Up on the Truck Scale
As every commercial driver knows, weight limits apply to commercial vehicles. Generally, those weight limits are 10,000 lbs per wheel, 20,000 lbs per axle and 34,000 lbs per tandem axle. Anything over these limits and you’re in for a hefty ticket down at the weigh station.
Oregon Rules Say How the Weigh Station Should Do its Job
Oregon Administrative Rule sets the method for how ODOT should be checking your weight against the weight limit at the weigh station. Single axles can be weighed on a portable scale or in-ground scale so long as only that axle is being weighed. Tandem axles “shall” be weighed by adding together the weight on all the axles in the set (if weighed individually) or by putting all the wheels on the truck scale. The rules don’t set a certain limit per axle in a tandem axle.
ODOT Changes the Rules at the Weigh Station
Even though the rules are clear, ODOT is enforcing a different set of rules at the weigh station. ODOT officers are weighing the axles of tandems separately and, instead of adding them up to get he total weight like the rule says, issuing over weight limit based on a single axle in the set.
What to Do?
Avoiding this problem can be hard. Most shippers don’t have the capability to measure tandem does independently. Presumably some won’t because its not required by Oregon law or rule. Unfortunately, it’s the commercial driver that pays the price – literally – for a load that isn’t balanced on the tandem axle.
The best thing to do if you get an overweight ticket at the weigh station is to call the experienced traffic attorneys at Dore Long.