6 axle trailer
Neon John
interesting trailer. Labeled Dearborn Steel Transport, it had 6
axles. Three where the tandems would normally be, one up near the
kingpin and one in the very rear. I assume by the company name that
they haul steel but what puzzles me is this. The trailer had no
signage or placards indicating overweight. Does this kind of trailer
haul overweight loads or are the axles there to meet some sort of
screwy bridge law?
John
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
Don't let your schooling interfere with your education-Mark Twain
Gashauler
"Neon John" <n...@never.com> wrote in message
news:dmksp2hics22mpmjk...@4ax.com...
> I'm sitting at the Pilot in South Bend, IN and I just saw an
> interesting trailer. Labeled Dearborn Steel Transport, it had 6
> axles. Three where the tandems would normally be, one up near the
> kingpin and one in the very rear. I assume by the company name that
> they haul steel but what puzzles me is this. The trailer had no
> signage or placards indicating overweight. Does this kind of trailer
> haul overweight loads or are the axles there to meet some sort of
> screwy bridge law?
>
> John
> ---
What you could have seen is a drop axle on the tractor and a three axle
trailer. Not that uncommon. The drop axle can be lower or raised by the
driver sometimes in the cab and sometimes out. It depends on the state. NV
would not let you control the drop axle from inside the cab. It doesn't
steer but it does tag. Whatever you do don't leave it down when empty
because if it's slick out you won't turn.
J.T. Ricks
>I'm sitting at the Pilot in South Bend, IN and I just saw an
>interesting trailer. Labeled Dearborn Steel Transport, it had 6
>axles. Three where the tandems would normally be, one up near the
>kingpin and one in the very rear. I assume by the company name that
>they haul steel but what puzzles me is this. The trailer had no
>signage or placards indicating overweight. Does this kind of trailer
>haul overweight loads or are the axles there to meet some sort of
>screwy bridge law?
>
1982 'standardized' truck/trailer/weight laws Michigan and a couple
other Midwest states allowed a certain amount of weight per axle on
the ground. You'd see some old raggedy outfits that looked like
centipedes. There were even a few old curmudgeons who had valves in
the cab on individual axle suspensions that exhausted silently into
old propane tanks so they could carry even more across scales!
Remember, trucks were paid by the weight they could carry, and steel
was cheap freight, so they carried a lot of it.
If you see others like that one, take a picture. They won't be around
forever.
Of course those humongous loads those guys hauled had something to do
with the horrible roads in Michigan and vicinity.
Jim Ricks
Roger Shoaf
> interesting trailer. Labeled Dearborn Steel Transport, it had 6
> axles. Three where the tandems would normally be, one up near the
> kingpin and one in the very rear. I assume by the company name that
> they haul steel but what puzzles me is this. The trailer had no
> signage or placards indicating overweight. Does this kind of trailer
> haul overweight loads or are the axles there to meet some sort of
> screwy bridge law?
>
The trailer is designed to distribute the weight evenly over all the axels.
Signage is not requires on overweight loads even if a permit may be
required. I suspect the reason for this is wide or long loads may require
motorists to consider the unusual size when passing but if it is normal size
but very heavy it is not something that the other motorists need to know.
--
Roger Shoaf
If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent.
richard
> interesting trailer. Labeled Dearborn Steel Transport, it had 6
> axles. Three where the tandems would normally be, one up near the
> kingpin and one in the very rear. I assume by the company name that
> they haul steel but what puzzles me is this. The trailer had no
> signage or placards indicating overweight. Does this kind of trailer
> haul overweight loads or are the axles there to meet some sort of
> screwy bridge law?
>
> John
Dear John
Yes it is all part of the bridge law formulation.
From the Rand Mcnally Atlas:
Single axle: 20,000
Tandem axle: 34,000
Tridem Axle: 42,000 - 45,000 depending on spread.
However, the gross weight still can not exceed 80,000 pounds.
In Michigan, the law was/is 20,000 pounds per axle up to 8 axles.
I've seen trailers with so many axles that the only room left was for the
landing gear.
Of course, those trailers could not be taken out of the state unless the
load met the 80,000 pound limit.
Neon John
That's it, then. This was a new looking trailer so I don't think it
was left over from before harmonization. Three of the axles were
retractable and were in the up position. Probably indicated that it
was either empty or loaded <80Klbs.
Gashauler
>>
>>
>>Dear John
>>
>>Yes it is all part of the bridge law formulation.
>>From the Rand Mcnally Atlas:
>>
>>Single axle: 20,000
>>Tandem axle: 34,000
>>Tridem Axle: 42,000 - 45,000 depending on spread.
>>
>>However, the gross weight still can not exceed 80,000 pounds.
>>
>>In Michigan, the law was/is 20,000 pounds per axle up to 8 axles.
>>I've seen trailers with so many axles that the only room left was for the
>>landing gear.
>>Of course, those trailers could not be taken out of the state unless the
>>load met the 80,000 pound limit.
>
> That's it, then. This was a new looking trailer so I don't think it
> was left over from before harmonization. Three of the axles were
> retractable and were in the up position. Probably indicated that it
> was either empty or loaded <80Klbs.
>
> John
>
overweight trucks that travel all over the US? Oh yeah I forgot they're
breaking the law. I've run with a one-trip permit from Ohio to Utah with
110,000lbs on 6 axles. IIRC I had 54,000lbs on the 3 trailer axles. The
truck that you mentioned John could have a yearly permit to exceed the
length and weight restrictions. What Richard quoted is the legal weight
before a permit is required. He doesn't know ANYTHING about oversize trucks.
The drop axles on the tractor is to allow alot of weight up on the truck.
The problem with running oversize trucks like this is just about every state
is different with what they require to run. I tried to buy a trailer to haul
this special equipment for the U.S. Navy so it could be mobile for EOD and I
just couldn't do it. CA wants the axles to go across the trailer and others
want a stinger. Some want a jeap and a stinger. There's no such thing a one
type of trialer to haul loads over 100,000lbs in every state.
Michigan has to worry about old bridges and such where the western states
worry about rutting the road. So you can see many different types of trucks
all over. A good place to look is
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/trucks.htm or if you want to see large
tankers go to
http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/mark_wayman_western_tanker01.htm