Newbies, do yourself a favor

That laziness is going to cost a lot of money! Even if you are under gross, if your tandems are not in the right holes, TICKET! These tickets are expensive too! Usually charge you by the pound in either direction. For those of you that have trouble they make a guide pin that you can use that helps great. I just look at the pavement outside my door and gauge the distance that way. Stay on top of it, especially with this new crackdown!

 

At truck driver training we spent 2 days learning how to slide the 5th wheel & tandems. There was 3 of us that helped the newbees how to do this. When I drove back in '77-83 we had to be careful going through IA, MO. & ILL. because these states had a 73,280 lb. weight limit.

 

I got caught pulling a load of swingin ladies through MO. on hi-way 29. Picked up the load at the yard that was pre-loaded at IBP. It was in Dec. of '81, so i didn't weight it before i left, much to my surprise the port of entry was open. 3000 over on the trailer. So a leason learned, weigh ever trailer you pick up.
OH the fine was $500.00

 

IF you ask the shipper how much weight pallets etc,, then tell them how to load your trl or ask them how they plan to do it. If you have been doing this more than 2 weeks you should have a idea of how your truck carries the weight and how your trl should be loaded. If shipper gives you bs tell them to not load you and ask for the supervisor. Most trl in general have the same weight per hole. Bigger holes are around 500lbs, smaller closer holes around 250lbs. This is not that hard to do people if you take the time to do it right. Another thing to invest in is a laod guage if you are allowed or have your own truck it really helps out once you have it figured out how many lbs you should be showing.

 

My trainer ran me over the scales once, told me what my weights were supposed to be and how to slide the tandoms. Maybe I'm different but this is not that hard to figure out. So here goes, weigh your load, either by axel or cat scale, take the diference and divide by 2, this the weight that you actully need redistribute. Now, depending on your trailer type, divide this number by 225. This tells you how many holes you need to move your tandoms. Take a dry erase marker and if you want to move weight off your drives count forward from pin, or if you need weight off your trailer count back from pin. rewiegh and that will give you your adjusted weight, you might have to move a hole or two depending on your trailer but this works for me every time. Just common sense really, a little lower math, and a calculator. if you reweigh and your weight is off by a signifigant amount then next time adjust your division# up or down to account for the spacing of your holes. I'll check this post next week when I get back and if anybody has any? I'll use a weight ticket and show by the numbers how this works.
stay safe
b

 

What's a fifth wheel???


LOL!!

 

Well, I'll confirm that CDL Schools do not teach this, as in a practical sense. It was briefly discussed in class, then during the PTI, they did point out this is what you pull to release the pins on the tandems. I did get to, on 2 occasions, D & H. No problem for me on that. However I will admit the last time I messed with sliding tandems, was 37 years ago. I would help some of the drivers, while working in a truck stop. If it wasn't for that I would also be clueless on this.

I will say that this forum is the best place to find out all the what, where, when, why and how. While going through school I would constantly tell the others about this forum. That if they really wanted to know real world truck driving, they need to come here. I don't know if any of them ever took me up on it. Their loss..

 

Eaton18, did you really join a Truck Drivin School? I have a felling you been doing this as long as I have, maybe even longer.

 

I dont understand how anyone can be on a trainers truck for more than two pick ups without scaling out and sliding your tandems. Even if the trainer doesn't want to take the time to explain it, how can you not insist on knowing what he's doing and why? I can understand maybe not knowing about sliding the fifth wheel with certainty, but the tandems? I'd say the trainee has the responsibilty of finding out. You can't be on a trainers truck without ever having to slide your tandems.

 

Wow, now that's a compliment!!

Yes I just completed a CDL Mill, simple 4 week school. Do I have any previous experience? Nope, only pulled a end-dump in a construction company for a couple of months this last summer. Was doing so illegally. Ya' know how hard it is for an ex-cop to do that? Only had a permit, no CDL, but hey, the guys trucks were last registered in '09, well, he had I think 2 that were up to date, but would barely pass a DOT inspection.

I've been laid-off, from construction for most of this year. What I do in that time, is research and read, read and research. So I have some "book" or internet, knowledge, but practical, hands-on? Not yet, that starts next week.