Tomorrow's Gonna Be Fun...
Topic 8626 | Page 1
Got a load this afternoon. A big bunch of hay... so big, I was over gross on their scale, and they took a bale off.
Got to the CAT scale (never trust the shippers, it's a good way to get nailed for being over at the DOT scales later!) and the weights were...
Steers: 10860 lb. Drives: 32900 lb. Split axles: 19040 and 17040 lb.
Gross: 79,840 lb.
Right at the top of the limit.
Now, the fun part? This is all with a quarter tank of fuel.
Now, a gallon of diesel weighs about seven pounds. My tanks are right in front of my drives, so that is where the weight will be going, but I can only hold another 160 pounds of fuel. That's 22 gallons, conservatively. Enough to get this rig about 150 miles down the road.
Yayyyyy.... :/
Looks like you should have filled up before getting loaded
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
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.
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”
Looks like you should have filled up before getting loaded
Hindsight and pre-determined fuel solutions are 20/20. ;)
To bad you can't move one bale from over the drives to over the axle with 17040, I'm not a flat bedder, but think that would sure help out.
To bad you can't move one bale from over the drives to over the axle with 17040, I'm not a flat bedder, but think that would sure help out.
Yeah, it would... but I'm pretty much out of space on the trailer.
I might see if I can get some paperwork for the apu exemption from my company. An extra 400 lbs. of fuel would be spiffy.
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.
Now, a gallon of diesel weighs about seven pounds
Always calculate it at 8 pounds per gallon. It's normally between 7.25 - 7.5 pounds per gallon so round up to be safe.
Now, a gallon of diesel weighs about seven pounds
Always calculate it at 8 pounds per gallon. It's normally between 7.25 - 7.5 pounds per gallon so round up to be safe.
Nice Brett I was thinking the same thing "using 8 lbs per gallon" as per the high road training program material.
Now locate the weigh stations on your Rand McNally map, and do your fuel stops & fill amounts accordingly.
I am thinking that in the Rand McNally road atlas, the listing of what states allow the 400# limit for an APU is there. Could be wrong, since I don't have an APU, just do not worry about that any more.
I try to make it a habit that when I go into a shipper , unless directed otherwise, to have full tanks so as to not having to worry about weight/fuel after the fact.
Just my .02 cents worth on this subject.
Ernie
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
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.
Now locate the weigh stations on your Rand McNally map, and do your fuel stops & fill amounts accordingly.
That's exactly what I did :)
That being said, every scale Eastbound between Omaha and Green Bay were closed today. All that caution and hand-wringing for nothing -- not that I'm complaining! ;)
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Got a load this afternoon. A big bunch of hay... so big, I was over gross on their scale, and they took a bale off.
Got to the CAT scale (never trust the shippers, it's a good way to get nailed for being over at the DOT scales later!) and the weights were...
Steers: 10860 lb. Drives: 32900 lb. Split axles: 19040 and 17040 lb.
Gross: 79,840 lb.
Right at the top of the limit.
Now, the fun part? This is all with a quarter tank of fuel.
Now, a gallon of diesel weighs about seven pounds. My tanks are right in front of my drives, so that is where the weight will be going, but I can only hold another 160 pounds of fuel. That's 22 gallons, conservatively. Enough to get this rig about 150 miles down the road.
Yayyyyy.... :/
Shipper:
The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.
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.
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”