05-26-2012, 08:56 AM
Reinhard, some of the states in the North East used to require extra axles on trucks in the spring time when the snow melted and the ground under the roads turned "boggy". That is extra axles were required if the company wanted to load to the maximum weight that they would run in other seasons. Basically many states have a maximum overall weight allowed, but also a maximum weight for each axle. I think Minnesota and Wisconsin have lower maximum axle weight allowed from February through May than they do the rest of the year. I'm not sure if these lower axle weights include interstate highways or not, or if those laws were changed by the federal government when they changed the laws for interstate commerce.
Historically there was a hodge podge of trucking regulations for length and weight with each state setting their own standards. It created major problems for trucking companies trying to move freight across the country. In 1976 the states bordering the Mississippi River on both sides limited the overall length of tractor trailers to 55 feet. I remember that one of the drivers for a company I worked for was stopped in one of those states and had to call out a mechanic to remove the dock bumpers from the trailer and cut off part of the steel around the bumpers because the rig was still 55 feet 2 inches long after he shortened it as far as the 5th wheel adjustment would allow.
I think in the 1980's sometime the federal laws were changed to override states laws that standardized truck maximum weight to 80,0000 pounds, and set maximum length to 65 feet overall. Later the length was changed to a maximum trailer length of 53 feet, but no regulation on the overall length of the rig. Individual states are free to allow longer maximums or heavier maximums, but not shorter or lighter weights.
That is why so many van and flat bed trailers have adjustable bogies as well as the tractors having an adjustable 5th wheel. My brother got an overweight ticket in Oklahoma on a rig. The truck wasn't overweight, but he forgot to slide the bogies and 5th wheel when he left the yard to get the legal axle weight, and when he went through the scales they wrote him up for one axle being too heavy.
Historically there was a hodge podge of trucking regulations for length and weight with each state setting their own standards. It created major problems for trucking companies trying to move freight across the country. In 1976 the states bordering the Mississippi River on both sides limited the overall length of tractor trailers to 55 feet. I remember that one of the drivers for a company I worked for was stopped in one of those states and had to call out a mechanic to remove the dock bumpers from the trailer and cut off part of the steel around the bumpers because the rig was still 55 feet 2 inches long after he shortened it as far as the 5th wheel adjustment would allow.
I think in the 1980's sometime the federal laws were changed to override states laws that standardized truck maximum weight to 80,0000 pounds, and set maximum length to 65 feet overall. Later the length was changed to a maximum trailer length of 53 feet, but no regulation on the overall length of the rig. Individual states are free to allow longer maximums or heavier maximums, but not shorter or lighter weights.
That is why so many van and flat bed trailers have adjustable bogies as well as the tractors having an adjustable 5th wheel. My brother got an overweight ticket in Oklahoma on a rig. The truck wasn't overweight, but he forgot to slide the bogies and 5th wheel when he left the yard to get the legal axle weight, and when he went through the scales they wrote him up for one axle being too heavy.