Need advice on an overweight issue.

Exactly! was in agreement with your post and you were Thanked for it.

Then I added my personal $.0¼

 

OK, guys, I need some advice.

Not a big rig, so certainly not in your league, but you guys are the experts, so here I am.

Straight truck, only tagged at 26k GVW (we're small beans).

Left Maryland empty. Picked up a load of frozen bait in Virginia. The truck can (space wise) hold 8 pallets. Because the company doesn't want to violate the regs, we only pick up 5 pallets. (40 boxes per pallet x 50 lb per box, 2000 lb per pallet = 10,000 lb load) We've got 11k lb to work with so we should be good.

Get stopped at a weigh station, and somehow, we're over. The boxes of bait were really full, and we're guessing with the boxes being over full, that's how we're overweight.

Company gets a fine, they let us go. The truck still has to get to Louisiana. Since it's a long haul, there are two drivers, with a hotel in South Carolina for the night (no sleeper).

Knowing the company tried not to be overweight (it came as a shock to everyone on that end), knowing the company tries to be good to their drivers and do things the right way (sending two instead of one, and paying for a hotel midway), and now that you have a load of frozen bait on the truck that has to get somewhere, do you refuse to drive the load since it's over?

 

How much overweight were you and where did you get the ticket? My guess is you were over 1000 lbs or so, maybe less. Each State is different, but most State's have the same philosophy. If you get a citation for overweight and you are stopped in the same State again with the same load, they don't re-issue a citation. Now once you cross into another State you can be issued another overweight ticket. This isn't every State, but a few that I know about. In 9 years, I have never stopped someone who had already got one citation for overweight while on the same trip/load. Not saying it doesn't happen.

 

It was around 1300 over. The co-driver refused to drive. Said he'd lose his license. Stopped at another weigh station (different state), and since we'd already been cited for that load, they didn't cite us again.

But the co-driver was having a fit. A serious fit. Did he have the right attitude, overweight = do not drive no matter what? Or should we have just kept trucking?

That's my question. What do you do when you're in the middle of a haul and find out you're overweight? You've already gotten a citation for it. Should you refuse to finish the run, or get the load where it needs to go?

 

Well, I'll tell you what we USED to do.

1990 or so I used to haul produce out of the southeast back to PA and I was rarely legal on weight. I used to have routes around all the scales.

I said USED TO dieselbear! Don't come looking for me!! I've learned the error of my ways!!

 

well i pull a tractor trailer dump in ohio,short trailer 30 ft with two tags I've had probally 8-10 overwightes in the last three years.with the bridge law in ohio i've been under gross but over on a axle a copule of times so the way i see it is take the load or find a new job. Doesnt matter how much you are hauling they will get you one way or another.

 

Hold on! In every state, there are laws that say it's ok to record if a crime is in progress. In this case, the boss is illegally coercing the driver to take an overweight load. Whistle blower laws will protect the driver making the recording

 

Next time you load go find a scale and weigh your truck, that way if your over you can go back and take some of the load off at the shipper to make you legal., then no overweight tickets, this time you were kinda at fault for not weighing to know if you were over weight, once you found out you were probably to far away from the shipper to go back and fix the probllem. might as well go on now and finish it out.

 

Overweights won't take your license, unless you don't pay it or go to court. They are not a moving violation like a speeding citation, at least in my State. Co-driver sounds like a Spaz. Tell them to lighten up, it's not worth the heart attack. 1300 lbs, was how much $35-$40 fine.

LB, I'm not looking for you. But if I do find you, let me know we can B.S. a little......before I weigh ya. Just kidding.

 

dieselbear I'm not sure what state you are from but in your state, can you write someone up that is overweight under a "failure to comply" law? This happened to my brother in Calif. with a Calif. license and as a result he was awarded points. The weight he was over was not very much, maybe 700 or 800.