The other day I picked up a preloaded trailer. I could see on my air gauge in the truck that if this load really did weight 43500lbs, I was probably over on the trailer but I had to go through VA which has a 41' bridge law. I was right at 41'. I figured it would be ok and off I went. I got pulled into a chicken coup in VA and sure enough, he said I was 1700 over on trailer and to pull around back and slide tandems. I did, and rescaled and got the green light and proceeded on, in very obvious violation of the bridge law.
My question is....which is better to violate on a preloaded trailer? Weight or bridge?
Overweight on trailer.....unless I violated the bridge law
Discussion in 'Trucker Legal Advice' started by drivingmissdaisy, Dec 16, 2022.
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41’ to where? Isn’t VA to the center of the tandems and not the rear axle?
cke, Rideandrepair, nredfor88 and 1 other person Thank this. -
I never paid ANY attention to KPRA laws... I set my tandems for legal weight and rolled. Was never hassled about it... But I didn't run California.
Bean Jr., cke, LoneRanger and 10 others Thank this. -
But to answer your question I’d say it depends on how strict they enforce their king pin rule. If the officer is strict about everything then you could end up sitting until the load is reworked and you’re legal on both things. Sounds like you had an officer that kind of didn’t care.
cke, Rideandrepair, Oxbow and 2 others Thank this. -
Not to be rude but i question as to why ya didn't scale it an determine you were over on the trailer axle before crossing a state scale. I always make sure my axles are legal especially if something isn't jiving with load guages that can't always be relied on with our trailers. Our tractor guages are more consistent as far as accuracy. I've never worried about the bridge law except in California.
Bean Jr., HoneyBadger67, gentleroger and 1 other person Thank this. -
King pin ticket is the cheapest ticket. Always choose the cheaper ticket. Only a handful of states even worry about the KPRA.
Bean Jr., Rideandrepair, Long FLD and 2 others Thank this. -
Rideandrepair and Professor No-Name Thank this.
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YoungGAtrucker25, HoneyBadger67, LoneRanger and 4 others Thank this.
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It’s only a hundred bucks.Rideandrepair Thanks this. -
https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/webdoc/pdf/dmv109.pdf
But that's where I had it. As far back as I could put it legally. When I left the scalehouse the tandems were almost all the way back. And they were fine with it.Rideandrepair and Long FLD Thank this. -
Florida is extremely strict about kingpin distance, but they allow 44,000 on the tandems.
Tennessee also gets a boner for kingpin every once in a while. I got pulled around back in Manchester one time while pulling my 48' slider with the axle all the way back. FNG comes running out all excited with his rolling tape measure. I was snickering to myself the whole time.
He gets done measuring and has a puzzled look on his face. Then, with a look of sheepish realization, he says, "Ooohhhh, this is a 48, isn't it?"
Yep
Michigan gets a boner if your kingpin is too long AND too short. Michigan DOT suck. I wouldn't even drive a truck in that state.201773 and Rideandrepair Thank this. -
OLDSKOOLERnWV, InTooDeep, nredfor88 and 5 others Thank this.
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