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Post by HILLBILLY HIPPIE 245 on Jun 2, 2007 8:04:32 GMT -5
we have a driver that along with the co. is being sued because he was over weight , had an accident and the other person was hurt. we cant refuse to load , but if you have a accident you might lose your house ! this is not good .
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Post by Matt on Jun 2, 2007 9:17:38 GMT -5
Sounds like a bad situation. Most companies are responsible for tickets related to the truck including being over weight. The driver is responsible for his actions behind the wheel. If he was cited as being at fault, than that is likely why he would be included in the law suite. At my company we can refuse to haul loads that are over weight. If they load an acceptable amount of concrete into the truck and it still doesn't scale out when weighed, than it’s likely because the drum has build up. That would be the company’s responsibility as it is part of maintenance. If the truck is not (gross) overweight, and is considered mis-loaded, than it is the drivers fault for not properly adjusting their tag axle pressures. I am no lawyer, but I thought I would relay how things go down in my neck of the woods. Hopefully everything turns out for the best.
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Post by HILLBILLY HIPPIE 245 on Jun 2, 2007 9:28:45 GMT -5
we haul over weight loads every day . even had a driver turned down for a life ins. pollicy because he did not reveal a misdemeanor on his record. it was a over weight ticket . the driver did not know it was on permanent record.
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Post by wheelman on Jun 2, 2007 15:37:58 GMT -5
we haul over weight loads all the time and cannot refuse them. our trucks are rear-discharge, have no tags or boosters with 9 yard drums. i think we are legal up to either seven or seven and a half yards. we haul eights regularly and every once in a while you'll get an eight and a quarter or eight and a half stuck on ya. hell, last week i hauled nine yards 20 miles away (and managed to keep it all in the drum) anyway, around here if you're driving a company owned truck then over weight tickets go to the company. as far as being involved an accident or tickets going on records even though the company pays the fine, i'm not sure how that would work. it hasn't happened...yet.
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Post by concretejoe on Jun 2, 2007 21:24:29 GMT -5
Company owned or not. If you're overweight and know it and you have an accident and kill someone you are so screwed. Can you say, manslaughter? If the ticket has your name on it, it's going on your driving record. You can and should refuse to haul overweight loads. You could own the company if they fired you for refusing to break the law. Not only is it unsafe, it's bad for the equipment and your fellow drivers. That extra yard you're carrying is one less load someone gets to haul and get paid for. My company has loaded me heavy before and I went right back to where we put our left over and dumped off enough to be legal. They've gotten to the point now that they ask before they load you heavy. The smart ones say no.
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Slick
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Post by Slick on Jun 8, 2007 21:28:07 GMT -5
I'm with Joe on this, tell 'em no and let them try and fire you. They will learn very quick how much authority the D.O.T. has....and the Labor Board.....
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Post by concretejoe on Jun 9, 2007 17:39:26 GMT -5
Another way to do it is to find a D.O.T. vehicle every time they give you an overweight load. They've got portable scales. Help the company make the financial decision to stop overloading. I mean, you can't help it if you get pulled over every time you leave the yard. That D.O.T. man must have it in for you, right?  |
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Slick
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Post by Slick on Jun 10, 2007 9:33:13 GMT -5
10-4
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gant
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Post by gant on Aug 1, 2007 19:38:45 GMT -5
I drive a rear discharge and we usually haul 10 yards but we have hauled alot of 12 yard loads.. all of our trucks have a set of tags though.. but we are still wayyy over weight..
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Post by bj3976 on Sept 20, 2007 20:46:16 GMT -5
I get a heavy load at least 2 times a day. We have 11 yard front discharge trucks and our average is 12.5 yards, every once in a while they will throw a 13 on there. My batch man will load em' all heavy that way he gets to close the plant down early so he can go home. We only have 9 guys at our plant and none of them complain about it. The company did get a hefty fine last week for being over loaded and we have not seen a 12.5 in a few days!
