Initial Tandem Settings
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So I'll admit that this has been something that had me worried these last few days training, since I'm nearly done and will no longer be under my Mentors wing. Having to guess tandem placement on a pre-sealed load scared me. Unlike the pure math of fixing your tandems once you get to a CAT scale. That part was easy. It was the ambiguity...the unknown...that had me on edge. So I spent a few hours of downtime researchng it, and really didn't come up with much that settled my nerves. So I asked Randy, my trainer, and he agreed that it is mostly a guess. But lucky for me, he is very good at it, and after a few CAT scale trips I know it to be true. He's rarely more than 100 pounds off and usually only moves them for comfort, rather than having to move them to be legal.
Here are the rough, rule of thumb, numbers he gave me. Hopefully this will help other students feel more confident in their initial tandem placements.
0-15k = all the way forward
15-25k = hole 3-5
25-36k = hole 5-8
36-40k = hole 9-10
40k+ = hole 10-12
Again, these are just rough estimates, but I've seen how effective he is at placing his tandems correctly the first time.
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".
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.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”