load-scaling reality check

Pedigreed Bulldog · Jan 16, 2018

TripleSix said: ↑

I agree. I didn’t know that this load was a repower.

I was sitting in a yard in Houston. Saw a driver grab a 35 ton rgn to load. He came back for a 60 ton with a flip neck. I flipped the neck down and pinned it, relocated the kingpin to the flip and he went to load. When he comes back, he had loaded a piece of machinery with 2 crates of accessories that were banded to the big machine. That’s where the problem began.

‘Driver, you can’t run that load, it’s a divisible load.’

(In order to get an OSOW permit, the load must be a nondivisible load. He couldn’t get the axle weights legalwith a 35 ton, so he has to be over 94000 lbs. He had to flip the neck down to get the weight on the drive axles correct, even tho the trailer had 3 axles. Yet, this load had more than one piece. It cannot be made legal)

The driver looked worried,” I’m loading this for another driver...that’s all.”

‘I understand that, but that’s not loaded legally. You’re going to get the other driver into a world of trouble.’

“Not my problem.”

I didn’t see the load get picked up. But I did hear what happened. Driver picks that load up, goes to the Wyoming POE and got shut down with a divisible load. The company was scrambling trying to figure out what to do. The only thing you can do is have a forklift delivered and put those crates on another truck.

Whose fault was it? The shipper shipped it wrong, but how many shippers know the laws? All drivers involved should have know the laws, but that was two different drivers that didn’t. If one of them did, this wouldn’t have happened. The driver that loaded it would have told the shipper NO GO on the crates. The transporting driver would have refused to take thatload from the yard, where they keep trailers and forklifts.

I don’t do repowers because
-every time you go to grab a preloaded trailer, something is wrong with it and you have to take it to a shop.
-too many drivers don’t know enough to do the job.
-if something happens, if there is damage to the load, it’s YOUR baby.
-it just doesn’t pay enough.
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I don't much care for drop & hooks for that very reason. Drivers leave whatever problems exist for the next guy to worry about, and even if they DID report the problem on a customer-owned trailer, it got reloaded before it was repaired...so now there you are trying to find someone to fix the trailer or the load.

Much easier to stay hooked to a trailer I know is in good shape and have it loaded the way I want it loaded.

Farmerbob1 · Jan 16, 2018

mathematrucker said: ↑

They say there are no stupid questions, but I think I may have stumbled onto a couple.

If you pick up a load that needs to be scaled in a city with a truck stop that has a CAT scale, and you expect it will take about 15-20 minutes from the time you exit the freeway until you are back on the freeway to use that scale, and you know there is a much quicker CAT scale in a small town 80 miles away that only takes about half as much time freeway to freeway, should you drive to the small town to scale?

Note: if you do drive to the small town, you must also pass by several other CAT scales on the way, each of which takes roughly the same amount of time as the city scale.

Re the load in question, it turns out the shipper loaded 27,000 lbs. onto the drive axles and 34,500 lbs. onto the trailer axles, and you have no further legal tandem slide available.

Here's the kicker:

It turns out you've been to this shipper many, many times before. So many times, in fact, that you are well aware that "they always load this way---that's just how they load---they've always done it that way."

Under these circumstances, how wise is it for you to drive those 80 miles before scaling that load?

Just doing a reality check here. When the driver wouldn't admit to having done anything wrong, saying "where I scale is my business---you can't tell me where to scale," I felt like I was talking to a child.

Actually, as soon as I'm dispatched on that mess you dropped at our yard for some other driver to take into CA (the loading driver didn't have to worry about the 40-foot bridge rule), things like where you scaled the load, whether you returned to the shipper, etc. suddenly are my business!
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500 pounds over on the trailer. No adjustment on tandems. Assuming you can't get in and manually move a couple cartons of product. Sounds like it might be time to find a nice stretch of good pavement about 50 feet longer than your truck, get up to about 5 miles per hour, and see just how fast the truck can stop.

Depending of course, on exactly what the load is and how it is secured.

Also. Can you MAYBE knock a bunch of ice off the back of the trailer? Ice weight adds up quick.

TripleSix · Jan 16, 2018

Moose1958 said: ↑

I agree with you post and the spirit of it. However I have one question in regard to the CDL part I underlined. I know an overweight ticket is not a CVS violation and will not be something effecting this. However are you sure it is considered a no points ticket in all of the 48 lower states. I am only asking this because I was under the impression some states assessed points.
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It’s a non moving violation. Like a parking ticket. Now if some States accrue points on things like parking tickets, I was unaware.