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gant
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Post by gant on Sept 22, 2007 9:34:56 GMT -5
I'm overweight about 95% of the time.. we're on a 200,000 yard job and they want 10 and 11 yard loads and they get what they want
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Post by batchmaster on Sept 26, 2007 17:12:52 GMT -5
coming from a former dispatcher's standpoint, I always asked before I overloaded, and depending on where the job is, if you are taking major highways or whatever to get there, it is not smart to overload because it is more than likely that the driver will run into the D.O.T. So that always stuck in the back of my mind, where the job was and how far the travel to get there was.
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gant
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Post by gant on Sept 26, 2007 21:06:49 GMT -5
DOT doesnt bother us.. I weighed my truck the other day loaded and it was over 72k, I'm legal for 66k
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Post by bj3976 on Sept 30, 2007 15:08:25 GMT -5
Same here, DOT won't even waste there time on us becuse we have extreamly clean trucks, and they figure if the time is spent on cleaning, the same goes for repairs and keeping the trucks legal. Scaled up after reading a few of the overweight posts. 83.5K only leagal for 76K(MA) 73K (NH).
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Post by slumpy on Oct 12, 2007 21:58:43 GMT -5
9 yards is all we can haul and even that is over weight for us so when we get pulled over we have to crank are tag axles to about 100 psi just enough were your drive axles are lifting off the pavement im not kidding. it's such a joke in michigan how these weighmasters are around here they usually write us a miss load ticket that the company has to pay for and does not effect are driving record . michigan is a gross axle state were other states are mainly gross weight.
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Post by Mort on Oct 12, 2007 23:46:33 GMT -5
Our company is pretty strict about not overloading. Trucks with a tag and one pusher axles carry 9.5, steel drum trucks with a tag and two pushers carry 10 (and the OshKoshes), and the Composite drum trucks carry 10.5.
But anything over a 6" slump we can't load over 9 yards anyway, because of the hills (spilling out the back).
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Post by concretejoe on Oct 23, 2007 21:57:59 GMT -5
Guy's do what you want. I know I have taken an overweight load a time or two, but I can kick myself now for it. Nobody ever thinks they are going to be in an accident, but life happens. It only takes one accident with an overweight load to ruin your life, shut down your company, and put your buddies out of work. I don't want someone's death on my hands. The company can shove their yards per man hour for all I care. Unless you are being paid by the yard there is nothing in it for you. As a matter of fact, it hurts your pocket book. The longer we can stretch out the day the more money we make.
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Post by oldsmith on Oct 24, 2007 17:00:05 GMT -5
I'd say if i haul 10 loads a day 8 will be over weight. Anything over 7.25yrds is over on most of our plants trucks. I don't know about you guys but my day doesn't need to be stretched out any. I get 12 to 15 hrs a day as it is. I don't want anymore.
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Post by BillyCement on Oct 24, 2007 19:37:10 GMT -5
Once again I have to plead ignorance. What is a "tag"? As far as I know we don't have anything like that here in Jersey.
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gant
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Post by gant on Oct 24, 2007 21:01:25 GMT -5
a tag is a booster axle
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Post by lkconcrete on Jan 15, 2008 0:35:03 GMT -5
Besides tickets....how good is it for the truck? I was stuffing 13 in our 11 yrd front but noticed the front drum support/ wheels creaking and makin noise. probly out of line a lil. we don't drive our trucks on the roads, but i still wonder about frame damage just driving the 300 ft from the batch plant to the shop.
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gant
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Post by gant on Jan 15, 2008 7:02:35 GMT -5
we dont have to worry about running heavy now.. with that big job we are on, the made this area a heavy zone for all the trucks.. so no more overweight tickets or loads lol..
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Post by Cover Driver on Jan 17, 2008 18:29:44 GMT -5
I'm from England, all 8 meter trucks are overweight when loaded here.
The truck designers know it the company's know it.
But what do you do.
Tarmac here in England under-loads the trucks with 7.5 meters max.
But its the only company.
Hanson as now a 8 meter cap, but when it had a 6 cap, if it brought in a 7.5m max load you would have lost money as a owner driver.
I think the government are well aware of the mixer trucks being over weight and all the east Europeans here with dodgy or no license's. But I think they turn a blind eye here in London, because there's a lot of work in construction and has been for about 20 years.
