Tolerance for being over weight?

So far my only weight violation was 800 lbs. over on my tandems in Utah. Adjusted at site and got a ticket that cost me $50 for fine and $2.50 to process phone payment. (Mt 'routine' had been interrupted and I forgot to scale before I headed down the road)
Thus far, managed to stay legal. Closest call was being 79400 gross. It was around my 3rd week of being solo. Took me 5 reweighs before I found the only combination of fifth wheel and tandem locations to be legal. But, I found it!!! I was 11980 on steers, 33640 on drives and 33780 on tandems! Still got the final weigh ticket! BTW, I was already full on fuel before I picked up the load, So, no worries on fuel weight. I was over about 60lbs. on drives another time, but by the time I'd get to a weigh station, I comfortably would have burned off 60lbs. of fuel, so I didn't worry about it. I didn't get pulled in at that first weigh station, but I did on the next one. Rolled over the scales, green light and go!

 

Getting hit with tens of thousand pounds of a truck all day most everyday PREVENTS scales from being close to accurate. It's why these scales have to be checked on a regular basis. A scale master, if they are being honest, would not certify a scale too much of anything inside a thousand pounds. Those springs and counterweights won't stand up to the beatings. This is another reason DOT has moved to portable scales. This is what happens to a lot of drivers. They enter a scale and the weighmaster is a (censored) who has to show you who is the boss! They know dang well the average driver won't come after them later in court either. So they write the overweights starting at the point the state allows, and in some cases don't worry about these built-in limits.

As I have stated several times now on these boards. I live in the Peoples Republic of Virginia! I know several now-retired VDOT officers. I know officers from Georgia and South Carolina. The honest ones will tell you plainly there is a built in tolerance because of the limitations of the scales. If a driver will keep their "overweight" to under 1000 pounds in 75% of the states you will be OK.

There is one VERY important thing to remember though. These tolerances are built-in. If you have 35000 on a tandem but the gross is under 80000 chances are you will be OK, let that gross get much over 80500 and you are going to have problems because you are exceeding the tolerances. Most of these "super coops" have automated equipment and once triggered YOU ARE GOING TO GET PULLED IN!

My advice on weights has always been, stay within 1000 on the tandems and 500 on the gross. Get much over these weights are you are subject to getting an overweight ticket!

 

Colorado allows 35K on tandems if under 80k total.
I was told that Nebraska allows 1k over on tandems. Don't know any other details.

I don't know if mentioned. APU allowance out there also.

 

Got a ticket in VA once on the I-85 scales around 3am. 20lb, yes 20 lb over on a drive axle, guy was a real jerk. Did not give me the chance to slide my fifth wheel. Fine was a whole penny a pound so 20 cents ... plus court cost, administrative fee, scale fee, county fee, etc. and came out to $67, for a 2o cent "fine".

In that same time period I used to pick up a dropped trailer and they would always be 3-4000lb overweight. Another early morning run, and would get stopped at another scale almost every time. Officer would pull me in, check my bridge, and let me go "we aren't worried about your weight as long as your bridge is legal".

Can never be sure one way or the other how any overweight situation will go. As stated earlier, a lot depends on the individual officer.

 

Look up the regulations for each state.

 

Sometimes it’s best to just simply ask an officer. I say this not because it’s something that you can’t find about. I say it because sometimes they won’t tell you! You asked what the overweight’s are they’ll tell you 34,000 and 80,000. It’s similar to that how many miles per hour you can go over without getting a ticket, most cops will give you a few miles per hour over but they won’t tell you that officially.

The time to ask a DOT cop, it’s not when he’s writing you’re overweight ticket, It’s when you have a chance to speak to them in an unofficial situation.

 

Plenty of drivers are overweight. Just take care of yourself and keep eating subway and you’ll be tolerable.

 

Even Subway is trimming the fat and closing some stores.

Supposedly.

 

slightly off topic but in Pennsylvania it is officialy (i.e. written into the law) that speeding has to be 5 mph over the posted limit UNLESS it is clocked with radar. Since only the state police have radar only they can write a ticket for less than that. Not that any local officer has ever "miscommunicated" the true speed on a ticket of course.