Apu Exemption And Steer Axle

Topic 19425 | Page 3

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Diver Driver's Comment
member avatar

I used to worry about this, too. Now, as long as I'm OK on gross, drives, and tandems , and my steers are under 12,500, I don't worry about it.

I quit worrying after I talked to a nice 20-year driver (not many of those!) who said he'd been running 12,250-12,500 for most of those years because he likes a little extra there for steering. He had never gotten a ticket for being overweight on his steers. He said he'd gotten tickets for being over gross and over on his drives or tandems a few times over the years, but never the steers. He wasn't the outlaw type, just a practical guy who said it didn't seem to worry the DOT too much as long as the steers were below 12,500.

FWIW, obviously.

My FM said not to even contact him if I had 12500 or less. Also, shippers / Receivers generally won't rework a load just for heavy steer weights.

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.

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".

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.

Fm:

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.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
miracleofmagick's Comment
member avatar

I once picked up a load at a short that wouldn't let you out of the gate if you were over 12k on your steers. I had to go of the truck and let my student (he was the active drive at the time) rescale the truck because with both of us on we were over by 60lbs.

If you look in your atlas, it has the allowances by state. Most allow up to 20k now.
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