I get what your saying and your right, they do allow more for a tandem than a single axel. In my case I'm running a single axel FL 106 Freightliner so I'm limited to the 20,000 per axel on the interstate and, last I heard, an extra 10% on non interstate roads. That is unless you get stopped and are overweight more than the 10% and then the fine is calculated from 20,000 lbs. As far as the loading per square inch of tread, as of a few years ago in either Va or WVa that was the only way they calculated the allowable limit, regardless of wether it was a super single, tandem, or whatever, at least according to the state limit's I was able to find at the time.
As far as moving things to maintain the axel limits it's not always that easy. Granted for someone with a tractor trailer combo or a box truck hauling alot of smaller items it's not that big of a deal. On the other hand for someone like me that is hauling an engine, transmission, or whatever out of a piece of equipment it's not that easy. I say that because you have only the vaugest idea of what the item weights to begin with, even though over the years I've gotten pretty good at estimating based simply on how the crane on my truck reacts while picking the item. But the actual weight isn't enough because the real problem is that often due to the irregular shape of the item it will only fit one way. If the heavy end has to set to the back then so be it, if it has to set to the front then so be it. In the end there is no way to get around the shape of the item, no way to know the exact weight or which end might be heaviest or if it's heavy in the middle, no way to know how much weight is being transfered to each individual axel once it's setting in the bed, etc, etc, etc. Thing is setting in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere isn't somewhere you can drag out portable scales to check and insure your legal. Now granted if I had a question about any of this I could leave where the machine was setting in the middle of nowhere and drive 50-75 miles to find a scale that would tell me everything I needed to know, but why do that when I can simply drive the same 50-75 miles and be back at the shop with it? Either way I can't see being pulled by DMV and them accepting, "I'm headed to the scale to see if I'm overweight/legal" as an excuse.
In the end this really wasn't what my post was about. I know that just because of the kinds of businesses that most of us on this board are in we do things that are illegal or at least questionably on alot of occasions. Usually they aren't done with any real intent to break the law but they are still illegal. The thing is there are so many different Federal regs, and so many different state regs, an they change, delete, and add to them every year to the point that no one can possibly keep up with all of them. It should not be this way, but it is. The problem I have is that these rules are held over the head of and enforced upon those that drive what they consider commercial vehicles because they can get larger fines for the heavier weights, things that are considered illegal because all of a sudden 'interstate commcerce' comes into play, etc, etc. yet basically the same regs are ignored when it comes to a non commercial vehicle. Again, if you want ot play the game and apply the laws then apply them equally across the board...That's all I'm saying....
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