Overweight ticket

I know quite well what the guage shows in the tractor but I can also do the math and since you normally pull the same type of trailer it should be even easier. I also know the axle weights when empty.

My gauges are spot on, it shows the same pressure at the same weights on different loads. That is only what I really care about, is what the gauge reads at 34k. If you know your empty weight and you probably never move the 5th wheel you can subtract the 34 and 12 for the tractor and figure what the tandems weigh. If your truck gauge is light the trailer is heavy and if the truck gauge is heavy then you know what to do.

You can get really close if not spot on with air gauges or a single gauge if you pay attention to prior loads and their weights. For me if it goes over 62 lbs then the tag has to be down.

 

I got an overweight ticket in Louisiana once.
The officer did give me a chance to get weight right.
But it was never gonna be legal.
I was over 40k on Drives since the load shifted.

 

You have a lot more faith in the accuracy of your gauge than I do. I've been overweight too many timwes when my gauges looked right to trust them when I'm over X amount of weight on the load. Not to mention I've had shippers CLAIM 40k pounds when the actual WEIGHT was closer to 45.

I see little problems if I take the time to scale, and HUGE problems if I don't. If I'm loaded light? sure, no problem, I can use my internal scales. When I'm loaded heavy, it's at best guess an estimate.

 

In fairness to the OP, sometimes there just isn't a scale nearby. Sometimes, the weight actual is considerably different then the stated weight on the bills. "Sometimes, you's just gots to takes your chances and hope". That said, I will weigh when it's practical to do so if I suspect I'm heavy or the load distribution may not be optimal. And, yes, multi pickups are the worse.

Even if you "tell them how to load" in my experience, the shipper loaders are more likely to get it right then me telling them how to load product that I'm not familiar with. Sometimes you have to have faith in others that they know what they're doing. Sometimes they'll get it wrong, but not often. Probably as often as the driver will get it wrong ... then good luck going back and having them re-work a load you instructed them how to load the first time.

And don't get me started on trying to get poorly rebuilt pallets into reefer trailers, all sideways, especially stacked 2 or 3 high to max out a 53 for California

 

They do, I had a load of paper rolls shift in the mountains and he let me get it right.

 

Yep. 62 psi and I'm sitting at about 79,600. More folks need to learn how to use their air gauges.

 

Sorry to say...that falls under driver responsibility....you chose to not scale out before getting on the road and went over a scale...

 

If you drive for long on non dedicated loads your gonna run into these kinds of situations. I used to lock my trailer door open if I went to places that I knew were bad about closing and sealing before I had a chance to inspect the load. With experience you will find the weights listed on BOLs can be as much as 20% under actual. I never signed a BOL if a palet was in that first 8 feet and the weight listed showed I would be over 75 thousand pounds. You can't fix this in most situations. Most shippers that are in these places where you have to cross a state scale can help you either get weighed or can give you directions to get around the scale. You have to just ask. Also sometimes your company can help you with this. Young drivers sometimes get timid and let shippers bully them. Never allow a shipper to bully you like this. It is YOU that pays, not your company or the shipper.

 

Looks like OP makes threads and after he doesn't get the answer he wants to hear abandons it and make another.