Celadons new scale Rules

I got one coming from the house years ago. A driver relayed a load of welding rods at the Knoxville, TN 369 truckstops. Load was sealed and driver gave me a copy of his scale ticket showing me where he balanced the load out. Identical trucks. My fault for trusting him.
I come out of the truckstop and immediately get pulled over at the Ktown scales. Load had shifted and the driver didn't say anything. Like you don't know a load of welding rods slamming the nose after he probably locked the brakes down.

The company paid that fine.


Scaling out comes with experience. Some drivers are better than others. Some are mechanical minded, some aren't. You can't hold that against a driver. He might be better filling out a logbook than you.
I've seen drivers getting reweigh tickets with a 15,000 lb load! :smt017
I laugh to myself but figure they are learning. That's one reason they don't get paid diddly!

 

And conversely, I received an overweight fine in IL for a load of not much more than that.

It was an LTL automotive parts load we would routinely make from the Chicago area to St. Louis. A city driver would make multiple pickups during the day, all going to a single vendor, drop and seal the load at the yard. We would have five to ten or more bills of lading that never added up to much.

Just rotten luck on my part that engine blocks were stacked in the nose; more than a grand over on the drives with trailer tandems all the way forward and gross weight under 50k. I never weighed it and paid $450 at the IL scalehouse.

I'd like to think I had the experience and better judgment to avoid a situation like that, but it just happened.

 

No sarcasm here,just a regular post.I drive dedicated out of Ga.and they will not pay for me to scale.
Thought it was a bit peculiar myself,but it is what it is.I asked scale house gals,and they informed me
about the fines being cheaper,than running two separate trucks.
Its not uncommon,from what Im told.I don't argue,I just turn in the tickets with my paperwork weekly.

I like sarcastic Zombie postings better ...You guys and gals be safe,eat your veggies,and stay in school

 

Cool.

Who you drive for?

 

Drivers Unite!

 

I've never worked for a company that had restrictions on scale tickets, it was always up to me, Comdata was always ready at any Peelot.

 

I can think of several reasons why a Big truck truck driver might be inclined to scale a load that isn't heavy enough to put them at risk of bein' overweight, gross or axle. I'm a numbers cruncher, especially when it comes to mpg and ride comfort. Example:
When pulling a Super Bike race team's transporter after a practice session at Homestead, Florida, the team was anxious to leave the track heading for the airport to fly home to California. They knew that everything in that trailer would come off upon my arrival to be made ready for testing at (then) Sears Point, --- an entirely different track. In their haste, they piled more equipment on the tail than usual. From Homestead to Daytona I noticed the transporter pulled like a sack-o-sand, so I scaled it. I was waayyy heavier on the trailer tandems than on the drive, a condition that would make driving in slippery conditions less than desirable, especially considering team transporters are decked, makin' 'em top heavy resulting in a rock-N-sway situation compounded by air ride suspension. Not that I was concerned about weather runnin' the route I took.
I slide fifth wheel forward for aerodynamics and better mpg. The way the transporter was loaded made my front axle weight lighter than I prefer as well. Nothin' I could do about it so I adjusted my driving to accommodate the situation. But for 3,000 miles the load felt sluggo.

I want to know where the weight actually is. At the time I was driving a T-600 that liked weight on the steers, otherwise the tires tended to cup. Running slightly heavier on the drives than the trailer tandems got me the best mpg.

When not pullin' the team transporter it wasn't uncommon to pull loads valued at several million dollars, so I wanted to know EVERYthing, every slightest detail. I prefer to be present to observe loading, and make suggestions when/if necessary. The company had a reputation for no damages. The owner demanded that whatever is put on the trailer arrives in at LEAST that condition. The only exception was it could arrive in better condition. We didn't haul Shake-N-Bake.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Would I spend my own money to scale a load if I had to or wanted to?
Absolutely.
Do I always believe the weight listed on the BOLs?
Absolutely not.
I've loaded 32,000 pound loads according to the BOL that weighed 45,000 pounds
according to reality.
What does that feel like with a 350 hp motor?
What does that feel like with a 600 hp motor?
Hint: It ain't the same.
I trust the seat of my pants, but not enough to bet the farm.
I was hung for an over-axle once with the first company I drove for and was blamed for not scaling the load even though that would require 40 miles out of route to a 30 mile run with a pre-loaded trailer that was sealed and "ready to go".
I didn't appreciate that.
I promised myself that wouldn't happen again.

Over a million miles without a moving violation or DOT preventable, even while drivin' a triple digit Big truck.
Musta been doin' sumthin' right.
Ya reckon.

Bottom line, y'all are captain of the ship with tools to work with. When desk drivers take any of those tools away I consider that an unnecessary hindrance and a potential safety issue. I wouldn't have agreed to that when signing on with any Big truck truckin' company. Changing the rules midstream would not cause me to change my mind, except for which Big truck truckin' company I choose to drive for.

 

You've never hauled for RR Donnelly or Protrans International I take it. Their BOL weights can't be trusted. Had guys with my company pick up at Protrans in Indianapolis and found that the 36k BOX weight was really closer to 43k and put them over on axle weights Or the team that picked up at RR Donnelly in El Paso where the bills said 40k and their CAT scale ticket showed 82k gross.

 

I scaled one that ended up being less than 10k. But the bills had a declared weight (in Kilograms) equal to 44,000. Didn't feel that heavy but better safe than sorry. I learned later that it was simply a declared weight for Customs purposes, lol.

 

scale loads over 33000 because of the Coke plant that put on 4 extra pallets of oj
or the 41000 lbs of cheese that had me at 79780 should have been no more then 77000
sometimes I don't even turn in the ticket if I think I didn't REALLY need the peace of mind
seldom am I allowed on the dock