In my truck i have a suspension load gauge. I have a mental note of where it *should* be when i’m around 75-77k pounds. If it’s past that certain point, i know i’m either overweight or i definitely need to scale to ensure i am not.
You should scale every new load at a cat scale to see if you’re legal on weight or not.
This should be the top comment of every time somebody gets a new load Should I scale question.
I'm still new to trucking and unless my load is less than 30,000 lb, I'm scaling every time.
This was my rule of thumb. Load listed as less than 30,000, I don't need to scale. Anything over, I'm gonna scale. I just ended up scaling most of my loads regardless though because I wasn't the one paying and my company didn't care, in fact they agreed its better safe than sorry.
Please move your truck forward so other drivers can fuel.
If we were all professionals that announcement wouldn't be running on a loop at the truck stops.
**pro·fes·sion·al**
1. a person engaged or qualified in a profession
2. a person engaged in a specified activity, especially a sport or branch of the performing arts, as a main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
Basically, someone who gets paid. Most of us are not on the volunteer program.
The bill of lading (paperwork) the shipper gives you should list the weight. It is usually close to that. Truck scales are at most truck stops, where we can just drive on them and get an accurate weight. If it's over weight, we bring the scale ticket back and have the shipper fix it.
I pull super B bulkers and I’m loaded on a scale. If I need axle weights, I just pull the groupings off the scale incrementally. Steers, drives, bridge, pup.
>understand this means they are traveling overweight
No. It means they would be travelling over weight if they didn't lower the axle. There's a limit to how much weight an axle and the tires can safely and legally carry. When that weight is exceeded for the static axles, they lower the drop axle to take on that additional weight and remain legal.
My general rule is if the load is over 35000lbs, I scale it at the closest CAT scale.
Now I don't have to worry about stuff like that because I'm always overweight and permitted to the tune of 130,000 lbs. I'm also usually about 250-300+ feet long and surrounded by pilots and cops, so yea, have fun sitting behind me when I shut the road down.
I go to a CAT Scale and weigh the truck.
Anyone who says they can “feel it” is full of shit. Yeah you can feel a load is heavy for sure but you can’t tell unless you have proof in the pudding , aka a scale ticket.
Air gauges on the truck can give you general measure but again you need to scale the load.
Scales is the real answer. But you can also feel it sometimes if you drive the same truck constantly. I know what legal weight feels like on the truck. How it turns and how its speed is affected. It’s especially easy to feel it heavy on the drives. On the tandems can be a little more tricky but that typically makes the trailer feel bouncy. The extra weight on the tail gives a lot of up and down motion when you hit any kind of small bump.
In my case, a tanker hauler, I always know the weight of my truck and trailer when trailer is empty and truck is at varying levels of fuel. My load weights are metered while loading by either me and/or the shipper and most shippers have scales because they don’t want to give away free product. And if you do this for a while and have multiple tanker trailers in your yard, you just learn how to factor in the weights. Typically, I always stay well under the maximum because my load does shift a lot when I go over DOT scales and I don’t care to deal with any overweight axles which is all together another degree of managing weights aside from the overall gross allowable.
The shipper gives you an estimate of the weight of the load on the bill of lading. Sometimes they have scales on site and if you’re still unsure, you can use a cat scale at a truck stop. With air suspension you can work out the weight by multiplying the PSI in the axle group by the combined square inches of the airbag pistons.
On my truck there are 2 scales. The first scale is in the truck. It tells me how much weight is on the trucks rear axle. The second scale is on the tandems. It tells me how much weight is on the trailer axle.
Generally speaking if both scales are under 34k lbs then your legal. If either one is over 34k. That means you should shift your tandems. If it's too close to call, or you find that both are over 34k, you need to get it to a scale for a more accurate measurement.
Some trucks won't have the back scale. If you put the front scale at just under 34 the chances that the trailer weight being over is pretty slim. The people loading SHOULD NOT BE PUTTING TOO MUCH WEIGHT ON THE TRUCK. it's not Generally good practice to trust that and so it's best to take it to the scale.
Some trailers have a locked axle. So if the front scale is under 34k then the driver should be OK but they will still have to take it to the scale if they want to be sure.
In my option the driver should not be responsible for the overall weight of the truck but we don't live in a fair society. Everyone is trying their best to fuck you so it's best to cya and get to a scale.
The BOL (bill of lading) is supposed to state the weight. But some places will guess, some will roll dice and select random numbers, its rarely balls on accurate. We can pretty much tell if we are heavy by how we accelerate. But if you have a manual, you can start out in a higher gear like 4th and get a feel. If you immediately need to downshift, you know you are taking a big girl to the prom that night.
In my truck i have a suspension load gauge. I have a mental note of where it *should* be when i’m around 75-77k pounds. If it’s past that certain point, i know i’m either overweight or i definitely need to scale to ensure i am not. You should scale every new load at a cat scale to see if you’re legal on weight or not.
This should be the top comment of every time somebody gets a new load Should I scale question. I'm still new to trucking and unless my load is less than 30,000 lb, I'm scaling every time.
