Went through the scales

I went through the scaled today with a load of wood. I had my F-550 4x4 with a 12ft flatbed (some wooden sides) and my 14ft dump trailer. The dump trailer was stacked full with 7.5 ranks of wood(2 1/2 cord). The truck bout about 1/2 a rank on it. I tipped the scales at 27,100. I guess it's time for a CDL. If I get my out of town contracts I'll be hauling 3 1/3 cord at a time. Hopefully I don't have to buy a lighter trailer.

Scott

And hopefully you don't get caught. Checked on overweight fines lately? They really get you for being over per axle.

I'm not over per axle. My trailer has a 14k gvrw and my truck is rated 17,500 gvrw. Combined is 31,500 as long as the weight is spread out like it is and not over loading an axle I'm still OK. I do carry 30k plates on the truck also.


Scott

Around here, if you're caught driving something tagged with over 26001 plates with no CDL, well, it ain't gonna be a good day for you. Since the Feds have cut so much local funding in the last several years, the state DOT police have been hitting pick ups hard and heavy, especially ones loaded with firewood. I've seen them wave class 5-8 trucks by portable scales and chase down pickups with firewood and bring them back across the scales, and if you're towing a trailer with a skid steer on it, they'll let you pass on by if you've got "T" tags but if you've got regular tags, in the scales you go. I almost forgot, check your bridge length, center of front axle to center of last axle and see how much you can haul. You may not need 30k tags.

I wouldn't classify an f 550 as a pick up.

Junkfxr said:

Around here, if you're caught driving something tagged with over 26001 plates with no CDL, well, it ain't gonna be a good day for you. Since the Feds have cut so much local funding in the last several years, the state DOT police have been hitting pick ups hard and heavy, especially ones loaded with firewood. I've seen them wave class 5-8 trucks by portable scales and chase down pickups with firewood and bring them back across the scales, and if you're towing a trailer with a skid steer on it, they'll let you pass on by if you've got "T" tags but if you've got regular tags, in the scales you go. I almost forgot, check your bridge length, center of front axle to center of last axle and see how much you can haul. You may not need 30k tags.

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This seems to be the norm here as well. If your vehicle or combination of vehicle and trailer has a GVWR of over 26k, you need a CDL. Matters not if you are full or empty.

MNGuns said:

This seems to be the norm here as well. If your vehicle or combination of vehicle and trailer has a GVWR of over 26k, you need a CDL. Matters not if you are full or empty.

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Same here in wisconsin, anything over 26000lb Requires a CDL. It is not that hard to get one just go down to the locale DMV , get the book , read the book, then go and take the computer test and check on road test dates.

It is really not that hard.

Beefie

Eventually you will figure it out that there is never anything to be gained by willingly going into a weigh station. As long as the go-around does not add more than an hour to your trip you will be time and money ahead to find a way around and use it. They will educate you on the wisdom of what I am saying if you keep going in there.

cuznguido said:

Eventually you will figure it out that there is never anything to be gained by willingly going into a weigh station. As long as the go-around does not add more than an hour to your trip you will be time and money ahead to find a way around and use it. They will educate you on the wisdom of what I am saying if you keep going in there.

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True words of wisdom. Plus, you will pay dearly both in time and money for this education.

Bridge weight is the real kicker. Doesn't matter what your truck is stickered for. Bridge will be the only weight they will go by when the truck nazi's get you.

just get your CDL, its awfully handy.

LEES WOODC said:

Bridge weight is the real kicker. Doesn't matter what your truck is stickered for. Bridge will be the only weight they will go by when the truck nazi's get you.

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I have a friend that built a dump truck out of a 359 Pete road tractor. He got his measurements off by exactly one inch when he was putting the rears under it. That one inch has cost him a couple thousand dollars over the last couple of years because of the bridge weight. He thought that the overload permit would take care of it but the bridge weight still applies.

I'm reading the cdl books now. I will be getting it. I don't have to hit any scales around here but if I get my other contracts I will.

Scott

cuznguido said:

Eventually you will figure it out that there is never anything to be gained by willingly going into a weigh station. As long as the go-around does not add more than an hour to your trip you will be time and money ahead to find a way around and use it. They will educate you on the wisdom of what I am saying if you keep going in there.

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Very good point.

DOT officers around here lately have been a pain in the butt. I do some livestock hauling (hogs) and the rule of thumb was just let trucks hauling livestock pass. As long as your lights work they will wave you on. Well, just in the past month they changed their minds. I havent been pulled over yet, but 2 buddies of mine have, and other farmers in this area have been. The officer told a buddy of mine "we know you guys are over weight, so we are going to focus on livestock trailers." We are not over weight overall, but our axels dont always scale corectly, thats were the DOT will get you.

