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Post by diegotrucker on Oct 21, 2003 14:04:42 GMT -5
Let's say your on a West to East coast route and fully loaded. How many times do you have to adjust the axel's and 5th wheel for weight adjustments. Is this a fairly common task each time you go to the scales? It would seem that once your loaded out, if your loaded correctly you wouldn't have to do this very often?
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Post by SilverBullet on Oct 21, 2003 18:56:09 GMT -5
Unless your loaded light and you know that for a fact, you need to scale each load after you load it. California has pretty strict bridge laws. If you scale out good in CA. you will be ok all the way East. If you are loading in the east and heading west, set your bridge according to the CA laws and scale out. Once you scale legal with your bridge set for CA, you will be fine.
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Post by truckertom on Oct 21, 2003 19:36:42 GMT -5
There is a chart in the back of most trucker atlas' that tells you what axle (tandem) weights are legal in what states. CA is very strict, OK doesn't care as long as you eat a burger in the state.
Cat scales seem to stand behind their weights. You may have better luck there than at the mom and pop scales. If you weigh and have to adjust your sliding tandem/5th wheel, going back over and checking it rather than taking it for granted is best.
Most good companies will reimburse if it is an out of pocket thing.
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Post by SilverBullet on Oct 22, 2003 18:38:36 GMT -5
As tom said, OK is pretty lenient. If you are traveling thru the Commonwealth of Virginia, you need to be sure you weight is ok. The scales in VA are virtually never closed.
When going thru Louisiana on I-20, you need to be SURE to follow the posted speed at the scales. They will pull you in if your too fast. Happened to me, caused by the truck in front of me. CA has scales, Ports of Entry, and Agricultural "check points" if you'd call them that. Always open.
New Mexico scales are hardly ever closed, and they usually check your IFTA, and check to see that you have a NM permit.
I always thought that Nevada, Wyoming and Utah were fun to drive thru, unless you get caught in a wind storm or a snow storm.
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Post by diegotrucker on Oct 23, 2003 12:10:50 GMT -5
Excellent, thanks for the input, diego ;D
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Post by Christopher on Oct 25, 2003 17:11:43 GMT -5
Our company has a policy that states we're to scale any loads of 40,000# and up. Yesterday, I picked up a load of tires in Findlay, Ohio - 38,700#, totally cubed out the trailer (all handbombed on, no pallets), and the tandems were all the way to the back when I hooked to it, with no "markings" for the 40' or 41' ft placement. I had to pass 2 scales on the way home (1 in OH, 1 in MI), and since I was pretty much eyeballing my tandem placement (and I slid them a little farther forward just for that extra cushion in order to do my best to not break the bridge laws), this was one of those situations where I just didn't feel confident that I was completely legal without scaling. It turned out that I was fine with room to spare, but if I hadn't checked it out, I would've been kinda nervous running through those coops. As well, there were a couple tires and brakes (scale house side of the trailer, naturally ) that, while they were alright, made me think that if I were even a couple hundred pounds over on an axle, might've piqued the interest of the scalemaster. I know there are some supertruckers that would've laughed at me for that (some at our company), but it was one of those loads that gave me that "oh brother" feeling. :-) I think my weights were around 10, 500 - 29,000, and 32,000 - as I said, well within legal, but it felt heavier when I hooked to it, so I was taking no chances.
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Post by truckertom on Oct 26, 2003 12:43:42 GMT -5
Supertruckers? You mean the guys with the chaindrive wallets, leather pants and driving gloves and a headset? The ones wearing spurrs with a line of tobacco juice trickling out of the corner of their mouth? The truckers that start every sentince with the words "By God"? You must be talking about the "Supertruckers" John Stossle interviews when he goes on a tear about how truckers are ruining the world. I noticed he never talks to smart truckers, and there are quite a few of them out there.
If the company pays to scale every load, then I would scale every load. I have seen some very badly loaded freight at times. Over axle is easy to do and the wherehouse boys that load it never have to pay a ticket.
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Post by Christopher on Oct 26, 2003 13:40:47 GMT -5
Yeah, those guys. :-) The ones who'll run up behind me while I'm doing a measly 5 over in relatively intolerant Ohio and tell me to "may-sh yer moe-ter".
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Post by truckertom on Oct 26, 2003 13:58:24 GMT -5
I had a Swift recruiter make a pretty good case the other day, he said; "What good is a fast Truck if you have to wait 24 to 48 hours for your next load out of that city?" That is a good question!
I need to be in the bumper sticker business. I would make a sticker that says "Excuse me for driving the speed limit!"
Once in awile, I see one of those "May-she yer Moe-ter" boys on the side of the road with the disco lights lights going behind him. I just drive by listening to some book on tape, knowing my clean driving record speaks for itself.
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Post by Phantom56 on Oct 26, 2003 14:21:17 GMT -5
A fast truck would be nice if I could manage to run the speed limit in every state and even run with the flow of traffic in some places. It would also be nice if I had enough power to pull up the hills without dropping more than 20 mph below the speed limit.
Much faster than that is an invite to make a contribution to the police benevolent fund.
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Post by truckertom on Oct 26, 2003 14:31:05 GMT -5
It does bring your average MPH way down. But you should have been there with a 250 Cummins was what there was to make a living with. No turbo, and when you hit the high elevations, it had no power at all. The "good old days" were not that good. Except the cops let you drive as many hours as you thought you were man enough to handle. All that did was make an old man out of you quick. LOL!
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neill
New Member
Posts: 8
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Post by neill on Oct 27, 2003 4:46:34 GMT -5
still like that here with our old gravel clunkers . . 21 tonnes (46K lb?) with 180 or so horses . . makes for real slow trip times, especially on the slightly steeper hills . . . not so much fun when taffic is lined up behind and nowhere to let them pass
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Post by Christopher on Oct 27, 2003 7:46:34 GMT -5
Yeah, that does kinda suck, but think of it this way - for the most part, no matter *how* fast you're going in a truck, you're *still* too slow for the impatient souls that are "stuck" behind you. It can be tough to do when you feel bad for holding everyone up, but it's probably best to adopt an "oh well" attitude. :-)
So you liked the phonetic spelling, huh Tom ? ;D
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Post by Geekster on Oct 27, 2003 13:04:32 GMT -5
Makes me want to pop on a bumber sticker that says "I may be slow, but I'm in front of you!" ;D
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Post by SilverBullet on Oct 27, 2003 19:10:49 GMT -5
Yeah, those guys. :-) The ones who'll run up behind me while I'm doing a measly 5 over in relatively intolerant Ohio and tell me to "may-sh yer moe-ter". Now Christopher, some of us Southerners may get the wrong impression that you may be mocking the way we talk. ;D ;D ;D
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