When the shipper doesn't have a truck scale

Save your air time, if you want !!!

 

If your tanks were full with these numbers, I would move the 5th wheel forward a notch or two to put 11,800 on the steers, then move the tandem back a notch to even it back out. Your final weights would be something very close to 11,800; 33,800; 33260. If you were on half or less fuel, leave it be. It leaves enough room for 700 lb (roughly 85 gallons) of fuel and you can still move your tandem forward one notch to take about 300# off your drives if necessary...depending on how your tanks sit in relation to your tractor wheel base. There is nothing wrong with the numbers you present here. They are perfectly legal.

As to quitting over driving 4 miles to a scale... Yagottabekiddin, right?



Side note to "far Kenworth it." Love that user name.

 

Jeez, 4 miles? This smells like a troll or a rookie to me. Im sure if he was out of cigarettes, 4 miles wouldnt have been a problem...

 

You scaled four times to get your axles legal. Then you weren't sure, so you called and asked. You did the right thing.

 

Yes, I would...simply because once you have your 5th wheel set for that weight, you won't have to do much else with it, it opens your drive/tandem balance up a bit more and with the added 500# on the steers, makes the ride a little less jumpy and the steers a little more sure-footed. So yes, I like to place weight as close to 11,800 as I can.

I don't think that last comment was necessary. By adding that, you insinuate that the name on the door should determine whether a driver needs to know how to balance weight with all tools possible. Just like when you started out, people have a learning curve. If they aren't given the practice, how can they learn?

 

Injun--I am not insinuating ANYTHING--have helped more than my share of new drivers try to get legal--I am not one of the older drivers all complain about--Having said that--I cannot count the time when a drivers only option is sliding their 5th wheel and they CANT because it is fixed--therefore the comment was to state that it cant always be done.
But I will tell you as a very long time truck owner--I NEVER EVER-slide my 5th wheel with a load on the trailer(and I know mine is in better shape than most)I Firmly believe it put much too much strain on my driveline--I will slide it m/t with dollies way down--and trailer air dropped.
In terms of giving advice--Maybe I'm nuts--but I find it hard to believe that you can tell a 500lb difference in your steer axle? I no I cant--and Ive been doing this a long time.
But getting back to my original question--why bother? If you feel you absolutely must--(depending on trailer type) most trailers average 400 lbs per hole--why not just slide the trailer up one hole? 33960trl-33600-trk--done--still leaves you room for 50 gals of fuel--BUT now I'm talkin bout a long w/b hood--in terms of your and most company trucks--setback steer--the entire 5th wheel fuel argument is meaningless! Since almost all of you fuel weight goes on the steer--therefor @11,300 you could add 100 gallons w/no worries.
My point in all this is not to put down anyone--and I understand your practice point--but lets try to be realistic here--I have too many times seen a newer driver going out of their minds trying to shift a few hundred lbs one way or the other--wasting precious driving time--getting way too stressed out over nothing! My only problem with many new drivers--is you jump to too many #### conclusion and are too #### quick to argue(IMHO just like your post about me did).
This is why I mentioned why bother--and if it was ME there with that driver(as it had been many many times)especially standing by a fuel island after they have reweighed 3-4x--I do what I always do--walk out with them--talk to them--try to settle them down--explain why they are killin themsleve's for nothing--help them figure out--how much fuel they can run and where the scales they have to deal with this are--and how much fuel they can buy each time if need be.
So I hope you can read this with an open mind--we aren't all(long time drivers)you're enemy--I learn something form someone everyday--but I guaran #### tee you there ain't nothing--anyone of you are facing with weights--fueling--routing etc--THAT I HAVE"NT done a jillion times before you knew what a truck was--try 73,200 k limits when you m/t weight was over 40k!
So give some of us a break--we ain't tryin to hurt you--people took time to help my young dumb ###--and I've ALWAYS gave paid it FORWARD!
Thank You
Just my $.02!!

 

There is no strain on the driveline when you take the weight off the 5th wheel as you describe. My personal belief is the reason some companies "fix" their 5th wheels is they are too lazy to properly train their new people how to set steer weight. Why do you suppose they do it? Not being argumentative here, I'm honestly interested.

If you were looking at my complete statement, I qualified my actions with fuel level and lastly said the weights were legal, go with it. You asked a question, I answered it. You don't like my answer. Don't know what to say about that.

 

It is not that I do not like your answer it was an honest question and maybe I read into your answer too much--seemed like you got awful defensive--when I was asking an honest question--because in my worn out ol tired mind--load and weights were good to go why bother? (So maybe I have gotten tired of giving advice out here--just to hear some other newbie ask me why and then tell me I'm wrong--nothing personal--no offense)
OK now you've cleared that up--let start again--You are right if you get enough weight off your 5th wheel--there is no strain--so as for your ? about why companies do that--that is what I was trying to say earlier--it is a real PITA to get enough weight off a fully loaded trailer--you gotta crank and crank way more than if we were just dropping in--I think most big carrier fleet shop managers--feel(probably rightly so) too many drivers are not going to do this properly even when trained--so why take the chance? I understand it takes a tool away--but towing trucks and replacing a driveline isn't cheap--As I said I never do it--for the same reason--ain't working that hard LOL(but I know it is different w/my truck and trailer spec just the way I want).
I guess my point in all of this and I probably should have stated this first--is that IMHO--most of the new drivers I have interacted with--make this whole deal way to difficult--and get way too technical about it--so that is what I try to clear up--I see the stress and strain--and feel there is no need for it.
To put it this way--I do(and always have done) refrigerated LTL--it can be demanding--there are always a couple of angry customers etc.--but you cannot let it get to you. Rarely does a month go by when I do no run into a newer driver)or at least new to long haul LTL) who doesn't look at a manifest and freak out about delivery times etc. and here is what all us old b*****ds tell them--"You only have ONE drop--the next one--you can't be concerned about any after--until that one is off--if you are late for next appt--we will deal with it then--you can only do one stop at a time"
It's the same principle--so that should give you an idea of my attitude and how I look at things. which brings us back to the original question?
I do try to help when I can--and try hard to educate--especially in terms of not stressing--learning to relax--and making things harder on yourself than they need be. Thus the question I asked.
Hope i cleared things up--we really all are on the same team!
be safe--enjoy!
Just my$.02

 

You are absolutely right. If you are dealing with a company that not only orders its own trucks without suspension dump, but disables it in O/O trucks leased to them (Prime comes immediately to mind) you will be hand-cranking in low gear until your back breaks. Needlessly because suspension dump is a fairly standard feature. Again. Laziness on the part of the company in training.

Unfortunately, most of the time you need to move the 5th wheel is under a heavy load. You are also right in the statement that there is no reason to sweat weight distribution....although I did my share of sweating when I was new.

We're cool. I think we were saying basically the same thing in different ways.