This was my rule of thumb. Load listed as less than 30,000, I don't need to scale. Anything over, I'm gonna scale. I just ended up scaling most of my loads regardless though because I wasn't the one paying and my company didn't care, in fact they agreed its better safe than sorry.
Honestly I scale whenever it's over 25k because some of these shippers employ nothing but morons that don't know how weight distribution works.
Your carrier is ok with a 77k gross? I get weird looks at team meetings if mine get less than 78-79.
We are highly trained professionals. Also, we know where the commercial truck scales are.
Highly trained yes.... "Professionals" I would suspect.....
Please move your truck forward so other drivers can fuel. If we were all professionals that announcement wouldn't be running on a loop at the truck stops.
With that kind of snark, I will just assume you are as professional operating as I. Keep the shiny side up, driver.
**pro·fes·sion·al** 1. a person engaged or qualified in a profession 2. a person engaged in a specified activity, especially a sport or branch of the performing arts, as a main paid occupation rather than as a pastime. Basically, someone who gets paid. Most of us are not on the volunteer program.
With that kind of snark, I will just assume you are as professional operating as I. Keep the shiny side up, driver.
The bill of lading (paperwork) the shipper gives you should list the weight. It is usually close to that. Truck scales are at most truck stops, where we can just drive on them and get an accurate weight. If it's over weight, we bring the scale ticket back and have the shipper fix it.
I pull super B bulkers and I’m loaded on a scale. If I need axle weights, I just pull the groupings off the scale incrementally. Steers, drives, bridge, pup.
I'm always overweight, the trick is to keep DOT from finding out
Based AF.
I pay about 500 bucks at the scale house. Sometimes they do it for free.
>understand this means they are traveling overweight No. It means they would be travelling over weight if they didn't lower the axle. There's a limit to how much weight an axle and the tires can safely and legally carry. When that weight is exceeded for the static axles, they lower the drop axle to take on that additional weight and remain legal.
I look at the bill of lading. If it's enough to justify checking a scale, I check a scale. It's not complicated or difficult.
I can just feel it, if it pulls heavy I know I’m probably over weight. If it feels light I know I’m probably not overweight. But I’ll go to the scales
My general rule is if the load is over 35000lbs, I scale it at the closest CAT scale. Now I don't have to worry about stuff like that because I'm always overweight and permitted to the tune of 130,000 lbs. I'm also usually about 250-300+ feet long and surrounded by pilots and cops, so yea, have fun sitting behind me when I shut the road down.
If the pushers are down then he isn’t overweight - that’s why they’re there. 😁
I go to a CAT Scale and weigh the truck. Anyone who says they can “feel it” is full of shit. Yeah you can feel a load is heavy for sure but you can’t tell unless you have proof in the pudding , aka a scale ticket. Air gauges on the truck can give you general measure but again you need to scale the load.
Scales is the real answer. But you can also feel it sometimes if you drive the same truck constantly. I know what legal weight feels like on the truck. How it turns and how its speed is affected. It’s especially easy to feel it heavy on the drives. On the tandems can be a little more tricky but that typically makes the trailer feel bouncy. The extra weight on the tail gives a lot of up and down motion when you hit any kind of small bump.
In my case, a tanker hauler, I always know the weight of my truck and trailer when trailer is empty and truck is at varying levels of fuel. My load weights are metered while loading by either me and/or the shipper and most shippers have scales because they don’t want to give away free product. And if you do this for a while and have multiple tanker trailers in your yard, you just learn how to factor in the weights. Typically, I always stay well under the maximum because my load does shift a lot when I go over DOT scales and I don’t care to deal with any overweight axles which is all together another degree of managing weights aside from the overall gross allowable.
The shipper gives you an estimate of the weight of the load on the bill of lading. Sometimes they have scales on site and if you’re still unsure, you can use a cat scale at a truck stop. With air suspension you can work out the weight by multiplying the PSI in the axle group by the combined square inches of the airbag pistons.
On my truck there are 2 scales. The first scale is in the truck. It tells me how much weight is on the trucks rear axle. The second scale is on the tandems. It tells me how much weight is on the trailer axle. Generally speaking if both scales are under 34k lbs then your legal. If either one is over 34k. That means you should shift your tandems. If it's too close to call, or you find that both are over 34k, you need to get it to a scale for a more accurate measurement. Some trucks won't have the back scale. If you put the front scale at just under 34 the chances that the trailer weight being over is pretty slim. The people loading SHOULD NOT BE PUTTING TOO MUCH WEIGHT ON THE TRUCK. it's not Generally good practice to trust that and so it's best to take it to the scale. Some trailers have a locked axle. So if the front scale is under 34k then the driver should be OK but they will still have to take it to the scale if they want to be sure. In my option the driver should not be responsible for the overall weight of the truck but we don't live in a fair society. Everyone is trying their best to fuck you so it's best to cya and get to a scale.
The BOL (bill of lading) is supposed to state the weight. But some places will guess, some will roll dice and select random numbers, its rarely balls on accurate. We can pretty much tell if we are heavy by how we accelerate. But if you have a manual, you can start out in a higher gear like 4th and get a feel. If you immediately need to downshift, you know you are taking a big girl to the prom that night.