Legal to nearest scale even when crossing state scales?

That's right. You have to be a little bit of an outlaw in this line of work if you know what's best.
The attitude of a lot of company drivers is" I do everything legally and I don't have a thing in the world to worry about" boy oh boy are they in for a surprise when they get busted by DOT.

 

Get a copy of all the scales in each state.
When you send a driver to a shipper or receiver look at the possibility of crossing a scalehouse. This is what owner operator's do as a professional business everyday. Get the office folks schooled up on how to do this and they will be a little more understanding of what truckers have to measure everyday.

I know for a FACT that a lot of freight in my business does not get touched because of the area is known for DOT inspectors. If they find enough points against the truck and driver you will be paying thousands of dollars to get back on the road days later, not hours.

 

love these guys saying,"install gauges on your truck and trailer", lol.

this isn't the owner/op section ,so 9 out of 10 posts are from company drivers.

the ticket is a company ticket and the company can stop sending drivers into a place that can't load correctly , especially if there is no on site scale or one before the state scale.

 

Why companies order trucks without a full gauge package is beyond me. Then I guess they would have to hire drivers not seat fillers.


Who orders a truck without a suspension gauge?

 

They have to save money so they can afford those bumper radars and facial expression cameras.

 

That's true, but, most company drivers haul generally, the same thing all the time. It's the O/O's that never know what they may be hauling next. Could be toilet paper or lead ingots.( THAT was a heavy load!!) BTW, I've gotten a ticket with a company truck on a backhaul, and while the boss paid it, he made it very clear, do what it takes so this doesn't happen again. I said, ok, but it may take me an extra half hour to get around the scale. He seemed fine with that.

 

SO the driver needs to watch and be aware of what's what.

I have one who doesn't always watch and he works as a dedicated driver, three times we got overweight tickets, stupid crap of a couple hundred pounds. ... AND three times I paid them.

I went down to the company last week and talked to the owner, telling him that we will be reducing the amount we carry for them unless they load it as agreed, and I told him the driver is clueless to the agreement.

So maybe tomorrow I may make a 200 mile trip just to watch the truck get loaded, and if it isn't to my liking, I will tell them take crap off the truck because it won't be going.

 

I never trust a shipper. On several occasions , they say 22 pallets, ok, run them in, single one up front and in back,( or whatever) like normal, get in the truck, gauge says way over. Go back in, hey, what gives, over on the drive,,,oh, yeah, we forgot to tell you, some of those pallets are heavier than the others,,and another trip 'round the scales,,,

 

Gotta disagree, hand...on certain points only. It’s not a company ticket. If the ticket isn’t paid, it’s the driver who could potentially lose his driving privileges, not the company. Drivers, understand what that means for you. Do what you have to do to get paid and CYA. If it happens once, it should never happen again.

Now, you have people that sit back and think, “listen to these guys, they’re so perfect, they have never made a mistake in their lives.”
Well, this was the mistake I made. Company ticket, company even said that they would pay. They did not. 6 months later, I got notice that my license was suspended. It happened once. Never again.

Get paid. Get home safely.