![]() To maintain maneuverability and reduce off-tracking of 53-foot trailers while turning, states and provinces limit the allowable distance between the trailer kingpin and the center of the rear axle (the hub) in the tandem group. Since you want to take weight off the trailer axles, you need to move them further away from the center of the load, so you will need to slide them back 12-18 inches, or two to four holes on the slider rail.īut there’s a limit to how far back you can go. And sliding the trailer axle back too far could violate the kingpin-to-rear-axle restrictions. Some of the weight transferred to the drive axles will shift to the steer axle. You will have to slide the trailer axles back. This time the trailer axles are overloaded by 1,000 lb. (Photo: Jim Park) Another example of overloaded axles Catharines Campus, dollies-down, preparing to slide the 5th Wheel. Truck driving instructor, Brendan Bell of Transport Training Centres of Canada’s St. Depending on the slider on your trailer that could two to four holes. In this case, you probably need to slide the axle forward between 12 and 18 inches. If you make notes each time you slide your axles, you soon have a better picture of how much weight is transferred per inch of travel. “If the hole spacing is three inches, they are good for about 250 pounds.” “If your slider has locking holes at six-inch centers, you will shift about 500 pounds per hole,” he says. off the drive axles, but you have room on the trailer axles for an additional 2,000 lb.ĭane Arcand, a truck driving instructor at Transport Training Centres of Canada’s Ottawa campus, uses a rule of thumb that suggests about 100 pounds per inch of travel on the slider. So how far forward should you slide the trailer axle? In this case, you need to move at least 1,000 lb. If more of the weight is placed further behind the fulcrum, the center point will bear more of the weight, lightening the load at front (the drive axles). It acts as a fulcrum, like the center bar on a playground’s teeter-totter. Moving the trailer axles forward changes the way the weight is distributed over the center point of the axle. The steer axle weight won’t change, so you’ll have room for more fuel. The drive axles can handle the weight from sliding the trailer axles forward. ![]() If you have a 13.2K steer axle with the appropriate tires, you have room for an additional 1,200 lb., but doing that leaves little room for additional fuel. Or slide the 5th wheel ahead to transfer 1,000 lb. ![]() Slide the trailer axles forward so they will pick up some of the excess drive axle weight. Let’s say your scale ticket looks like this: The steer is 12,000 lb. Weighing the truck, you discover the drive axles are overloaded, but you still have some room on the steer axle and the trailer axles. On the way to the truck stop to axle weigh the truck, you’re thinking it was a good thing you went in to load with just a third of a tank of fuel. Either way, you’re going to be close to maximum gross weight, and that means you’ll be tight on the axle weights, too. You wonder if that weight includes the 24 pallets. The engine labors more than usual, and the truck just feels heavy.Īccording to the bill of lading, you have 45,500 lb. Here’s a guide to basic axle weight rules across North America, and a how-to on repositioning axles to get the weight to where it needs to be.Īs you pull out from the loading dock, you can’t help but notice that you have a good load on. And sometimes you have to slide your axles or 5th wheel to redistribute the weight in the trailer. ![]() Cargo weight must be distributed evenly across all your axles. ![]()
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