newbies....learn from this

[Jack_Berry]

got a load offer this morning. pick up pt a deliver pt b. buck a mile. dispatch did not have the weight but knew it was 2 pcs. offer on qc came across w/o the weight.

after the 150 mile drive my tgruck was loaded with 5500lbs.
let'see here. gvw is 8600, logging starts at 10,001 and the truck weighs 5650 lbs.

i called dispatch and it took almost an hour to get something to happen from the logistics providor. they took the whole load off me. i got paid for the trip all that was offered due to the detention time sitting waiting to be unloaded while fingers got pointed.

since we have that pesky kkb post down there let me say bolt dispatch very quickly jumped into the issue to get it resolved. i was kept informed and was paid for the move.

newbies, never leave where you sit unless you have all the info. you will be surprised how many time you will be asked to leave without all the info.

 

[astikhossw]

So how long have you been in the business.

 

[highway star]

It's also very common to find that when you arrive at the shipper the weight or pieces will be different than you were told in the load offer. About 6 weeks ago I had to do a freight rescue at a scale from a truck that was 3000+ # over loaded. He had been sent to load approx 4500#. He was loaded with 12 skids and given a BOL with no weight on it. So, Mr. Einstein just goes with the figure dispatch gave him, asking no questions. Actual weight? About 11,500#. That put him at 3,000+ # over and about 7k over what he thought he had. I should add that he had a second shipment on that was around 2k#. Sometimes all you can do is stand there in disbelief...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Anyone with half a brain that knows thier truck can see an overweight a mile away....thats the greed that costs all of us that comply to the rules....

 

[Turtle]

...my tgruck was loaded with 5500lbs.

let'see here. gvw is 8600, logging starts at 10,001 and the truck weighs 5650 lbs.

So as to not mislead the newbies, to whom this thread is directed towards... logging is irrelevant in this case. You could put 20,000 pounds on your van and you still won't have to log unless the manufacturer's stated GVW is more than 10,000 pounds. All that matters is the fact that 5500 + 5650 is more than the 8550 GVW of a Sprinter.

 

[cheri1122]

The other salient point here is to know your limits (GVW minus actual weight, including driver(s) and all gear), and don't exceed it, no?
PS I'm trying to picture a van loaded with over 5000lbs, and what I'm seeing is 4 exploded tires!

 

[late4dinner]

Believe it or not, I run across van drivers from time to time that claim they can haul 5000-6000 lbs because they have installed extra springs. I often wonder what would happen if DOT would ever catch one of them with that kind of load on their van. Does unsafe come to mind? I don't believe you can pay a fine and continue with an unsafe load. How about it, can any D or E unit drivers answer that?

 

[arkjarhead]

If you are over gross you can't just pay the fine and go about your way in any case I have seen. In an over axle situation you can adjust the axles or load or both to get it right and then carry on. Whether or not you get a ticket in the over axle situation that has been fixed is up to the officer. Some will let you slide where others won't. I guess it depends on what kind of mood they are in that day.

 

[chefdennis]

Ok this goes to my statement of knowing just enough about this business to get in trouble!

My thinking and i may e wrong , and yea i have been a time or 2, but i would think any DOT inspector worth his dounut eaten weight would be able to spot a CV that was hauling 5500 lb in a heartbeat. Now if that van has a company name and DOT #'s on it, that DOT inspector can and I believe would be pulling that van over and send for a scale unit.

Once he was found over weight, I think dispatch would be sending another unit to either take some of that load off the van, or take the whole load and put it in a ST, and at 5500 lbs, that van driver may need a=some "special" help to move that load and he would be paying for it out of his next settlement!!!

I am pretty sure he would be getting a ticket, a fie and a pretty sizeable deduction from his settlement depending on what was needed to move that cargo.

Again, i might be totally off base, but i think i have it pretty close!

Always know what you are hauling and the weight!!

 

[greg334]

Well I just delivered a load that was at my max - 9000 lbs.

I was told it would be 3000 at the most, and maybe three pallets. It was six 1400lb liquid containers with another that gave me 9k.

I loaded it nose heavy like an idiot so I had to get it weighed to make sure I could fill up. I was 11520lb on the steers without fuel and with it came to 11980 lbs. A total of 31k, leaving that one last thousand in case I gain weight.

