Rookies, What Would You Do?
Topic 5345 | Page 6
There may not be a right or wrong answer but there sure as heck is an illegal versus legal answer. It is interesting to me that you chose the illegal answer, when the legal answer would be to adjust the load. If we are going to post what-if situations it seems to me the only right answer would be the legal one. So imho there is a right answer, though it might not be the one that works in the real world, legal=right and I am finding out just how much of trucking is done illegally, especially here where I work now. Real world versus classroom is, unfortunately, about as different as night and day.
Illegal is such a harsh way to put it, I would say regulation modification, that`s all. Phil, keep in mind this is Trucking Truth and that is exactly what you will get. Daniel threw out an everyday scenario and gave the alternative to rolling with it and shifting the load as well, so, he was just putting it out there for you (all) to decide. You will find yourself in a catch 22 several times while out on your own and you will have to deal with it the way you see fit. Welcome to trucking.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Experienced drivers feel free to weigh in.
-Daniel B.
Nice play on words, here.
-mountain girl
Haha well i was way off but thats ok I know I still got plenty of studying to do and I just want to say this was a great idea no matter the answer thr real life situations that you will face will not be taught in the class room so my opinion something like a weekly rookie question is a great way to help us out..
What is all this fuss about legal vs illegal? DOT is not your friend, there is nothing unethical about running 40 pounds over. They just cause you to lose time and money.
Remember DOT is bad.
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.
Great job Daniel. Got some thinking going on . Folks I'm still very much a rookie at this also. I think Daniel jinked me though. He posted this then I got a load fitting the scenario. Lucky me. Keep in mind a couple key points in my opinion. First of all this was a very small amount over. Second it was only over on the trailer and not GROSS weight. DOT has some rules that are born out of old timers doing things that got people killed. As an industry we have ourselves to thank. Do I agree with all the rules. NO, but I follow them as best I can everyday. I too fudged and ran the 13th hole. I was in Fl and they have a 41 ft length. However as soon as I crossed out of Fl I WAS legal in 2 other states I passed through to deliver. Fudging a little sometimes becomes a necessary evil as long as you can do it safely. I had to get a load reworked one time. I was at the shipper for an additional 8 hrs waiting because they got upset over it. It was 300 lbs over gross and I refused to haul it. I also lost a great paying load I was setup for because it took so long. But thats life. Choose your battles wisely, but always do it safely .
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.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
I would call my company and tell them the situation and see what they tell me to do. If i they say drive on then i would make sure that my butt was covered if i got ticketed. I'm gonna do everything to CMA the right way.
... Choose your battles wisely, but always do it safely .
-PJ
Righton PJ.
Hey, thanks Daniel.
This was great stuff, guys. I spent the longest time last night, trying to find an answer in the FMCSR and sometimes it just boils down to having the guts to roll.
...and I ended up reviewing a lot of stuff so it was time well spent.
-mountain girl
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.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
What is all this fuss about legal vs illegal? DOT is not your friend, there is nothing unethical about running 40 pounds over. They just cause you to lose time and money.
Remember DOT is bad.
And yet if it was not for the drivers running illegal or trying to push the limits the DOT would have no reason to pull people in and give them a ticket for whatever they had done wrong.
Believe it or not Justin but this question has less to do with being legal than it does in seeing what judgement call younger or less experienced drivers would make. There really is a right answer to this question but the DOT is not to blame for a drivers good or bad decisions.
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.
What did I do? I moved the tandems to the 13th hole
That's what I would've done. The scales would never notice an extra 3" but they would certainly notice you're overweight by 40 pounds on the tandems. Get the weights legal and hope they won't notice the extra 3". In 15 years I never once had the distance from kingpin to tandems measured, though I have seen other people getting it measured.
I also knew you guys had pre-pass and you likely wouldn't enter the scale house as long as your weights were safely legal. So getting the weights legal was more important than getting the wheelbase legal in that situation.
But this kind of situation is why veteran drivers kinda smile when new drivers say, "I'm going to run 100% legal no matter what." It's a noble intention, but unfortunately it isn't realistic. Once Daniel was loaded at the shipper he had to drive to a truck stop to weigh it. He had no way of knowing he was illegal on his axle weights until he could get to the truck stop to weigh it. If he would have been pulled over and weighed he would have gotten a ticket for being overweight. That's one of the classic "gray areas" where drivers run illegally and everyone knows it but there is no solution to the problem. Until you can get to a scale there's no way to know if your weight is legal or not.
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".
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
New Reply:
New! Check out our help videos for a better understanding of our forum features
Preview:
This topic has the following tags:
Life On The Road Safe Driving Tips Truck Equipment Questions Understanding The Laws
Why Join Trucking Truth?
- The High Road Training Program
- The High Road Article Series
- The Friendliest Trucker's Forum Ever!
- Email Updates When New Articles Are Posted
Apply For Paid CDL Training Through TruckingTruth
Did you know you can fill out one quick form here on TruckingTruth and apply to several companies at once for paid CDL training? Seriously! The application only takes one minute. You will speak with recruiters today. There is no obligation whatsoever. Learn more and apply here:
TT On Facebook
As a Experienced Driver I would roll with it and not even think twice about it. 40lbs won't get you pulled in but they will weigh you instead of giving you the bypass lane. If it was several hundred pounds over and I couldn't get it legal by moving the Tandems back more while still operating legally in each State I have to go through. I would go back to the shipper for rework but not before being advised to do so by my dispatcher.
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".
Dispatcher:
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.TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.