What Options Do We Have With This Scale Ticket?

This is a scale ticket from a facebook group member; fuel is at 1/4 and tractor does not have an APU. States are GA, AL, MS, TX.

Should burn that extra 60 lbs off in about 8 miles and then I guess it's just add enough fuel to get to the next scale house at less than 1/4 and fuel after the scales and do it again.

Is that about right?

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.

Forgot LA---- I-20 run

Me, I would run with it. Scales can be off so you are close enough to run. I also think that CAT scales weigh you a little heavy. At least that has been my experience.

I would definitely run with it. I would be sure to take note of any weigh stations along the way and plan your fuel stops accordingly. You can still drive a good distance even with 1/4 of fuel.

It'll definitely be an annoying load. But not every load is easy.

Should burn that extra 60 lbs off in about 8 miles

I'm guessing someone didn't use the Truck Weight & Balance portion of the High Road Training Program. How are you gonna burn off 60 pounds in 8 miles? If you get one mile per gallon you will but I'm pretty certain you're doing better than that.

How much does fuel weigh? 8 pounds/gallon

How many gallons will you burn in 8 miles? We'll call it 1.3 (which would mean you're getting about 6 miles per gallon)

8 x 1.3 = 10.4 pounds of fuel will burn off every 8 miles.

Chiefmac, I took a look and I see you did 86% of our High Road Training Program which is quite commendable and the last set of scores you turned in was Jan 19th. But guess which section I discovered you skipped altogether? Yap, truck weight & balance. Guess what you're doing out there on the road right now? That's right....you're trying to get yourself a ticket because you don't know how to calculate fuel burnoff.

Let that be a lesson to ya folks.......you can learn this stuff the easy way now by going through our training program beginning to end or you can get out there on the road and realize you have no idea what you're doing. That Truck Weight & Balance portion is super important. It covers axle weights, the bridge law, loading cargo, calculating fuel burnoff, and many other aspects of keeping your truck within the legal weight and length restrictions. There's a lot to it and it's not a subject you want to begin learning while you're sitting under 79,000 pounds of rolling steel. You can't fake knowing what you're doing in trucking and you better not just hope it won't matter.

Chiefmac, start working through that section when you get some downtime. You'll be glad you did!

Thanks for the correction Brett!

I am getting back into the HRT today. Glad this wasn't my load, I still have about two weeks before I head out so back to studying.

Thanks for the correction Brett!

I am getting back into the HRT today. Glad this wasn't my load, I still have about two weeks before I head out so back to studying.

Oh thank God, eh? Hey, one of the worst feelings in the world is being out there solo and coming across a situation you have no idea how to handle. So you have plenty of time to complete the program before you head out.

Thanks for the correction Brett!

I am getting back into the HRT today. Glad this wasn't my load, I still have about two weeks before I head out so back to studying.

Oh thank God, eh? Hey, one of the worst feelings in the world is being out there solo and coming across a situation you have no idea how to handle. So you have plenty of time to complete the program before you head out.

When I was with swift my trainer taught me about weights...how much fuel weighs and stuff... lucky I took notes when he was driving

This is a scale ticket from a facebook group member; fuel is at 1/4 and tractor does not have an APU. States are GA, AL, MS, TX.

Should burn that extra 60 lbs off in about 8 miles and then I guess it's just add enough fuel to get to the next scale house at less than 1/4 and fuel after the scales and do it again.

Is that about right?

There's almost no way to actually make this legal -definitely not by sliding tandems or 5th wheel. Sliding your tandems would make the TRAILER overweight, and sliding your fifth wheel would make the DRIVES overweight. And BURING FUEL has a "negligible effect" on drive weights, as most of the fuel weight is ON THE STEERS.

THIS CAN'T BE FIXED BY SLIDING OR BURNING FUEL. The LOAD IS OVERWEIGHT. The match below illustrates WHY.

HEY BRETT - CHECK MY MATH ON THIS PLEASE

Assuming you're running 200 gallons full (100 gallon tanks X 2) - 1/4 tank would give you 50 gallons in tank (25 gallons X 2 tanks). Which equates to 400 lbs of fuel (50 X 8 PPG).

Using the example on page 116 of the HR Training - (if) only 10% of your fuel weight goes to the drives - (50 gallons X 8 PPG) = 400 X .10 (10% to drives) = 40 lbs on the drives from fuel (with the other 360 lbs on the drives).

In order to lose 60 lbs on your drives (to be 100% legal) the math would look (should look) like this - ( (weight available ÷ % of weight to axle) X 100 )) ÷ 8 = gallons of fuel to add (or burn).

In this case , we'll use GAINING THE weight available (to make the math easier using Bretts formulas) = 60lbs (fuel) ÷ 10 (percent of weight to drives = 60) times 100 (= 600) divided by 8 (= 75 gallons).

So by THAT MATH - you would have to burn SEVENTY FIVE GALLONS of fuel - to lose SIXTY POUNDS OF ILLEGAL WEIGHT on the drives.

Since you're ALREADY AT 1/4 TANK (50 gallons) there's NO WAY to make the drives legal with ANY FUEL IN THE TANK.

Even if you were running 100 gallons FULL - 1/4 tank would be 25 gallons (25 X 8 = 200 lbs) - there is STILL NO WAY TO BURN ENOUGH FUEL TO MAKE THE LOAD LEGAL.

Even though you might be able to "slide by" a weigh station at 60 lbs OVER on the drives - OTOH - you MIGHT NOT.

The only way to make this load LEGAL - would be to go back to the shipper and remove enough weight from the REAR of the trailer - to be able to SLIDE FORWARD ON HOLE on the tandems, taking the weight off the drives and still keep the trailer tandems legal. On a 4" hole spacing - this would equate to about 381 lbs taken OFF THE REAR of the trailer, to slide ONE HOLE and take 400 lbs off the drives.

With the trailer tandems at 33,980 - adding 400 lbs by sliding would put you at 34,380 on the trailer set and 33,660 on the drives. So you'd have to "lose" that much weight to be "just legal".

IMO - this trailer was OVERLOADED by the shipper. If I "scaled out" at the shipper - I would tell them it's overweight - since there's no way they're going to be able to "balance the load" to compensate for "fine line" of 60 lbs OVER on the drivers and 20 lbs UNDER on the trailer. Moving the 60 lbs off the drives would make the trailer over by 40 lbs.

If I scaled offsite - and found this - I would contact my DM , to call the shipper - and have them remove some weight.

Again - could the CAT SCALE BE OFF? It's NOT SUPPOSED TO BE. And if the "weigh station scale is off", and it's not "off in YOUR FAVOR" (i.e.: weighing LIGHT) - you're going to be over on BOTH SETS.

Rick

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".

Dm:

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.

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”

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.

I would run with it and make sure there's no 4 wheeler behind me at a rolling scale on the interstate