Cabin Weight Limits For Personal Belongings

I'm about to start a trucking career, and my friend who's a former trucker of 3 years shared some information with me that makes me a little worried. I know that the weight limit total is 80,000 lbs, and each axle has a weight limit, that can be adjusted by sliding your trailer. However my concern is strictly regarding the front axle weight limit.

Mathematically, anything placed in a semi cabin should come out to 1/6th weight on the front axle because of distributional proportion. He told me he was 50lbs. Overweight once when he had bare necessities (pots, pans, and camping supplies mainly).

If 12,000 lbs is the max on the front axle, and the rig itself is 25,000 lbs, and let's say I'm driving a dry van with whatever is considered standard cargo weight, how much weight do I have to play with in my cabin?

I'm thinking I have 600 lbs. to play around with at least, considering only 1/6th of that weight is being applied to the front axle (including myself, my dog, and personal supplies/belongings). My friend says I'm wrong, on how much weight I think I can put in a cabin.

Can someone who's experienced in this area give me a general idea of how much weight I can put in my semi cabin total?

I’ve never worried about it. Never even thought about this. Well, except when I see how big some drivers are.

I’m rarely within 1,000lbs of the 80k. On the few occasions a shipper loaded me to the point I was over, they had to remove product. Never have I been told I have too much personal stuff.

Unless you plan on driving for a specific company, hauling specifically 79,500lb loads, I wouldn’t worry about it.

This isn’t really an issue for most people and if you get to a scale and you are overweight you can ask to be rescaled while you are not in the truck. Using the CG formula isn’t precise either for your steer axle because each truck is different, for instance some Volvos are very steer heavy if they are 2014–2016 models. Some states only care about gross weight while others care about each axle And some don’t really care about steer axle as long as trailer is good and if you have an apu you can get an exemption but Georgia officers will not give you the exemption .

Anyways most of this is not something you’re gonna have to think about or worry about until you’re in your truck

I'm about to start a trucking career, and my friend who's a former trucker of 3 years shared some information with me that makes me a little worried. I know that the weight limit total is 80,000 lbs, and each axle has a weight limit, that can be adjusted by sliding your trailer. However my concern is strictly regarding the front axle weight limit.

Mathematically, anything placed in a semi cabin should come out to 1/6th weight on the front axle because of distributional proportion. He told me he was 50lbs. Overweight once when he had bare necessities (pots, pans, and camping supplies mainly).

If 12,000 lbs is the max on the front axle, and the rig itself is 25,000 lbs, and let's say I'm driving a dry van with whatever is considered standard cargo weight, how much weight do I have to play with in my cabin?

I'm thinking I have 600 lbs. to play around with at least, considering only 1/6th of that weight is being applied to the front axle (including myself, my dog, and personal supplies/belongings). My friend says I'm wrong, on how much weight I think I can put in a cabin.

Can someone who's experienced in this area give me a general idea of how much weight I can put in my semi cabin total?

Dry Van:

A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.

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 think you are overthinking it. If you're heavy on your steers you can always slide the kingpin and change your weights. Unless you plan on carrying thousands of pounds of stuff in your cab you really don't need to worry about it. We would all drive ourselves crazy trying to break it down like that.

I think you are overthinking it. If you're heavy on your steers you can always slide the kingpin and change your weights. Unless you plan on carrying thousands of pounds of stuff in your cab you really don't need to worry about it. We would all drive ourselves crazy trying to break it down like that.

FYI, not every truck has a sliding fifth wheel. However, like what was said before answer the question.

I’ve never worried about it. Never even thought about this. Well, except when I see how big some drivers are.

I’m rarely within 1,000lbs of the 80k. On the few occasions a shipper loaded me to the point I was over, they had to remove product. Never have I been told I have too much personal stuff.

Unless you plan on driving for a specific company, hauling specifically 79,500lb loads, I wouldn’t worry about it.

How much weight is on your front axle from the 12,000 lb mark (the difference)? And how much weight do you have in your cabin including you and your belongings? Just so I can get a better picture.

I am not sure about all states but at least through the middle part on the country from north to south you can actually have more than 12,000 on the fronts as long as you have the steer tires for it. Weight up front is based on inches of tire across the road.

I think you are overthinking it. If you're heavy on your steers you can always slide the kingpin and change your weights. Unless you plan on carrying thousands of pounds of stuff in your cab you really don't need to worry about it. We would all drive ourselves crazy trying to break it down like that.

FYI, not every truck has a sliding fifth wheel. However, like what was said before answer the question.

Yes I realize that but in his post he says "I know that the weight limit total is 80,000 lbs, and each axle has a weight limit, that can be adjusted by sliding your trailer." So I'm assuming his truck in his scenario has a sliding fifth wheel or he couldn't slide the trailer ;-) but in fairness if i were overweight on my steers at a weigh station i would try moving some of the contents of my tractor to the back wall on my bunk. If I was worried about steer axle weight in general I'd take my tractor with a load as close to 80k as I can get with full fuel tanks, weigh it and adjust my contents from there.

How much weight is on your front axle from the 12,000 lb mark (the difference)? And how much weight do you have in your cabin including you and your belongings? Just so I can get a better picture.

is it safe to assume you're trying to calculate how much of your dog you think you can get away with trafficking?

You'll be fine man. This isn't a concern at all. I drove at 12450 on my steers for 2 years and never got any attention for it. Pack whatever you want dude. The tractor can handle it and I doubt you have soooooo much stuff that it will actually make a difference.