What weight can my truck legally pull?

[NorEaster]

Can they make any money running at 26K or less? It seems the competition would be rough when others with CDL are running long 20-24K+ trailers behind dually 1-tons or 450's/550's, etc.

A modern 10K truck is basically a SRW 1-ton, and a 16K trailer would be running singles not duals. That could be fine for hauling your own stuff without a CDL but I don't think it would work too well in a for-hire situation, and then you would still have to do all the other DOT stuff like logs, insurance, inspections, etc.

Quite a few years back, maybe until early eighties, you could still buy a 1-ton dually rated 10K GVW. That's what I would like to have if I were running right at 26K combination weight.

Yes it is done quite often. One truck I know of that runs east of the Mississippi a lot is a one ton Chevy with no box, 30 foot flat deck GN with tandem 8k axles. His maximum allowable load to stay under 26,000 is around 12,000. In the oil field if you can't carry 20,000 in drill rod at once you will be out of business.

 

[bdog]

It all depends where you are at and what you are hauling. If you are over 10k but not over 26k and not crossing state lines then the DOT stuff does not apply. So a guy in Texas for example could drive a truck right at or under 26k and haul all over the state without having to fool with log books or anything like that. Once you cross a state line it is a different story.

This could give you an advantage over a guy that is over 26k and must follow hours of service. I personally don't like driving that long without a break but I had some equipment delivered recently from Houston. It is about a 9 hour drive from there to my place. The guy brought it with a f350 under 26k and drove back
home all in the same day. A dot regulated guy can't drive 18 hours a day and would have had to get a motel where this guy was perfectly legal rolling on through.

 

[downslope]

It all depends where you are at and what you are hauling. If you are over 10k but not over 26k and not crossing state lines then the DOT stuff does not apply. So a guy in Texas for example could drive a truck right at or under 26k and haul all over the state without having to fool with log books or anything like that. Once you cross a state line it is a different story.

This could give you an advantage over a guy that is over 26k and must follow hours of service. I personally don't like driving that long without a break but I had some equipment delivered recently from Houston. It is about a 9 hour drive from there to my place. The guy brought it with a f350 under 26k and drove back
home all in the same day. A dot regulated guy can't drive 18 hours a day and would have had to get a motel where this guy was perfectly legal rolling on through.

More than half the states now require DOT registration numbers on 10K+ commercial trucks even when only being used intrastate, with many of the same driver, signage and equipment requirements as for interstate trucking.

Take a look at this pdf about hours of service.

What your driver was doing in Texas was probably not legal.

 

[LD1]

I am not sure that "legal" payload is just the sum of the GAWR's .

On my truck

Weight rating of the rear = 9350
Weight rating of the front = 5200

Total of 14,550

Yet my GVWR is only 12,200

So using that logic, instead of having a payload of 4500#, I could legally haul 6800# as long as it was distributed properly???????????

I dont buy that.

 

[NorEaster]

I am not sure that "legal" payload is just the sum of the GAWR's .

On my truck

Weight rating of the rear = 9350
Weight rating of the front = 5200

Total of 14,550

Yet my GVWR is only 12,200

So using that logic, instead of having a payload of 4500#, I could legally haul 6800# as long as it was distributed properly???????????

I dont buy that.

You're correct. Payload is calculated by adding axle ratings together, then weighing the truck to find out how much is on each axle. Subtract that from the first and you get max payload properly distributed over both axles. The payload will be reduced with more passengers and more fuel.

 

[LD1]

You're correct. Payload is calculated by adding axle ratings together, then weighing the truck to find out how much is on each axle. Subtract that from the first and you get max payload properly distributed over both axles. The payload will be reduced with more passengers and more fuel.

IF that is correct, then why do MFG's bother to put a GVWR on the truck?

 

[NorEaster]

IF that is correct, then why do MFG's bother to put a GVWR on the truck?

If axle weight doesn't matter, why doesn't the mfr. just put GVWR?

All I'm saying is that GVWR is not your issue if you are stopped, it's axle weight.

Whether people want to be scared of going over GVWR is their business not mine. I know that I never tow heavy enough to worry about it, but if I did, I sure wouldn't be concerned about being over GVWR.

26,001+ is another thread. :cool2:

 

[downslope]

If axle weight doesn't matter, why doesn't the mfr. just put GVWR?....

Now you're making no sense, of course the axle ratings matter. You know you can't pile all the weight on one axle and overload it.

Same goes for GVW and GCW ratings, you're not supposed to exceed the specified maximums. If you mean you can might possibly get away with it as far as law enforcement in some jurisdictions, well maybe, I guess?

 

[NorEaster]

Same goes for GVW and GCW ratings, you're not supposed to exceed the specified maximums.

Says who? The mfr?

Numerous states allow commercial vehicles to be plated at a much higher GVWR than the door jamb states. Know why? Because the GVWR is not binding. It's not getting away with anything, because being plated properly for a weight over mfr. GVWR is completely legal.

I will defer to DOT yet again as I can't explain it any more than I have already. Find the closest DOT officer and ask him what they look for when a truck rolls over a roadside scale. It's axle weight, tire capacity, and what the truck is plated for, not what the mfr. says the GVWR is.

:drink:

 

[twin88cam]

You are correct NorEaster, all the DOT cares about is axle weight, and spacing; tire capacity and number of tires per axle effects carrying capacity; total length, what you are tagged or permitted for, and total weight.