Am I Limiting My Marketability as an Owner Operator?

So we have a 2015 Cascadia pulling a 2014 53’ Great Dane SS with a TK unit. Truck weight is 20580 (full tanks, APU, and a bunch of tools and crap in the truck), trailer weighs 15,240, total empty of 35820. These were scales my father took recently, we’ve been going back and forth about the weight of a KW W9L I’m ordering. To my knowledge the spec sheet shows the truck with 25 gallons of fuel, either total or in each tank, and my current spec is weighing in at 18,900 lbs. 260 gallon tanks, roughly 240 useable gallons (1,920 lbs), grand total of 20820 lbs. Let’s throw my dad’s trailer into the mix, now we’re sitting at 36,060 lbs empty weight with full fuel. For those reefer O/O’s who run the spot market, how much trouble am I causing myself by sitting at that weight? We run PNW to western 11, mid west, TX and surrounding states. Will I have to play the fuel game often? I am able to drop 200 pounds off the truck by changing sleepers, will that help? We have considered maybe going the dry van route for this truck, but I just want to see what others think. Am I shooting myself in the foot?

 

You have 400 pounds of Apu forgiveness I think. Other than that I can’t tell you about reefers as I pull power only.

 

I pull a dry van but 200 pounds is not worth turning one bolt to change your sleeper around in my opinion.

 

I can't speak for refer. But I pulled a flatbed and max weight I could load was 47k. Most brokers would list every load as max weight, 48k. Even if the load was 30k. And want you to be able to scale 48k. I never understood why. But it did limit my loads a bunch. I'd assume it'd be the samething with refer or even dry van.

 

You don’t have to pack 260 gallons of fuel. Shut off your passenger side tank and just run the 120 on the driver side. Also you don’t have to run the interstate everywhere and scales are easy to get around other than a handful of them in the NW. You’re going to drive yourself crazy if you agonize over every little thing for the next year or more until you get your truck. Order the truck you want and deal with it and make it work when it shows up.

Also, you don’t have to pull a tandem. Get a 53ft spread and you can go 86k gross in OR WA ID MT UT NV WY CO OK KS NE SD ND. Some of those states will require a permit and some only allow it off interstate, but you don’t have to pull a tandem and limit yourself to 80k gross.

 

I pull a reefer. But, being a company driver I seldom have the same trailer for more than a couple loads. In general my empty weight, full tanks, is 34,500. I commonly have 40k to 43.5k loads and don't have too much trouble getting legal. I seldom get above 78.5K gross. Heaviest I remember was 79,400 and I was able to get myself legal. I'm thinking 36k gross empty won't limit you much. But, if you get loads similar to what I get, you'll get pretty good at shuffling weight around and perhaps wish you were a bit lighter.
Good luck! I say go for it!

 

I was looking into this and previous driver on this forum told me there was a FMSCA recommendation to relieve drivers of 550 pounds over licensed gross weights, except it’s just a recommendation and some states won’t let you go over.

 

Yeah, I planned on playing the fuel game when I ordered the truck. Just threw out the 240 gallons as a reference and calculating weight. I heard you can run 40k on a spread axle, but never knew it allows you to go up to 86k in GVW. But wouldn’t I have to license my set up for 86k then?

And you told me before to deal with it, haha, I don’t know why, but spending the money that I am, it’s hard not to stress out over every detail. I’m hearing so many different opinions it’s becoming tough to draw the line in the sand. I just wasn’t sure if 200 pounds worth of fuel would be noticeable in terms of ease of mind if and when I had to cut fuel for a heavy load.

 

Yeah my pops has been running reefer for almost 3 decades now, from what I can tell he knows how to ask for the trailer to get loaded depending on pallet #’s and weight. Some said with the truck being so long I may run into an issue of not being able to put weight on my steers. We’ll see I guess.

 

Would you rather spend the money for the truck you want and figure out how to deal with it? Or spend the money on a truck you don’t want?

Licensing varies by state. For example Utah will show 80k on your cab card but you will have to buy an overweight permit. Some states you up the weight on your cab card and don’t need a permit. Some states you need both. Some states don’t allow over 80k on the interstate. Some states you can buy a permit to run over 80k on the interstate.

A 48ft spread will get you 84k gross and a 53ft spread will get you 86k gross, both provided that you are 12k on your steer axle when you max out your 4 axle bridge.

Changing the sleeper for 200 pounds is moot. That’s akin to putting your tire chains in the shop for the summer so you can haul more.

And you can get weight on your steers, just slide the 5th wheel ahead. My W9 was 280” and I had no issue getting 12.3k up there with a 52ft spread axle cattle trailer.

Peraonally, with the likely prospect of high fuel prices sticking around, I’d be more concerned about fuel cost versus limiting yourself because of weight. But I’ve said many times people should buy the truck they want.

 

I didn’t know you had a W9, what’s the spec on that thing?