overweight on steer

Must be nice to just assume you know it all because you talked to someone who thought they knew what they were talking about, ain't it? You're still wrong, though...

For example, in Arkansas:

 

How do you know if you haven't been checked? WIM coops weigh individual axles and combine them to get the GVW. It's up to the scalemaster to red flag you.

 

Wow. You guys are starting to sound like a group of accountants debating federal tax code. You can't get two of them to agree on anything.

I've always gone with the 12,34,34,80 rule. I know some states allow over 12 on the steer if tires/axle are rated for it and you're under 80 gross, but others don't. I try to avoid being over 12k on the steers when possible, but sometimes you can't avoid it. I've gone over scales at 12,100 or 12,200 before, never got flagged. But I still try to avoid being over 12.

I do know that some trucks DO run way over 12 on the steers though. You ever see a truck with "fat" steer tires, almost look like they've got "super singles" up there? I usually only see them on local trucks, mostly dump trucks or straight trucks such as cement mixers. They might run the fat tires just for weight distribution in the dirt though, so they don't sink into the ground as much. I had several dump trucks bring out gravel when we were having a foundation laid for a new barn. The guys with conventional steers tore the **** out of the lawn, while the guys with the fat steer tires didn't do as much damage.

 

The law is the law...and everything else is just hearsay. You'd think that would be a simple enough concept to grasp, but some folks will swear that what they overheard some other feller say at the truck stop diner is the honest-to-God truth even when confronted with the actual laws and/or regulations that state otherwise...

 

You guys keep pasting sections of legal documents from certain states and federal code, but seem to forget that the laws vary from state to state, some states go by the federal code, others have their own laws that are stricter, etc. Some DOT bears will be lenient, others won't.

The confusion among US has got to be going on with LEO's too. Maybe the DOT cops themselves don't know exactly what the laws are. Maybe some DOT officer goes by what he heard another DOT cop say at the donut shop coffee counter 4 years ago, while the next DOT cop goes home every day and does nothing in his spare time but study the ever-changing laws and regulations.

From all the conflicting posts I've seen here, I'm just going to assume it's best just to go with the 12,34,34,80 rule and avoid going much over 12 on the steers whenever possible.

 

As long as the tires and the axles are rated for more, I don't know of any state that won't allow you to run more. The front section of the Rand McNally Motor Carrier Atlas does a pretty good job explaining a lot of the various state requirements. On the interstate highway system, you are allowed 20/34/34 but no more than 80 total gross. Off the interstate highway system...when you start playing around on state & local highways, then the state & local laws come into play. There are states which allow heavier weights on the state & local roads...just not on the interstate. Missouri allows 36K on a tandem on the state highways...but the interstates are run by the federal rules.

Here's a Missouri PDF explaining their laws...
http://www.mshp.dps.mo.gov/MSHPWeb/Publications/Brochures/documents/SHP-250.pdf

Again, you'll note the "manufacturer's weight rating for the steer axle" is a consideration.

Illinois USED to be a state with LOWER weight limits once you got off the designated highway system....73,280 gross....18 single axle.....32 tandem. They also used to have a 96" width restriction off the designated truck routes...that, too, was eliminated a couple years ago for the more common 80K gross, 34K tandems, and 102" width. There are still states that will cite you for over width if you are pulling a 102" trailer off their "designated truck route"....and nail you for over length if you happen to be pulling a 53' trailer, too. On the interstate, they are required to allow the 53', 102", 80K gross weight trucks.

...and don't ever assume that just because there is a scale house on any particular road that it is OK for you to be on it. I learned that lesson 3 days after going first seat running up a US highway out east because I didn't have money for tolls and I hadn't been in the truck long enough to have an advance available. Wound up with a $120 ticket for being over width (pulling a 102" wide trailer....96" width limit) and got a warning for being over length (53' trailer....48' limit...would have been $540 if he wrote the citation).

Bottom line, you gotta know the rules of the game you're playing before you can use 'em to your advantage.

 

This. It's not only best to follow the 12, 34, 34, 80 rule for law purposes; but it reduces wear and tear on the steer axle and roadway. If you take your steer to 18,000 LBS because it's legal in Nebraska; you're going to break the axle eventually, or blow a tire, etc.

 

If you have an 18,000# rated axle, and 385/65R22.5 tires with a load rating J (9370# each), then how is running 18,000# on them any different from loading a 12,000# rated axle and 295/75R22.5 tires with a load range G (6175# each) all of the way to 12,000#? Either way, you are working the axle and tires pretty close to their maximum rated load.

If you are trying to run 18,000# on a 12K axle or on 295/75R22.5 LRG tires, there is NOTHING legal about that in ANY state.

 

Methinks you misinterpeted the meaning of that post. It was directed to otherhalftw.

 

Methinks all this math is too much for me!

All I know is that I've run as much as 12,300 with no issues. The way my truck is set up now, I'm seldom over 12k.

I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, and leave the math to my step-daughter (friggin' genius!).