Overweight ticket

Doesn't matter what anyone says, He's trying to justify his actions

 

Shipper didn't listen to your instructions on how to load your trailer So you let them load any ole way because they wanted to get home.That's when you should have called your company and made some kind of arrangments for them to pay the ticket and not leave shipper till they agree.Companies would go broke if they paid every over weight ticket before knowing the facts .

 

I'm gonna just tell you. SCALE THE LOAD. If you have the slightest doubt that you're going to be overgross, even IF you have to get yelled at by dispatch, SCALE THE LOAD. As you now know, it's an expensive ticket.

Yes, your company should pay it. But they don't HAVE to.

I have gone back to a shipper three times to get loaded right, with the nearest scale 20 miles away. That cost me a lot of money I should not have been out, but it was a lot less than an overweight ticket. And ticket costs are trivial. It's your CSA score that's a big deal because THAT will pay negative dividends for years to come.

Sugggestion: next time go scale the load. Call dispatch and tell them what you're doing and why. Ask TO BE PAID for the time. If they won't pay, threaten to quit. If they still won't pay, go scale the load, deliver it and take the truck back to the terminal and go home with all your stuff and look for a new job. You're working for a crap-tastic company.

I know it's a PITA, but that's why we get the big bux

 

I've had many heavy loads and shipper is closing.So I would get the atlas out see if there's any scale houses before a trkstop and if there was I would take the scenic route to a truckstop then weigh load.It is the drivers responsibility to make sure he is legal if can't get it legal call company.

 

Yes you are the captain of your truck. Once you pull out with the load it belongs to you. By signing the BOL then you are agreeing to take the load safely to wherever then they will sign off you did so. ANYTHING in between leaving the shipper and getting to the receiver is on your end. Not saying you have to like it but it is what it is. Now a CAT scale ticket totally takes it off of you but that is the only way. Also if you do scale loads and see you are heavy you should not proceed on no matter what the company says. That will be on you also. The company may get you to run illegal but again you are the captain of your truck and you would have to answer for running so..

 

Doesn't anyone pay attention to the air gauges on for the suspension? I know that most trailers do not have them but most trucks do.

 

Tractor only shows he weight on the tractor. I've had loads where I would be overweight if I had more than 1/2 a tank of fuel. I've had loads on flatbed where I was legal on my tractor but illegal by 200 pounds on my trailer with split tandems.

When you're at the bleeding edge (for me in a reefer that's 43500) on your load, that gauge in the truck is useless. I got a warning (the guy was merciful) at a weigh station in SD and I had to play with my tandems 4 times to get it right. I grossed AT 79800 and BARELY passed finally after 4 reweighs with 1/2 a tank of fuel. And that WITH the 400lb APU exemption cause I would have still been over on the trailer tandems.

 

Not trying to be a buster. Just letting you know that you dont have a leg to stand on once you sign the BOL and leave the shipper. See, you are pointing fingers at the shipper. If you went to court you would lose.

a driver picks up a load, gets to the receiver, and as he opens the doors, the load falls on him. The driver is severely injured. He gets one of those injury lawyers. They name the shipper, receiver and the trucking company on the lawsuit. They fly the driver to specialist too look at the severity of his injuries. The injury lawyers are confident that they have an open and shut case.

Until an opposing lawyer shows them the statute already on the books.

The injury lawyers all pack up, cut their losses and go home. The driver is SOL.

The End.

 

I once asked a MN scale house officer if they did Courtesy Weights, and the answer was "no". You had better be legal when you crossed the scale or else.

I think VA still gives 2 chances to get your weight right, then if you fail the 3rd try, they fine you. But it used to be that way, who knows if they still allow that.