Scale Question
Topic 28252 | Page 1
Wild-Bill, my choice would have been to put the 20 or so pounds over up on the drives. With Diesel running a touch under 8# per gallon in weight, you'd burn those pounds off in fuel right quick. If you get 8 mpg, you'd likely be legal in about 30 miles. We had a driver get cited for 140 over in MI. Another guy got tagged for 150 in OH. I went into the Litchfield I55 scale in Illinois about 75 over on my drive axles, and despite splitting the drive axles on the scale, did not get a "Pull around, Driver".. as for our guys that got cited for o/w, I'm not sure what the interactions with the inspector or scale boss were - sometimes we are our own worst enemy... if you don't give them a reason to want to tag you, sometimes they won't.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
700 lbs per hole? Are you sure about that? Not that I'm doubting you, but most hole spacings shift 500 lbs or less.
Otherwise, I agree with Mr. Curmudgeon putting the way on the drives, burning that fuel off in no time.
I’m with Curmudgeon. With your APU allowance, better to have that extra weight on the drives.
APU:
Auxiliary Power Unit
On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.
Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.
I was under the impression that APU exemptions don't exist anymore?
APU:
Auxiliary Power Unit
On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.
Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.
Very good- Learned a good point- in this situation, put the extra weight on the drives, after driving a little while, there is no problem. Thanks!!
I was under the impression that APU exemptions don't exist anymore?
I have not heard otherwise, but I've never had an APU. Roehl has an EPU which runs off four extra batteries.
Send a message in to Prime and ask, please. That way, everyone will be smarter on here, too, Spaceman. Thanks!
APU:
Auxiliary Power Unit
On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.
Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.
EPU:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
Alright, according to some poking around online, the Energy Policy Act in 2005 gave federal guidelines for the APU exemptions that allowed states to grant a 400 pound credit to the maximum cap weight and axles. In 2012, Obama signed MAP 21 that increased the guideline credit to 550 lbs if desired by the state.
Note that there is a disparity between "exemption by law" and "exemption by enforcement policy."
BE ADVISED, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Washington DC, North Carolina, Hawaii and California do not recognize any kind of weight exemptions for APU.
I can't find anything specific to allowing that credit to float between axles of the tractor or trailer specifically. I would be cautious of being heavy on the trailer axles and claiming an APU credit though. Like everyone says, float the weight forward and burning the fuel off in addition to a 400-550 lb credit seems the safest option.
Source: https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/map-state-recognition-auxiliary-power-weight-exemption
As always, best to check for updates to these laws as you go state to state still.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
APU:
Auxiliary Power Unit
On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.
Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.
I got all that. What does Prime say?
Good info, that’s why I asked.
Mr C - I hadn’t thought about the fuel burn. That would have made a difference
Turtle- we were told 500 per hole in class, but, my OTR trainer had told me 700 per hole so that’s what I’ve always gone with. I pull refer, so I assumed the difference was because of the weight of the refer unit. But I never checked. I’m usually pretty close using the PSI reading in the cab, so I don’t think I’ve ever had to move the weight around. I’ll check it next time I scale.
Pack-Rat- here’s a map of the APU exemptions by state it separates out states by statute and by enforcement. I hope it’s not some proprietary info I’m going to get in trouble for posting...
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
APU:
Auxiliary Power Unit
On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.
Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.
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Here is my scale ticket from this morning.
Our trailers seem to be about 700 pounds per hole. So, if I moved back one, I would have been just over on the drives. I ended up running with it as it was. I rarely get pulled into a scale and since the scales are all rolling weights I figured, the extra 80 pounds probably wouldn’t even get noticed. My question is does the extra 80 pounds on the trailer make a difference to a DOT officer or scale house? Was I running a risk of getting fined? In hindsight, I probably should have moved it back a hole as the states I was running in allow 400-500 lbs on the drives for an APU exemption.
Before anyone says anything about the steer weights, we run a fixed fifth wheel so, there’s no way to move the weight up.
I made the run safe and sound, just wondering what the experts would do.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
APU:
Auxiliary Power Unit
On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.
Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.