With major projects and the Olympics coming up, no one will rock the boat as it will be like opening up a can of worms.
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Post by lafargeslave on Mar 26, 2008 17:13:35 GMT -5
our trucks are only registered for 53000 pounds (to save money on the regestration fees)so we are always over. standard load is 9yds. if they know the truck is clean and a seasoned driver then you will get a 10yd if they feel the need to sent it that way. nothing easier for a dot officer to see a cretevayor coming his way easy ticket.we have no tags or booster axles. no jakes either, company claims they mass up the final drives. there was a news story about how much in back owed fines there were from mixer companies in atlanta. the training always reminds you to downshift, downshift downshift. yah no kidding, not enough breaks to get it stopped. a newer driver would probably be asked if they want to carry 10yds. but once they know you or the truck can hold it, it will be done without you knowing it untill you read the delivery ticket. had a corporate office worker flag me over on the road once, told me I was driving on a flat. I showed him that all the tires in the rear were at the right PSI. he said no way gauge must be off, too much bulge in the tires. oh that, Im hauling 10yds + a little left over that wasnt subtracted out. Im way overloaded. they guy just looks at me. I guess he may have been new and not known how it was.
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Post by concretejoe on Mar 28, 2008 12:19:49 GMT -5
I don't know about you guys but my day doesn't need to be stretched out any. I get 12 to 15 hrs a day as it is. I don't want anymore. I agree, but the way to fix that is for the company to hire more drivers and put more trucks on the road not to overload trucks. Those trucks have a weight rating for a reason. Your brakes are designed to stop you at a certain weight. |
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Post by Crazy Mudder Trucker on Jun 8, 2008 18:15:40 GMT -5
Company owned or not. If you're overweight and know it and you have an accident and kill someone you are so screwed. Can you say, manslaughter? If the ticket has your name on it, it's going on your driving record. You can and should refuse to haul overweight loads. You could own the company if they fired you for refusing to break the law. Not only is it unsafe, it's bad for the equipment and your fellow drivers. That extra yard you're carrying is one less load someone gets to haul and get paid for. My company has loaded me heavy before and I went right back to where we put our left over and dumped off enough to be legal. They've gotten to the point now that they ask before they load you heavy. The smart ones say no. I do the exact same thing, especially when I go to cities where they hate my company and always pop us for being overweight. If its a 10 yd load I'll go spin off 1.5 yds to be on the safeside and account for build up on my drum. |
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gant
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Post by gant on Jun 8, 2008 19:26:59 GMT -5
my truck is only legal for maybe 7 yards.. I have a straight truck with no buildup... they will stick 10 yards on you even on your first day.. I'd honestly rather haul 10 yards than 5 or so it rides alot better . I have a jake brake and an auto that downshifts itself it stops pretty good for a mixer.. and it pulls hard, just gotta take it easy..
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Post by lafargeslave on Jun 9, 2008 18:36:42 GMT -5
our company wont buy jakes except for the few plants that are in the mountains. they say it sends a reverb up the PTO and into the final drive, ruining them faster. we have 3 autos for testing. all 3 have cracked their bell housings so the company has dropped that program. those 3 have jakes because without them there would be no compression braking.
just have to downshift, downshift, downshift. alhough my truck (2005 international, 50K + miles and just under 10k hours) has ABS, it doesnt seem to work.
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gant
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Post by gant on Jun 9, 2008 19:46:24 GMT -5
^^ my company is done buying autos as well... the fuel mileage is alot worse, or so they say.. i think its the extra 25k for the tranny.. but thats just me.. how long have you worked for lafarge?? our VP used to be the VP of lafarge out in Kansas City
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Post by lafargeslave on Jun 13, 2008 20:09:14 GMT -5
3.5 years. we are giving up on the fiberglass drums as well. all of them have bad internal and external cracks. we are going out to the bone yard and pulling old drums off the trucks that were to be shipped to south america becuase they were too shoddy to run in the US. and those fiberglass chutes that are so light, we have to butcher the liners out of them, so they wont last long either. they need to stick to the basics.
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