Almost 30 years in trucking, and I still have no idea...

People use "bridge law" for different things. I only worried about gross weight, axle weights, trailer tandems set in a legal position for that state, or strictest state on my route.

 

I'e been doing this s.h.i.t for 30 yrs too..

Bridge law is just a matheatical equation.. to determine gross weight and axle weight... based on over all length of the vehicle and how many axles that vehicle has... hope this answers your question

 

It's only ever been a problem in california for me. Basically, they can slide the rear up and back in order to balance the load, but certain states have limits on how far you can slide the axle. In CA, it's 40 foot from king pin to center of rear axle (for 53 foot trailers). So if they do a half assed load at the shipper, or try to push you over another 2000lbs, you won't be able to scale. I'm a broker, and some of the drivers I dispatch know this law intimately, this is the best I can do to describe it.

 

You should keep brokering.. funny how you say it's only been a problem for "you" in California... stop it
Please don't comment on something you obviously know nothing about..

 

That isn't bridge law, that is KPRA (king pin to rear axle)... completely different.

 

Whatever Bob. I think I made it clear that I'm not a driver, and said "this is the best I can do to describe it." I have two CA drivers that I work with on a daily basis, I've never heard a driver mention the problem elsewhere but it comes up often with these guys in CA. They have to run me through it when it comes up, and I've had to communicate it to customers. Enlighten me bob.

-edit Each time my drivers have mentioned they can't run legal with the way they were loaded, they mentioned the bridge law and said they can't slide back past 40'. I thought these were the same thing (the bridge law). I don't mind being wrong.

 

Most drivers misname it as well.

 

As I mentioned keep brokering...
I responded with what bridge law is.
Google could be your friend.
All I said to you was.... do not comment on something you obviously know nothing about. Apparently you know nothing about the New England states or Florida or even the port of entrys in AZ or Utah.... KPTA is what you're referring to. Some drivers refer to KPTA as bridge law.... However that is NOT the definition of bridge law... But don't take my word for it... I'm still new to this business. I've only been around 30yrs
I learn new things every day still

 

Over length rules have nothing to do with bridge law.
Bridge law rules how close the trailer tandems can be to the tractor tandems. With most new trailers being 53ft long you never have to worry about that. When 40ft and 45ft trailers were commonplace the bridge laws were a good source of revenue for DOT.