Pucker Factor

What are "water pallets"? (Exposing my ignorance again, but maybe I'm not the only one wondering.)

Reading "water-pallets" from your point of view; that could be confusing. I think though that G-Town is simply referring to pallets loaded with bottles of water. Lol! That's my take anyway.

I'm guessing that water pallets are a reefer thing, which would explain why this box hauling old man doesn't know the term. We'll see, I'm sure G-Town will explain.

Water on pallets is hauled in dry vans, too. I’ve done many of them, and always heavy, just like a beer load.

What are "water pallets"? (Exposing my ignorance again, but maybe I'm not the only one wondering.)

Reading "water-pallets" from your point of view; that could be confusing. I think though that G-Town is simply referring to pallets loaded with bottles of water. Lol! That's my take anyway.

I'm guessing that water pallets are a reefer thing, which would explain why this box hauling old man doesn't know the term. We'll see, I'm sure G-Town will explain.

Water on pallets is hauled in dry vans, too. I’ve done many of them, and always heavy, just like a beer load.

I find the beer loads are way more balanced. With bulkhead use and correct spacing. Water loads seem to be all over the place depending on where you go. I can glance at a beer load and pick the right hole but i always end up weigghing at least twice with water.

You can glance at a beer load and tell the right hole?

Explain that one to the rest of the class, please.

Yeah unless its kegs. And it depends on the bulkhead spacing. I just count the panels behind the beer and go to a corresponding hole. Usually the 5 to the 7 hole on the majority of our trailers with 6inch spacing. On some of the older trailers with tighter spacing it gets tricky.

I should mention i always scale afterword to make sure of course. Scale at the brewery and then hit a CAT scale as well.

That’s not going to work most of the time because cases are packed differently and containers will hold more or less (size, cans, bottles). Some cases are even different. Could be 24 or it could be 30.

I would not recommend your inexperienced thinking to anyone because your logic is flawed.

Bruce wants to know...

What are "water pallets"? (Exposing my ignorance again, but maybe I'm not the only one wondering.)

Full pallets of bottled water cases, wrapped at the processing plant. Each weighing 2200-2400 pounds. Walmart loads them intact for outbound store deliveries, interspersed with other mixed grocery pallets. Depending on where they place them on the trailer floor, can make for an interesting load balancing exercise.

Not sure what "Noob" is referring to, but a botteld water backhaul of 20-21 pallets is low, stable, and ranges from 44,500-46,000 pounds. Cubes-out to the 40'or 44' mark of the trailer floor, requiring a setting in about the 6 hole on Walmart trailers with a 6" center-to-center hole spacing.

That’s not going to work most of the time because cases are packed differently and containers will hold more or less (size, cans, bottles). Some cases are even different. Could be 24 or it could be 30.

I would not recommend your inexperienced thinking to anyone because your logic is flawed.

I didnt say it was definitive. I also added i always go to a cat scale to make sure. Im Simply stating what i have found works when i pick up at a brewery then scale out at the brewery balanced and then scale out at a certified scale again balanced and not having to fiddle with tandems much at the truck stop. In no way am i saying its a perfect system and to feel free to roll without weighing. Maybe i should have been clearer on that.

Noob wrote this:

I find the beer loads are way more balanced. With bulkhead use and correct spacing. Water loads seem to be all over the place depending on where you go. I can glance at a beer load and pick the right hole but i always end up weighing at least twice with water.

Then you wrote this:

I didnt say it was definitive. I also added i always go to a cat scale to make sure. I'm Simply stating what i have found works when i pick up at a brewery then scale out at the brewery balanced and then scale out at a certified scale again balanced and not having to fiddle with tandems much at the truck stop. In no way am i saying it's a perfect system and to feel free to roll without weighing. Maybe i should have been clearer on that.

So basically you weigh beer loads twice too?

Here is the takeaway...

Heavy loads should and must be scaled; do not guess. Read the bill of lading to get an idea of the weight, number of pallets, weight per pallet and the overall footprint. Learn to read these things.

Once you have developed a significant base of experience with a frequently visited vendor/customer, and trust their bills, then and only then can you arrive at a reasonably educated guess on where to set the tandems. I have pulled water loads out of Nestle' and Niagara for 6 years (hundreds of loads). I know what to expect and based on spot weighs that I do from time to time, they have not misrepresented weights or pallet count.

G-Town, from your experiences how often does Wal-Mart load tail heavy? Sam's Club load was very tail heavy. Had the tandems all the way back and was still light on my drives. 37k net load 29k drives and 30k tandems. Legal and all but still goofy.

That wind chart, saved that months ago and reference it often. Thank you!

That’s not all that bad though.

Based on my experience, roughly 10% of the time you are tail heavy, almost always with Remix (dry). And usually full water pallets are the culprit . That’s why I scale every load and like you, balance it without going beyond the basic boundary of KingPin law.

I had one last Saturday. 2 water pallets in position 29 and 30. 5000 pounds behind the tandems. Front of the truck were lighter pallets. After scaling and reweighing my axle loads were; steers 11,600, drives 28,700, and tandems 33,500. Tandems were in the 12 hole (regular spacing 6” center-to-center).

That makes me feel better.