The point is that you have to watch things carefully. I hauled with my van what was supposed to be a 3000 lbs chunk of metal and it turned out to be 3200 lbs. I was lucky I didn't have to scale, that put me 200 over the GVW of the van.

As for sitting at the scale being told not to move, I know one guy who had the van towed.

 

[Jack_Berry]

So how long have you been in the business.

started nov 07 in a strt trk. bought the van in june.

turtle you are correct. it is not a logging issue over gvw issue.

late, it boggles the mind that a van driver would take strt trk frt for a van rate. i would like another spring to just keep the van level. that ford wheelbase sure contributes to sag. just cannot get the weight far enough forward. maybe with the seats and driver out of the truck................

cheri, sittin still the rear sag is very bad. the top of the wheelwell is "just" above the tire. i could not imagine what it would be like moving.

ark, you are right about being more than a ticket. it would be a call to dispatch and a move to a facility who can remove the offending weight. then dispatch would need to find a truck and pay that truck to carry the skid or a strt trk to finish the run with both skids.

 

[danthewolf00]

toledo spring and coil could custom make the springs, and make them better than stock i beleave and they are just a few miles down the road from the office.

 

[fastrod]

I used a three leaf assembly from Summit Racing on my Ford van. The whole assembly bolts on top of the original springs and is ajustable. It worked great and I could haul 4000# with no trouble.

 

[Turtle]

In a cargo van, at least, while you might be able to carry more weight with more or larger springs, those springs will do nothing for your transmission. And it's your transmission that gets the hardest workout when overweight.

I have rarely on occasion gone overweight, but would only do so if the routing were ideal for an overweight load, as in not many stops and starts, and certainly not over Monteagle or Jelico.

 

[hondaking38]

dont forget the added stress on the axles,rims,tires, etc...its hard on the whole drivetrain...thats why there designed to operate safely within there weight limits

 

[Tennesseahawk]

But Fastrod, do you let them put that much on your van without asking for s/t rate? That would be like me taking 15k on my truck for s/t rate... ain't gonna happen.

 

[dhalltoyo]

I never turn the key unless dispatch can verify the weight.

It is simply not a good business practice to simply send a load offer indicating "Weight Unknown, Dimensions Unknown."

Moreover, serious ramifications may arise if dispatch responds to an O/O's inquiry regarding the freight with the answer, "I don't know...they just called for a van, or straight truck, or tractor". Why? Because it may cost the carrier the account when a truck arrives and it can not safely or legally carry the load.

When I sit for a while, I often contact local churches or Christian salvage warehouses to see if they have any hymnals, Bibles, Christian School materials, etc. that I can take home with me. Our church ships container loads of these materials (free of charge) to help local pastors in other countries.

If I load 500 lbs of used Bibles, and dispatch then asks me to consider a load offer, it is imperative that I know tht exact weight of the freight before I move toward the shipper's location.

Plain and simple...it just comes down to everyone being responsible for their part of the process.

I'll deliver the freight on time, I'll secure the freight properly, I'll conduct myself in a professional manner when dealing with the customers and I'll even brush my teeth twice a day. That is my responsibility. I only ask that everyone else involved in the process have the same desire to do their part thoroughly and completely.

PS. I trained CSR's for a company and I made sure the warehouse every bit of information they needed to quickly process and ship the order; information gathered by asking the proper questions. If the customer could not provide the necessary information our CSR's would ask them to please call us back as soon as that information was available and we would gladly expedite their order.

 

[fastrod]

Anything over 3000# I bump the rate .30 per mile plus the fsc is fiqured on the higher rate. My ford was a 1989 1 ton that used a 4aod trans, the same trans was used in 6 wheelers with 11,500 ratings so the extra weight would have no ill effect at all. Same deal with the rearend, just different mounting for the wheels. What you will find is most driveline components in a 1ton van and a 11,500 cube truck are the same except for the springs. Now remember I am talking about Chevy, Ford, and Dodge 1 ton vans, not sprinters as most sprinters used in expediting are 3/4 ton vans and therefore use lighter duty components.

 

[gotta go]

As a s/t owner, I've never had the van experiences but as I read this thread it makes me wonder about adding air-ride. I have a Ranger pick-up with air-ride added on so I can pull a 5th wheel trailer. It was less than $500 and seems to me that it may be an advantage on a van. Do any of you have air-ride?

 

[KEEKEEBOO]

YOU GO GIRL !!!!!!
That pesky KEEKEEBOO <><