Overweight on steers going through Cali

He mentioned it's a fixed 5th wheel.

The 860 Volvo I drove was like that. It had a front axle that was rated to haul over 13k. The company had specific tires for the Volvo steer axles that had a higher load rating than their steer tires for their other trucks.

 

Also, "back in the day", no one specd out a 'big' front axle. My first 3 trucks- 04 century, 11 Columbia glider, and 13 cascadia all had 12000 pound steer axles. The Cascadia also came with g rated tires on the steer axle - but it was a diamler lease, not a company owned unit so all the spec were just a little bit off.

 

I've had no issues running mostly west of 29. Depending on load, I'm usually 12-12750#. I've never noticed anyone check axle or tire specs during an inspection.

Talking with an Idaho DOT about OW loads during an inspection a month or so ago, she said specifically up to 14k# on steers was fine.

 

Years ago, with the old balance beam scales, we used to roll the steer right over the platform and stop with the drives. I hardly ever recall a scale dude asking to back up so they could check the steer. If so, probably a rookie checking gross weight. Most were just interested in the tandems. My long Pete (260 WB) there was nothing I could do, short of putting 2 pallets on the hood, was I ever able to get more than 10 on the steer. I went around the scales a lot.

 

We didn’t have permits, just had to have tires and axles rated for the weight.

 

Most states will allow steers up to 20k provided the axle is rated for it and you're running the appropriate tires.