would I get a ticket?

There's no CSA points for an overweight ticket.

 

So what happened?

 

The only way he would get CSA points is if they inspect him and find something wrong. Not from being over weight. I've been dinged a few times pushing my luck with over weight and over dimensional loads. No CSA pts from weight or dimensional violations.

DOT said,.. law is 53 ft,.. not 53'8, because I allowed some pipe to over hang off the back of my trailer.

Yet I've gone through scales in multiple states with 5ft hanging off the back, flagged with a flashing beacon,.. no permit. Just green light each time.

This is the load in question. Its actually 2 loads I picked up in SLC. A 25k coil that went to Chicagoland and a pipe load I added to it that went to Davenport Ia. I thought for sure the POE in Wy would have something to say. Nope,.. went around and parked,.. showed my IFTA,.. have a nice day.



I went through Alabama on i20 west bound from Ms to Ga with a Komatsu D61 dozer facing forward,.. blade was 11ft wide. I was permitted with banners, flags and my beacons flashing. I went through 2 scales and got the green light each time. I later learned the law in Alabama is anything over 10ft wide in Ala needs an escort and dozers are supposed to be facing rearward.

So sometimes you roll the dice and get away with it. Other times they nail you on 300 lbs or 3 inches of width. I chalk it up to just doing business.

As a company driver you need to have your companies interest as a top priority. Dont mess around with your meal ticket. Dont take chances with potential fines unless the company tells you to go ahead and run it. As long as you know you can do it safely and its not going to harm your CDL,.. you do what the company says to do.

Your safety is your first priority, your CDL is second,.. company third. Thats how I always operate.

Hurst

 

When I was flatbedding if my boss wanted us to load the truck and roll he'd say "Square it up so it tarps easy". Lol.

 

I get shippers like that too. The guy loading is trying to make it easier to tarp,.. not taking the balance of the load into the equation. Its a call you have to make when getting loaded. Do you want to balance out the trailer and spend an extra 30 mins tarping it, or drag the extra weight on your trailer tires.

I think step deck runs into this problem more than regular flat does.

I hate having to tarp up racks.

 

i'm surprised you got away with the overhang, hurst.

i had a similar load with no coil on a 48 flat. from cali to utah. i called the states office and scales and was told NO. for divisible overhang. legal in cali. but that one load had to go on 2 trucks. nevada and arizona and utah was a no no.

broker wasn't happy. and the boss said do it. it's legal.

 

I dont know the exact ruling for 48' trailers. I could be wrong,.. but I always thought you guys could over hang up to 5' off the back as long as it was flagged and marked properly per state regulations. Legal length I was told is 53' and why trailers like mine are not allowed any over hang at all. I see 48' trailers with over hang off the back all the time.

I do things I'm not supposed to and push the rules. I do try to do them with safety in mind. Not saying I was right,.. only that I rolled the dice and got away with it.

Trust me,.. I have been hassled over dumb things like an excavator that was 102.75 inches at the base of the tracks. Coming west bound out of PA on i80,.. scale at Hubbard Oh pulled me in and broke out the tape measure.

I dont pretend to be a good example to follow. I will get you in trouble every time if you do.

Hurst

 

4' off the rear in most cases is OK with a 48' trailer with no flags/lights/signs/etc. Always cracks me up seeing somebody running like they are "oversize" when they are only 6" over in the rear.

Back when I hauled logs, we had some equipment...rubber tire loaders, skidders, etc...that were 9' wide, so they overhung 3" on each side if centered on the trailer. I always figured I'd try convincing the officer I was pulling a 96" wide trailer and hope he wouldn't grab a tape measure...just play dumb. Never got the opportunity, though, because moving the equipment was about the only time I WASN'T hassled. I remember one week...we only had 3 trucks & 2 drivers...anyway, I got pulled over & given a level 1 in all 3 trucks. Crazy the hard-on they had for stick haulers...just glad that was before all of the CSA ridiculousness...

 

Here in Fla on certain routes, DOT sits and waits for the log, scrap and trash haulers to come by. They seem to be the most targeted by DOT here.

I got one over on DOT pulling a CAT 315C excavator. I measured the tracks at 103. I loaded it myself and centered it exactly. Unless you looked down the sides from an angle, you really couldnt tell. I made it 3 states and I believe it was MS that pulled me in. Broke out the tape measure. He said you know your 103 and 3/4? I said well your measuring right there at my binder. The binders are pulling the the tracks wider than what they are. If you dont mind,.. please measure across the top. Well,.. the binders did pull the tracks wide,.. and narrowed them up in the middle just enough for the officer to say,.. ah,.. your ok.

Now had I been in Wy or Oh,.. I dont think my none sense would fly,.. they would have responded that over width is over width,.. no matter what the reason.

Hurst