What would happen if..........

More than likely if you tell him you havent had a chance to weigh yet he will let you go to the scale, I think you have like 30 miles lean-way or something. But im not 100% sure on this, but every load I ever had I had to drive a little ways to get to a scale.

 

The driver is responsible. He might hope to show he was enroute to a scale, but I know of drivers who have been fined before.

 

For a good rule of thumb, atleast with my truck and 53' van set-up, I found that if I had the pins in the 8th or 9th hole I was almost always legal. Not sure if that works for anyone else but it did for me.

 

This has actually happened to me a couple times loading flour in Topeka,KS. Heading west on I70 there's no T/S before you get to the weight station, and I was over on my trailers by 1200 and 1000 pounds. Both times the lady made me adjust my axles right there and then let me go. Of course she checked all my paperwork and license/med card, etc.

 

I was in the same situation with my last load. I was headed west on 72 out of Cherokee, AL. What happens once you hit the MS line? You guessed it. Rather than take a chance, I headed back east 10 miles to a scale I noticed on the way to the shipper. Weighed it out and was perfectly legal...didnt have to slide the tandems. At the shipper, I just set it at bridge, and ran with it. Better safe than sorry.
As for responsibility? Good question. If at bridge, it should be the shipper, but we all know its not. Id like to know what your instructor finds out.

 

How common is it in todays company trucks to have them spec'ed out with a air suspension guage? One you have figguered out the magic number that represents 34,000 (or close) on the drives, you could slide the tandems back until the magic air susp poundage is reached. This guage will even save you having to scale at the TS and thus also save you 15 minutes of log time (30 mins real time LOL)

As per the question, it is a good one, but no matter what the instructor says regarding this senario, it could play out either way in real life. Alot depends on the officer and the state/county you are in. Safe money is that ultimatedly, the overweight issue, fresh from leaving the shipper, lies with the driver. Other than that, slack may be cut in good faith, again depending on who/where.

My last overweight ticket was in Georgia, and back then it was 1 cent per pound. Depending on your (over) weight, it could be cheaper than the CAT scale. LOL

 

dontcha just love that iuka,ms scale? seems like it's always open and checking books whenever i've been thru there.