Tuesday I got a broker load assigned to me. It picked up in Springfield OH and delivered in Joliet IL. I was really crunched for time because I had to fuel and find an empty before going to get it. Why didn't I already have fuel and an empty you ask? You have to expect to get a load from the brewery here so that would be loaded already, no empty trailer needed. As for fueling in advance; if getting a load from the brewery it may be very heavy and until you know how heavy you can't fill your tanks because your truck may be over the 80,000 lb gross that is allowed.
This morning, in Joliet I was given a load to pick up in Chicago going to Middeltown OH. That’s just 10 miles from the Trenton terminal so after dropping there I'm back here at the terminal and on the list for tomorrow morning. So, 368 miles yesterday and 337 miles today. At least I'm moving but I need 500 or more miles a day as often as possible.
I mentioned the trucks weight. I drive a Kenworth T2000 with a nice size sleeper cab and pull 53 foot van trailers. It's heavy even empty. The gross weight of 80,000 lbs means the maximum weight of the whole rig; tractor, trailer, freight, fuel and me and my stuff.
But that's not all there is to consider. How the weight is distributed is important. Basically, there can be 12,000 lbs on the front tires of the tractor (the steers), 34,000 lbs on the 8 rear tires of the tractor (the drives) and 34000 lbs on the trailer tires (tandems). Freight comes in all shapes and sizes so planning must be done so that the freight is placed in the trailer distributing the weight between the front and the back. I don't decide how much weight is put on or how it is distributed but I do have the responsibility to make sure it does not exceed the limits above.
I have two ways to deal with that. I can control how much weight is carried by the steers and the tandems. I begin by judging how the freight appears to be distributed. The tandems on our trailers can be moved forward and backward beneath the trailer. By moving them forward I put more weight on the tandems ant that takes weight off of the drives. By moving them back I allow the steers to carry more and the tandems to carry less.
It is my responsibility to make it legal so I have to go to the nearest scales and weigh. It costs $9 to weigh the first time and $1 for each re-weigh. It saves money and time to be able to get it right the first time.
I also have to consider how much fuel I can carry. That adds to the gross and also to the weight on the steers and the drives. Since it is my responsibility, and the tickets and fines would be mine, I can refuse a load that is over gross or can not be made legal by sliding my tandems. The planners are good though because I have never had to take a load back to the shipper and I have had some that were very close to the max gross.
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