No Cat scale before State scale

from experience scale always before crossing dot scales they will let you scale and even fix overweight but they also give you a ticket for 1st overweight scale ... i got overweight ticket in utah had just left steel shipper (their scale broke ) i asked for 1st scale i'd get to they told me the hook well they forgot to tell me it was exit just past coop long story short i got ticket was allowed to move axles (53' spread axle drop deck) and allowed to get legal however by time he was done writing me a ticket and i was done writing him comcheck ( cuz you don't leave til you pay) he then told me i was out of hrs and had to shutdown for 10 at scalehouse would not even let me go 1 mile to the hook..

 

no one must have read my post....grrr Idiot know it all truck drivers...lol

 

I didn't say I would recommend doing it just that it is legal to do so. I can never find anything on FMCSA site when I'm looking for it but I'll try and find it and post a link to it. I had to do it TN once as I loaded and there was a coop a 1/2 mile past the exit I had to get on and of course the truckstops were 1 mile past the coop. I didn't have any problems other than getting my logbook checked which was no biggy. I pulled through the scale got called in because I was overweight on my drives took paperwork in and showed the scalemaster where I had loaded showed him my logbook and he told me what my weights were I slid my tandems ran back across and green light gone. Anyway I'll try and find it and post a link. If Dieselbear or anybody else reads this and can find it please feel free to post it, it may take me a while.

 

Uh did you SAY something? Sorry, just couldn't resist.

Yeah, if one is available it might work. If they would let you do it.

 

You are responsible for being in compliance.Yes the state scale will scale you.Then they will enforce the laws and write you a ticket.
If they don't you better play the lottery that day

There is no provision of "If you can not find a scale...."

Air weigh is a good way to ensure compliance,if not learn to watch your suspension gauges.If in doubt,crossing a state scale would not be an option for me personally

 

The fact is the DOT can write you a ticket anytime you roll on public road overweight. You pull out of a dock on a public road you can get one right there and I have seen it happen.

It is a shipper responsibility to provide the load weight but just like so many other things that responsibility has been dumped on the driver and he gets the ticket. Shippers really need to have on sight scales if they want to ship at capacity.

I would not roll into a open state scale and ask for weights to adjust load. That is not the scalemasters job and he might right you a little note in quadruplicate telling you so. If the scale is closed that might be a good place to check weights.

However, be forewarned that the reason the state scale is not used may be because it is out of calibration. I knew of this one area heavy with shipping where the state scale was not used. Drivers would load up, scale out at the local state's chickenshack and roll down the road. They would forget about the CAT because they just used the State. Well, they would all cross open state scale a few hundred miles down the road. The DOT cop told them flat out 'that they know that scale is out of calibration and that is why an officer is not dispatched there.' They would all get tickets that did stick.

 

I have air pressure on my Volvo drives. 56 PSI is 34K.

With that I can estimate the tandem weight, taking into effect the fuel tank level and the gross listed on the bills.

But then you hit the shipper that does not include pallet weight in the gross!

I can pull 45K legally (at Illinois tandem length) but one shipper lists 42,760 on bills and I scale at 79,500!! Those must be 140 pound pallets!

Mikeeee

 

Your shipper should have local info as it has to be a concern if they're constantly loading heavies.

My GPS will tell me closest CAT and route me around any scales before getting there if need be, it's a simple Rand 510. Sometimes you just have to go out of route to scale, if need be or "eye it and try it!"

 

I have a gauge and it does me quite well. I find a spot the truck doesn't roll and that's usually pretty level. I know exactly where 34,000 on the drives are and if it's really close I CAT scale to verify. I can usually get a few hundred pounds under without fail. Even on lighter loads I use this to get close on my drives as I like them heavier than the tandems.
Now granted I have extensive experience using these gauges as a company driver for 7 years pulling a walking floor also equipped with a gauge. It's not a totally accurate means but it's a certainly an extremely valuable tool in the hands of someone that understands how to use them.

 

You can scale out at 20 different scales my friend and be legal on every one of them.But if that state scale master says your overweight according to his scales....you gonna get whatever he decides to throw at you. He makes the laws until you take it to court to prove him wrong. Been there,Done that The rules change daily out here,what one DOT let slide last week could be a court date/fine today. We are at their mercy and they know to prove them wrong will most likely cost you/me more than what the "donation" originally would have cost. {$100 ticket vs $500 to prove you was right}

I know of no law that allows you to use the excuse "there was no place to get legal before here"