Tandems too far forward?

I got a ticket on I-94 by a Sheriff Deputy, just outside of K'zoo for being 6" under length. As a former resident of the Communist Republic of Michigan, i'd never heard of being too short. When I drove for NTB, the tandems were always all the way up.

I asked him when they started that and he said he'd been writing tickets for it for thirty years. I called ######## on it, but whatever helped him to sleep at night was his business. Thirty years ago, you'd have been lucky to have any contact with any kind of DOT in Michigan, much less a Deputy. Now the ####ers are rabid. I won't set foot in Michigan with a truck anymore.

 

I live 75 miles north of Toledo. How many times have I ran all over East of the Mississippi without any problems, only to get harassed trying to get home. Too many to count. Ohio with their bad reputation are at least Proffesionals, and fair. Michigan DOT are equivalent to the Gestapo. What’s up with those Boots anyway? Lol.

 

They gotta make up that budget deficit somehow!!
Without a doubt,DOT can be a bunch of jackbooted thugs sometimes!LMAO

 

It's my understanding that CA KPRA max is so they know how to build the roads.

Longer KPRA would require a larger radius on the curbs in the cities. Also wider streets if you need to make a corner without taking out street signs and such.

 

That sounds like a reasonable explanation especially given the fact that short doubles and truck/trailer combos are popular there for how easy they get around. It’s definitely not a bridge/weight issue though.

 

The real problem with running your tandems too far forward is a ground clearance issue. At a certain point the dot bumper starts scrapping the ground going in and out of driveways.

 

The problem is so many conflate KPRA and bridge law.

Back when running 48 foot trailers, it was possible to run the tandems too far forward and decrease the weight capacity of dual drives and dual trailer tandems under 68,000, or take the entire gross weight under 80k if you were running a cab over. To avoid these violations safety/training critters 'simplified' things by just saying "it's illegal to run too far forward " for the simpletons. Just like "steers can be a max of 12k" became commonly accepted because no one was specing trucks with axles rated for more.

 

How long ago was this? 3-4 years ago MI removed both too long and too short kpra restrictions.

 

Heres a link to the description of minimum lengths...

Bridge Formula Weights- FHWA Freight Management and Operations

 

Don't go by holes. Not every trailer is the same. Especially if you have a newer one that moves in 250 pound increments.

41 feet to center is almost 3 feet past what THE COMMUNIST STATE allows.

If you're driving in THE COMMUNIST STATE and you are over 40 feet KP to CBA and you didn't get cited, you're really lucky.

And if you're overweight and caught at one of their 10,000 super coups after you get to legal bridge length, you will rework your load to scale legal before leaving said coup, even if part of your load leaves on another truck.

A mobile CHP in a regular cruiser will stop and cite you.
They are experts, and it's low hanging fruit for them.