Fighting an overweight ticket

m16ty · Aug 29, 2023

snowwy said: ↑

You need ifta and irp just to be on the streets and highways.

Only a handful of states require trip permits or a quarterly account. It's extra tax revenue for them.
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Yes, and no, it depends on the State. In TN I can run State tags without IFTA and can still run out of State with said tags if I buy temp fuel and trip permits for the State I'll be going into.

peabody747 · Sep 1, 2023

hire a lawyer

stevendwight · Feb 26, 2026

TaylorQuality said: ↑

Let me say first, I UNDERSTAND THAT ULTIMATELY IT IS THE DRIVERS RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE WE ARE NOT OVERWEIGHT. However, it is impractical to think that we will weigh ourselves every time we pull out of a shipper. We only do this if anything has led us to believe we may be overweight. In this instance, we thought we were carrying around 6000lbs(this is a box truck with a capacity of 8800lb). Everything on the BOL matched what was loaded, and the shipper told us that the weight is calculated by the computer based on what is put on the shipping manifest. We had no reason to suspect anything. At the weigh station, we were calculated to be about 11000, 2200 over what we could legally carry. The officer took our plate off of the truck and said we had to get a complete new one, then return to that weigh station within 48hrs with it or face another ticket(or hire a tow). We immediately go to get another plate and were told we could not get another 26000 plate, even though our truck could not carry over that. We were MADE to get one for 33000. Fast forward a month and we get pulled over for having a 33k plate without a IFTA sticker. We try to explain to the officer we don't qualify for IFTA because our truck doesn't carry that much weigh, but of course he says our plate says otherwise. So now we are sitting with 2 violations on our record, which is costing us in tickets and brokers not wanting to work with us.

I just feel like this is a big consequence for us, a small one truck company, for the mistake and probably intentional overloading from a shipper. Is there anything that can be done? We still have our day in court and if we can get it thrown out, can we also get it off our safer record?
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stevendwight · Feb 26, 2026

This is exactly why knowing your weight before you leave the yard matters. Relying on the shipper's manifest is a gamble — those numbers are estimates at best. The driver is the one who gets the ticket, not the shipper. Whether it's a CAT Scale, onboard gauges, or any method you trust — verify before you roll.

abyliks · Mar 4, 2026

A lot of guys just pay it and move on, but that’s basically an automatic guilty on your record.

With how everything’s tracked now, those small hits stack faster than people think.

Best move is to have it reviewed before paying. In many cases you can challenge it without shutting down your route.
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nothing goes on your record, overweight is legal for a fee,

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