Overweight??

I used to run containers, are these 20' 40' or longer boxes.
Some chassis you will be able to slide & get weights right, some you wont because they are fixed axle.
We had sliding chassis for 20' & 40' boxes & yes loading the same product floor to ceiling of a 20' or 40' box can put you overweight on axles even if gross is below 80,000.

Talk to contracted carrier & find out if they have this kind of equipment with sliding trailer axles.

 

The weights you gave weren't that far out of tolerance so if the trucking company is using a chassis with sliding axles they should have been able to adjust/slide the axles on the trailer forward enough to get it legal.

The driver is ultimately responsible for an overweight ticket, they can either adjust/slide their fifth wheel or trailer tandems to achieve it or if they can't get it legal they could refuse the load. If they get a ticket it is theirs. If they don't pay the ticket the warrant will be issued to them. It doesn't matter if they have control over the loading or not, the ticket is in their name, their responsibilty.

Maybe the trucking company doesn't have the right equipment for the job, no sliders on the trailer or stretch chassis, but that would be their issue. If they don't have the right equipment and/or don't want to get it, maybe you should find another carrier who thinks your business is worth the extra effort. It may cost you a bit more to move the freight but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Do a google search for truck scales in the area you are talking about & see what you come up with.

 

If it's the railport I see on the south side of Chicago, they do have scales.
You can get around any of them scale houses in that area fairly easy too.

 

The containers can be set on the frame in either direction, so if one end is heavier, it can be set on the trailer frame with the heavy end toward the rear.

 

1. Yes you could load them heavier at the door and that would probably solve all your problems, a couple thousand pounds difference at one end of the trailer would make no difference to the rail or ports.

2. The drivers are the last one in the food chain and they are the ones that are "ultimately responsible" and if the load is not legal they dont have to take it. Them having the ability to break the seal and look inside would have no bearing on the weight issue. The only reason to break the seal is if they wanted to go in and move some freight. The driver is responsible for whatever load he is hauling, be it imported or domestic. When you say "It is said" Who is saying this stuff?

3. You can Google or better yet contact the rail yard where these loads are coming into.

4. Not necessarily, if the chassis the container was set on had no sliding axle's then no, or maybe the weights that you gave were with the axle's slid up as far as they would go.

In my opinion it would be easy to just load the containers heavier on the back end. It's also my opinion that who ever you are using should be working with you on this instead of saying "pay the fines". It should be an easy fix.

 

Bet you used the cheapest transportation bidder. You get what you pay for.

 

Although you may be right, why assume that so quickly, without asking the person in question?

 

The cans are probably sealed, so no loading or redistribution is possible.
I don't think the shipper wants a can that is not loaded symmetrically, they pick them up with fork lifts sometimes!
Sliding tandems on a can trailer????? Not on a fleet trailer.... You're lucky to find one with good lights, brakes and tires!

The truck needs a drop axle (4th axle) to take the extra off the drivers and steers. Look at the other trucks that work the ports daily.

 

I'm not sure about Indiana,but in Illinois legal weight on steer axle is 20,000. So all 3 of these loads could have been made legal by moving the 5th wheel ahead.[transfer about 1 ton from the drives to the steers.]
How is it they can check the gross weight but not axle out the load?It only takes a few seconds to axle it out.