I stopped at the weigh scales today and asked a few questions. They were very nice and very helpful. Here is plain as day what I was told. To take my truck GVWR and my trailer GVWR and throw them out the window. They are suggestions by the manufacture and can not be enforced by the DOT. What they enforce once you get over 26k is that you have a class a (for me) license. Your tires have the rating for your weight (15,400lbs for my dump trailer) (23,100lbs for my truck). Your trailer hitch has to be rated for the trailer (16k hitch on my truck and 16k insert). I won;t be able to carry enough weight for axle spacing and bridge weight to come into play. So basically I go get my class a CDL and I can legally move 38,500lbs down the road with my F-550 and my dump trailer. That would be a load for sure. I do need to step up to 36k plates and get my cdl. That should cover anything I do. Now I just wish the truck had a cummins in it to pull it.


Scott

STLfirewood said:

I stopped at the weigh scales today and asked a few questions. They were very nice and very helpful. Here is plain as day what I was told. To take my truck GVWR and my trailer GVWR and throw them out the window. They are suggestions by the manufacture and can not be enforced by the DOT. What they enforce once you get over 26k is that you have a class a (for me) license. Your tires have the rating for your weight (15,400lbs for my dump trailer) (23,100lbs for my truck). Your trailer hitch has to be rated for the trailer (16k hitch on my truck and 16k insert). I won;t be able to carry enough weight for axle spacing and bridge weight to come into play. So basically I go get my class a CDL and I can legally move 38,500lbs down the road with my F-550 and my dump trailer. That would be a load for sure. I do need to step up to 36k plates and get my cdl. That should cover anything I do. Now I just wish the truck had a cummins in it to pull it.


Scott

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That suprises me you need to get a Class A. I thought you need one of those once you start getting into air breaks. But I could be wrong. A Class A is easy. Nothing to one.


What you need is a semi with a dump trailer. Then you are good to go for 80k plus.

DOT is a real pain in the a**. Here they love any thing over a 1 ton because you need a dot card and most folks think they are driving a pickup so never had one. Throw in a trailer with 2 lawnmowers on it and they are in high cotton. I asked a safety cop who pulled my drill rig over at 0500 last week when did he sleep, didn't he know that we move 0dark30 so we would not be bothered. He was a pretty good egg and did not find anything worth writing me up. Told me they are broke so they are instructed to write every thing they can. I asked what was he going to due after the states and fed put us small businesses under with their taxes, fees, fines and penalties.

Share the wealth

That suprises me you need to get a Class A. I thought you need one of those once you start getting into air breaks.

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Nope, it's the trailer. Anything over 26,000# total with over a 10,000# trailer needs the Class A.

25,000# GVWR truck + 8,000# trailer = Class D.

16,000 # GVWR truck + 10,001# trailer = Class A.

Dalmatian90 said:

Nope, it's the trailer. Anything over 26,000# total with over a 10,000# trailer needs the Class A.

25,000# GVWR truck + 8,000# trailer = Class D.

16,000 # GVWR truck + 10,001# trailer = Class A.

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OK, I was just curious. Because when I was 18 I went to get a F endorsement (Farm endorsement) and I had three different tests to take depending on what I was going to drive. I know one was a air brake test, one was for a combo, and I forgot the third. So I was confusing that. Then when I turned 21 I just had to do a simple test and drive to get my Class A.

One other thing I thought of, will STL need IFTA stickers? I got a good spanking from a DOT officer in Indiana for not having one. But I dont know if you need them if you just travel in-state, or if you just need them if you are out of state.

STLfirewood said:

I stopped at the weigh scales today and asked a few questions. They were very nice and very helpful. Here is plain as day what I was told. To take my truck GVWR and my trailer GVWR and throw them out the window. They are suggestions by the manufacture and can not be enforced by the DOT. What they enforce once you get over 26k is that you have a class a (for me) license. Your tires have the rating for your weight (15,400lbs for my dump trailer) (23,100lbs for my truck). Your trailer hitch has to be rated for the trailer (16k hitch on my truck and 16k insert). I won;t be able to carry enough weight for axle spacing and bridge weight to come into play. So basically I go get my class a CDL and I can legally move 38,500lbs down the road with my F-550 and my dump trailer. That would be a load for sure. I do need to step up to 36k plates and get my cdl. That should cover anything I do. Now I just wish the truck had a cummins in it to pull it.


Scott

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You might want to check with your insurance company also about insuring a class A truck. Just one of those things that some people never think about until it's too late. If you're seriously thinking about hauling that kind of weight, you might want to start looking into larger medium duty trucks like the F750, C6500, smaller Internationals, Kenworth T300. Freightliners are flooding the market. These trucks are pretty reasonable on the used market and will hold up a lot better for the long term. While the F550 fills the much needed gap between light duty and medium duty trucks, they just aren't built for a continuous 30k load. I spent quiet a few years as a mechanic in a Kenworth dealership that was also an Allrig shop (worked on anything) that was beside an interstate. I've seen just about everything come through there. Medium duty trucks are a pain to work on but not nearly as bad as F350-F550 and C3500-C4500's that people think are big trucks. My theory has always been "big weight - big truck". The biggest concern should always be steering and BRAKES!!!! If you can move it, you'd better be able to stop it and nothing works better and is more simple than air brakes with huge drums.