How to figure weight distribution?

Lol, what's that for, to hang yourself with so you don't have to worry about getting a ticket?

 

heaviest in center and work your way outward on each end. You should already know your max weight you can scale, so that's about it..... not much harder than trial and error

 

Ok, let's take your example. you don't really want to split like product apart so it's basically 3 things.

7 @ 4k = 28k
2 @ 2.5k = 5k
3 @ 2k = 6k

first thought is that the total here is 39k, I'm not sure what your empty weight is but assuming you can net 46-48k we realize right away you have plenty of wiggle room. So that's the first thing to know is your empty weight and how much you can net. If you are loading a load that is 5k or more less than your max you don't have to be real concerned with loading it properly, even 2k less will give you some play especially with the spread.

loading in the center is fine with a load like this, the only time you should have to worry about breaking your trailer is if you load an object that is very heavy in a short span like a single coil over 40,000 lbs or something spread out over 12 pallets you can put them anywhere and it's not going to have a chance of breaking your trailer.

So on your flatbed you find the light in the middle or look for a sticker that says "place coil here". If you see that sticker it indicates that your trailer has a coil kit and is built to haul heavy loads in a short span anyways. Now, you could place 4 of the 4k pallets behind the center and 3 4k pallets in front of it. then place the 3 - 2k pallets to the front of those and the 2 - 2.5k pallets to the rear. pretty even.

But let's say you want to put the load over the axles, maybe you just like the way it rides better or maybe you just want to confuse the forklift operator. Well, we could start with the 7 - 4k = 28k over the trailer axles and the rest @ 11k over the drives. This is too much on the back, so you move one pallet to the front it would be 15k on drives and 24k on the trailer, still a little off although this would probly work. move one more and you would have 19k on the drives and 20k on the trailer, right ? So there you go, if you want to split it you could do 5 of the 4k pallets over the trailer axles and the rest over the drives.

 

The idea of using a chain for a scale is older than me, aka ancient. When your trailer axles are at legal gross- 34k in the op's case, you hang a small chain from a trailer crossmember so that it just touches the top of the axle. Use baling wire or a plastic tie strap to fasten in permanently in place. The idea is that it measures the ride height, which should give you some idea of the weight. Was commonly used in the old days on spring ride trailers, also by almost every logger before hydraulic scales were invented.

If you are using a group axle trailer with air ride you can use hardware store pressure guages for scales. Just tee them into the air lines going to the bags, one on the truck, one on the trailer. Figure out what pressure equals 34k on each & you're good to go. Pulling a spread I prefer Right Weigh type scales that actually indicate your weight in pounds. It's easier to just add the numbers up than to try to extrapolate your axle weights from a couple of pressure readings.

I will still axle weigh on a CAT scale if my guages look sketchy. I have a light truck & trailer (One of the few virtues of a Freightliner) & I think I've only gone to a scale once in the past year.

 

Well the cats out of the bag now. U kind of hurt my feelings when u said
ancient.:-/ Thanks for the follow up OLD TIMER.

 

I didn't even take the time to add it all up Danny. You are correct, for me I can scale 50K, so 39k is not even something I'd worry about

 

In the past I have scaled loads that were perfectly legal but have never hauled that type of freight and wanted to have an idea of what it looked like on paper for future reference if get said load but more of it and how better to distribuate weight

 

it's a learning experience.

you really don't want pallets going past the center of the rear axle. after that. you start weighing down the trailer. and end up with heavy axles.

i delivered an oversized load. from ca to ut. the entire load was 53 feet. (4 crates). had 2 feet overhang on the top deck for the first crate. so i had 2 feet to spare on the rear of the trailer. the load weight 76,000 pounds. but becuase of cali's kingpin law. the trailer was too heavy at 36,5000. so, 1 crate had to stay behind. if it would have picked up in nevada or utah. i could have run the spread and been legal.

what everyone preaches is good advice. but you also need to watch how much goes on the trailer axle. i didn't see mention of length of trailer. but watch what goes on the back.

sucks not having a scale. and one of these days i'm going to see about installing some type of air gauge on teh trailer.