give or take a foot) you are good to go.

If you are in doubt, always go a little farther to the back.. you're better off too far back than too far forward.

 

A lot of that mumbo jumbo does come in time.... These new drivers may think we are crazy.... But it they stick with the same trailer combinations.... If a few years they'd be able to look at the squat in their tires & determine if they are heavy or not.... Now they think we are crazy for determining our weight like that, but they will eventually see for themselves & think that possibly we aren't all that crazy!

 

On a spread you move a foot you move about a 1000 lbs.

 

Yep...notarps, redd, and ecks have already told you about all that can be said.


Load it from the center out and it will always be legal.

 

I just got of my area of expertise... There was a lady driver that could not slide her axles. Been a few years since I had to do that. Now I know why I pull a spread.....

 

I hear ya...I never want to experience that again.

 

I've never pulled a spread because of where I run. IF I'm given correct weights I can gross my truck out with under 200# difference on the axles. First you must know the empty weight of your axles, on mine the drives are 5,000# heavier than the trailer. The distant netween the kingpin and trailer axles is then measured. Anything loaded forward of the kingpin (assuming the kingpin is in the middle of the drives) will go on the drives, anything loaded back of the trailer axle will go on the trailer axle. On my trailer the distance twixt the kingpin and trailer axle is 36'. Anything loaded 18' from either will put 50% of its weight on each end. Something loaded 12' from the kingpin will put 2/3 of the weight on the drives, 1/3 on the trailer axle etc. I've done it this way for years on LTL loads and never had a problem as long as the weights I'm given are correct.