Pre-loaded trailers always overweight on tandems. Shipper doesn't care. Any advice?

I've asked a few trucking friends and coworkers about this situation, but it's getting to be nearly hopeless and I'm just not sure how to get these people to listen to reason. So, here's the deal...

I drive a daycab and do shuttle runs, out and back twice a night. Drop a loaded trailer at a warehouse, grab an empty. Drop the empty at the shipper, pick up a pre-loaded trailer. The problem is that these particular trailers have to go through Tennessee, and as we all well know, there's a wonderful law there having something to do with bridges and kingpins that nobody seems to fully understand until some jerk with some measuring tape is writing them a big, fat ticket. Now, even though I don't go through TN with the loads myself, and I don't even cross an open scalehouse, it is 100% my responsibility to make sure that the loads I take out of there are legal for the entire trip that the trailer is going to make. Seeing as that trailer is going through TN, it's my duty to slide the tandems up to 41' (the shipper loads with them all the way back) before I take it over the scale on the way out, and to ensure that I'm not over gross or over axle. I do this religiously. It is my duty and my job.

The problem? From week one, the weight on the tandems has been an issue. I can see it coming when I look at the bills before I even hook up to the trailer. If the trailer has anything more than about 45,000 pounds on it and 30 skids loaded from nose to door, that trailer will absolutely be overweight on the tandems when set at 41'. It's so predictable that when I see those numbers, I smile and wave at whoever's in the shipping office and let them know I'll see them in a few minutes for the inevitable reload, which I literally have to fight for 90% of the time. When I scale, I'll gross at about, oh, 74,000-76,000... with 9-10k on the steers, 28-30k on the drives, and 34500-35500k on the tandems. It's pretty consistent. Then, I have to get a scale print-out and bring it back. I've had them tell me at 800 pounds over that they can't do anything about it. I have to stand there at the window and stare at them until they change their minds, at which point they say it'll be a few hours before I can get a door. Probably trying to get me to give up. Then they magically get a door open 10-15 minutes later. Then they complain about how long it's going to take them to redo the bills to take one single skid off. I don't relent. I get those trailers reloaded. It is my responsibility. It is my duty and my job.

I have exhausted every point of contact I have to get this problem taken care of. From my dispatchers, to the people in the shipping office, anyone I can get on the phone or face to face has heard about it. My dispatcher and the crew in the office have been in full-blown meetings about this one single issue with the shipper. I wouldn't be surprised if the CEO has had it come across his desk once or twice because I'm so relentless and persistent in getting this problem fixed. And yet, here we are, weeks later and I'm still getting the same loads. Same weights. Same skid counts. Same turn around and get reloaded routine. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job. The pay is great, the rest of the job is really comfortable and laid back, and the closest person in any kind of supervisory position to me is 800 miles away. But I'm always trying to streamline things and be more efficient, reliable and consistent. I can do in 9 hours what the guy before me could barely do in 12. I'm 100% on-time, where the guy before me was (and still is, believe me... I have to wait for him for my second outbound trailer) 0%. This reloading business does not mesh well with my style and I want to squash it like a dirty little ####roach. I'll try just about anything, so long as it's legal and won't get me fired, so if any of you have advice or tips on dealing with shippers like this, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

 

Well, at least I have the benefit of going there twice a night. It takes a lot of pressure to make a diamond, eh?

That kind of attitude is why you get trailers that have lights out, wires rubbing, brakes squealing, air lines leaking, doors not completely closed, bald tires and holes in the deck. Why didn't the guy before you do something about it? Why are you on the side of the road getting a ticket for someone else's irresponsibility? Maybe you're just hoping you can get rid of it before DoT sees it so someone else can deal with it. Well, I'm not a "let someone else deal with it" kind of guy.