No CAT Scales Between Shipper And Weigh Stations
Topic 32726 | Page 3
I’m assuming you’re talking about the Tyson - IBP beef plant. There is a CAT scale due south of that plant at I-40.
When you pull out from the guard shack make a left. Then make the next left which is Masterson Road. Take Masterson about 4 miles where you will find a small Chisum truck stop with a CAT scale on the corner of Masterson and the I-40 service road.
I want to say it’s at I-40 exit 80-something but don’t quote me.
Today I picked up a load at the Tyson plant northeast of Amarillo, headed east on I40 towards the Texas/Oklahoma state line. The load is heavy, over 43,000 pounds, so I definitely needed to weigh it before I reached the state weigh stations in Texas and then again just after crossing into Oklahoma. No problem, I was going to weigh out at exit 96 on I40, at the Loves truck stop. But there isn’t a CAT scale there. Back on I40, eastbound, I didn’t find any scales (unless I missed one). Fortunately for me, both weigh stations were closed when I passed by. Finally weighed out at my first fuel stop, exit 20 in Sayre, OK. I was 34,900 lbs. on my trailer tandems. Easy adjustment. But I guess next time I have a pickup at Tyson, I’ll have to backtrack to Amarillo and hit a CAT scale there.
Has anybody else had a similar experience? Did I miss a CAT scale along the way? Lots of Prime trucks at Tyson. Maybe one of the Prime drivers has a comment? Sure made me nervous about getting an overweight citation.
Pothole, great information. That is exactly what I need to know for the next time I go there. Not all Potholes are bad, lol.
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
CAT Scale:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
Trucker Path will also show you Cat Scales.
Besides weight you need to consider length. Page A16 and A17 in your Atlas has your length limits by state. Find the length limit for each state you're going through, the shortest is the max length you should use.
CAT Scale:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
Cat Scales:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
I was told that, if I need to scale between a scale house and a pickup and there are no CAT scales along the path, you need to backtrack. It sucks, but better than getting popped.
CAT Scale:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
Cat Scales:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
I loved those drive axle air gauges !! Most of the time, if the load was a hair under or over 60 psi, it scaled good. Few times I did have to slide a hole or 2 to balance it even better.....
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Something I'm quickly realizing about this profession is how knowledgeable you have to be about the varying laws from state to state. Seems like a complex mish mash of laws...gosh. Good explanation, though.
You can normally adjust the trailer axles forward or rearward to adjust the weight that the trailer footprint is applying to the roadway. However, some states have limitations on lengths of the overall unit. Think of this as a wheelbase of the trailer. If either of these limits are exceeded, the load will need to be adjusted, or a portion removed.
A driver may get loaded in WV, but the final delivery is CA, so these weight and lengths must be taken into account BY THE DRIVER before departing. Getting to the NV/CA border is not the time to realize that CA has a maximum length of only 40 feet, whereas WV has no limits. That's not the time to call dispatch or finally research it in your trucker's atlas.
Awesome advice about the Rand McNally Atlas. I'm actually studying the High Road program right now. I don't think I've gotten to the section about tandems yet.
Here is the Trucking truth High Road training section on trailer axles:
As far as Kingpin laws by state, every driver should have the Rand McNally Atlas which has a very good chart section telling you the Kingpin laws for each state.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
I was told that, if I need to scale between a scale house and a pickup and there are no CAT scales along the path, you need to backtrack. It sucks, but better than getting popped.
It sounds like this is your company’s policy if I’m understanding this correctly. For others reading this, unless it’s your company’s policy to use only CAT scales, any certified scale will do.
I personally would just use the trucker path app since you can search for CAT scales specifically or look in the notes for individual truck stops to see if they have a scale at that location.
CAT Scale:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
Cat Scales:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
I was told that, if I need to scale between a scale house and a pickup and there are no CAT scales along the path, you need to backtrack. It sucks, but better than getting popped.
It sounds like this is your company’s policy if I’m understanding this correctly. For others reading this, unless it’s your company’s policy to use only CAT scales, any certified scale will do.
I personally would just use the trucker path app since you can search for CAT scales specifically or look in the notes for individual truck stops to see if they have a scale at that location.
Could be a mistake in referring to any proprietary scale as a "CAT scale."
CAT Scale:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
Cat Scales:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”
You’re absolutely right Ryan. That’s why I noted the distinction in my reply
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I’m assuming you’re talking about the Tyson - IBP beef plant. There is a CAT scale due south of that plant at I-40.
When you pull out from the guard shack make a left. Then make the next left which is Masterson Road. Take Masterson about 4 miles where you will find a small Chisum truck stop with a CAT scale on the corner of Masterson and the I-40 service road.
I want to say it’s at I-40 exit 80-something but don’t quote me.
Tandems:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
CAT Scale:
A network of over 1,500 certified truck scales across the U.S. and Canada found primarily at truck stops. CAT scales are by far the most trustworthy scales out there.
In fact, CAT Scale offers an unconditional Guarantee:
“If you get an overweight fine from the state after our scale showed your legal, we will immediately check our scale. If our scale is wrong, we will reimburse you for the fine. If our scale is correct, a representative of CAT Scale Company will appear in court with the driver as a witness”