Steer Tires

He said his is the non adjustable 5th wheel

Didn't see that part of the statement, I would then ask the shop to either move it for me or put 13000lb steers on my truck all though for the most part if I was over by that little amount I would usually just plan my fuel stops to be after I cross the coop or I would dodge them all together.

Your weight is fine man. You're allowed more than 12,000 depending on your tires specifications. Personally, I like my steers heavier for just a tad bit more traction in the winter with them - I run them at 12,450 and no one has ever said anything about it. You're totally fine sir.

Also do you have an APU , the added weight could put you over on your Steers and/or your 80,000,,, there is a weight break exception for the Added weight,, but I believe it depends on State by State :(

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.

Thanks everyone.

I head in on Tuesday and will talk to the shop about it then.

I have been green lighted through weight stations so far so figured they must allow a tolerance.

Physics obviously wasn't my strong suit since I figured the more weight i put on my drive tires would mean less on my steer and trailer tires.

Nate, for starters your 5th wheel is in the perfect spot and you don't have to touch a thing. As was mentioned already, steer tires have a slight tolerance when it comes to their weight rating and most states allow over 12,000 on the steers nowadays. Being at 12,100 on your steers is pretty much perfect for a heavy load. You'd like to avoid that extra 100 pounds if you're in a state that caps the limit at 12,000 and to do that you have to control what?

Anyone know?

That's right - fuel. The majority of the weight of fuel will fall on your steer tires. So if you're loaded really heavy you may try scaling it with just a little less fuel in it and see what you get. But don't sweat that 100 pounds too much. That shouldn't be an issue.

Nate, and everyone getting started in trucking, go through our Truck Weight And Balance section of our High Road Training Program. It covers all kinds of topics including:

1) How to properly load cargo

2) How to balance the weight amongst the axle sets

3) Calculate how much to slide your tandems or 5th wheel

4) Determine what percentage of fuel weight is distributed to your steer and drive axles

5) Calculate how much fuel you can take on based on your current axle weights

........and a bunch more.

It's seriously disturbing how little people know when they're released to run solo. Schools and companies don't cover a lot of the basics which is why we've built them into our High Road.

While I'm at it, Learning The Logbook Rules is another area no one covers enough so we built a huge section on that also.

Since after reading every post, no one has mentioned it yet I'll say... your fuel weighs about 7 lbs per gallon. the exact weight is 7.5 lbs per gallon.

You can now use this added knowledge to figure out how much fuel you can hold to keep you at the proper weight. so if you put in just 14 gallons less of fuel that would put at the right weight when you are 100lbs over.

I don't have enough experience yet to make any comment on things like being slightly over and what not... just thought I'd let you know how much the fuel actually weighs since I saw it multiple times that you can adjust how much fuel you have in the tanks to adjust weight but nobody said how much it weighs per gallon.

Phox, that's way too simplified. You need to know what percentage of that weight goes to the steers. That number is different on each individual truck depending on several factors. The High Road Training Program will teach you how to calculate this.

Got pulled into a weigh station today in Illinois and he waved me through so that 100 pounds must be ok. Since the majority of my runs are through Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana I think I am ok.

Got pulled into a weigh station today in Illinois and he waved me through so that 100 pounds must be ok. Since the majority of my runs are through Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana I think I am ok.

Mate do you have a truck atlas? All the steer ax el ratings per state are in there IL is 20k but I would not exseed the tire rating. Indiana is 12k. All this is found in page a16 in mine.