Toomanybikes · Jan 16, 2018

TripleSix said: ↑

It’s a non moving violation. Like a parking ticket. Now if some States accrue points on things like parking tickets, I was unaware.
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WA and I think OR overweight ticket is a moving violation. Not sure on OR, but dead sure on WA.

4 overweight tickets will get your license on probation in WA. The fifth or six additional ticket will get you suspended. Those tickets can and have been overweight tickets. Of course, you can easily get 4 overweight tickets in one stop.

CA, and ID are on the points system and overweights do count against your CDL.

IDK about other states, since those listed are the ones I primarily play in. I am sure their are others.

ZVar · Jan 16, 2018

ChaoSS said: ↑

X1 was also the Navy seal who got bin laden. He also personally saved the life of the first president Bush.
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Now now. You'll get put on his ignore list with truthful comments like that. How will you live with yourself then?

TripleSix · Jan 16, 2018

Toomanybikes said: ↑

WA and I think OR overweight ticket is a moving violation. Not sure on OR, but dead sure on WA.

4 overweight tickets will get your license on probation in WA. The fifth or six additional ticket will get you suspended. Those tickets can and have been overweight tickets. Of course, you can easily get 4 overweight tickets in one stop.

CA, and ID are on the points system and overweights do count against your CDL.

IDK about other states, since those listed are the ones I primarily play in. I am sure their are others.
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Anything for money in those parts.

x1Heavy · Jan 16, 2018

ChaoSS said: ↑

X1 was also the Navy seal who got bin laden. He also personally saved the life of the first president Bush.
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HAHA yea right.

Not. lolz.

ladr · Jan 16, 2018

mathematrucker said: ↑

OK, agreed---it's their business not mine. Unfortunately there was no such call...their business wasn't handled in advance of dropping the load many hundreds of miles from the shipper, illegal for CA.

I refused to haul the load on the grounds that I need to protect my CDL.

What ultimately happened was, the loading driver was dispatched to take it into CA. She got away with setting the kingpin-rear-axle distance at 40' 5" and completing the delivery without getting pulled in for overlength at the DOT scale.
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You did the right thing.

sealevel · Jan 16, 2018

Moose1958 said: ↑

Actually no it is not. The best answer is not to get involved with another drivers mess. They should be fixing it. (And according to op that is just what they did). Then and only if you have no other choice take load to closest scale that does not mean crossing through an open state weigh station. The op has already admitted they had 3 pieces of information at pickup. 1 Cat scale ticket 2 from a visual look no fix it room 3 first drivers statement of overweight condition. For a driver to knowingly cross through an open state scale in an over weight condition speaks more to their fitness to operate a CMV. If you are the original pickup driver of course you must scale ASAP and be ready to get load fixed if need be. Once a driver obtains better experience they can start to see signs right at door close. Never allow the shipper to place a heavy pallet beyond roughly that last 6 feet of a 53 footer or even that far in a California type area because of the way you have to set tandems. This is one drawback to drop and hook. Even if said drop and hook is a repower. You the driver has not seen how load was loaded.

Edited to fix a mistake. If you are forced to fix another drivers mistake do what you have to do that works best for the situation. No point trying to fix it if you are closer to final then shipper. If you can't fix it before having to cross an open state scale you MUST be ready to get your company safety dept involved. Let them make the call on what to do.
Click to expand...

I was referring to the first two paragraphs in the original post. Everything after that is just the consequences of what happens after a incompetent driver picks up the load. It all becomes fluff after the first mistake, and the first mistake was brutal.

snowwy · Jan 16, 2018

TommyTrucker88 said: ↑

There's a lot in your topic. Not sure how to answer but I'll try give what I can.
I guess it depends how the company wants it done ultimately , but when I scale I'm supposed to scale at the closest one. So if I have to drive the opposite direction that's what I'm doing.

Also keep in mind if your truck is equipped with a apu you have a weight exemption depending on the state you are driving in. So it can still be possibly legal.

You know every company will do things there way. It sounds like your company has strict rules or just don't like you.
Click to expand...

The apu exemption. If allowed per state. Only applies to drive weight and gross weight. He's clearly UNDER gross but over on trailer axle. APU won't help him.

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