Hi. Customer loaded 7,5 tonner and issued paperwork that they are loaded 2 tonnes in total. Unfortunately I was fined 60 pounds being 6.80 percent over, weighting total of 8010 kilos. Later, the person who load me told me that he weight it and it was 2,8T which is correct weight from my calculations. So in the end they have put items weight only excluding heavy steel cages - 800kgs 
Is there anything I can do or I need to pay this ?
Thanks.
Ultimately itâs your responsibility, however you can try and approach your customer and explain that they seem to have got it wrong and would they be nice enough to re-imburse you.
I think that its very unfair but you will have to pay ,as driver its your responsibility.
This used to happen a lot when I used to pull out of a foundry, they would weight the goods and then put it in stillages, a 10 ton load would easily weigh 11.5 tons if you include heavy stillages.
Ultimately it is your responsibility to ensure that your vehicle is not overloaded.
brados:
Ultimately it is your responsibility to ensure that your vehicle is not overloaded.
^^^^^^^ +1
Ken.
Write to them explaining what happened. If you have copies of the paperwork that would be good, but name the customer and just detail how it was that you were an innocent victim of their incompetence.
It might work and all it will cost is the the price of a stamp.
Santa:
Write to them explaining what happened. If you have copies of the paperwork that would be good, but name the customer and just detail how it was that you were an innocent victim of their incompetence.It might work and all it will cost is the the price of a stamp.
Good luck with that. You will get the reply that if you are unsure of the weight you must proceed to the nearest public weighbridge and get weighed off.
Conor:
Santa:
Write to them explaining what happened. If you have copies of the paperwork that would be good, but name the customer and just detail how it was that you were an innocent victim of their incompetence.It might work and all it will cost is the the price of a stamp.
Good luck with that. You will get the reply that if you are unsure of the weight you must proceed to the nearest public weighbridge and get weighed off.
I agree with Conor; Our previous TM used to say this when we complained of being overloaded. He would want to see us in his office when we refused to go back for more loads or as in my case, tipped it off in the gateway, blocking the site.
We got weighers after an overloaded lorry fell over on the tipâŚ
O once loaded Russianb Turf in Rotterdam.
I couldnât overtake not even a very old 8 Axle Fiat Road Train in italy 
38600 Kilo had the Load.
Unfortunately your only defence is that you are on the way to the nearest weighbridge.
You are morally blameless but that cuts no ice Iâm afraid. Thatâs vosa for you.
ShropsBri:
Unfortunately your only defence is that you are on the way to the nearest weighbridge.
You are morally blameless but that cuts no ice Iâm afraid. Thatâs vosa for you.
Yes,and that is it.
Been unlucky.May get well next Time,but maybe not.I wouldnt take a chance 
get the boss to pay, or get the customer to pay.
ShropsBri:
Unfortunately your only defence is that you are on the way to the nearest weighbridge.
You are morally blameless but that cuts no ice Iâm afraid. Thatâs vosa for you.
Or Trading Standards. Overloading is an absolute offence. Mens rea! 
Conor:
Santa:
Write to them explaining what happened. If you have copies of the paperwork that would be good, but name the customer and just detail how it was that you were an innocent victim of their incompetence.It might work and all it will cost is the the price of a stamp.
Good luck with that. You will get the reply that if you are unsure of the weight you must proceed to the nearest public weighbridge and get weighed off.
Not sure on thatâŚ
You can normally check a 7.5t by putting your fist sidewards between wheel and arch, if it doesnât fit, double check the weight (this was on leaf springs mind, not sure if itâd work on air?).
But, we go off paperwork all the time and expect it to be right, and if it drove normal etc (as it would for 600kg difference) then why would you assume any different and go to a weigh bridge??
Iâd personally appeal it with copies of the paperwork and a draft of your calculations showing the total weight to be ok and explain that there was no reason to suspect being over-weightâŚ
Does a public weigh bridge cost to weigh on â â How much?? How often do people use them because they âthinkâ they may be over-weight?
Conor:
Santa:
Write to them explaining what happened. If you have copies of the paperwork that would be good, but name the customer and just detail how it was that you were an innocent victim of their incompetence.It might work and all it will cost is the the price of a stamp.
Good luck with that. You will get the reply that if you are unsure of the weight you must proceed to the nearest public weighbridge and get weighed off.
He wasnât unsure of his weight, he was sure that he was loaded with 2.8t as per paperwork. Unfortunately he was wrong.
waynedl:
Conor:
Santa:
Does a public weigh bridge cost to weigh on â â How much?? How often do people use them because they âthinkâ they may be over-weight?
We charge ÂŁ5 per ticket for public weigh. I think a public weighbridge has to have a digital scale that can be read from the cab aswell. Youâd need it with the number of cantankerous weighbridge operators aboutâŚ
Around here VOSA target 7.5tonners and buildersâ vans and pickups. Plus of course anyone who theyâve caught previouslyâŚyouâd be amazed at the repeat offenders, usually transit tippers where the labourers canât get it in their thick heads they canât carry 1.5ton despite what their boss saysâŚ
Muckaway:
waynedl:
Conor:
Santa:
Does a public weigh bridge cost to weigh on â â How much?? How often do people use them because they âthinkâ they may be over-weight?We charge ÂŁ5 per ticket for public weigh. I think a public weighbridge has to have a digital scale that can be read from the cab aswell. Youâd need it with the number of cantankerous weighbridge operators aboutâŚ
Around here VOSA target 7.5tonners and buildersâ vans and pickups. Plus of course anyone who theyâve caught previouslyâŚyouâd be amazed at the repeat offenders, usually transit tippers where the labourers canât get it in their thick heads they canât carry 1.5ton despite what their boss saysâŚ
So, would that be the driver thatâd have to pay the fiver?
Only go to work to earn money, and youâve got paperwork that says youâre underweight, and truck looks ok and drives ok, but you should spend a fiver of your own money just in case??
As I said, Iâd be fighting it on the grounds of âthis is the unladen weight of my truck, this is the weight of my goods, a+b=c which is under 7.5tâ.
When VOSA weigh you, is it with driver in or out? Pre or post â â â ?
He was over weight.
Iâve no truck with firms who try and palm unsuspecting drivers off with bent loads. They know damned well what weight they are putting on - and if they donât, theyâre running such a liability that their O licence should already be under review!
Iâve had two firms try to get me to run bent in the past year. Both reported to vosa (by me!) and one of them looks like losing their O license. (operating drivers 75 hour weeks monday-friday). The other one was reported for âbrinkmanship loadingâ when they didnât have a weighbridge in their yard. Jury is still out on that one I believe. The 75 hour geezer was of course paying âdaily rateâ which is why I like being paid by the hour instead! Strangely, there never seems to be any top-dollar 15 hour shifts required over the weekend at these firms⌠I wouldnât be objecting to 2 or 3x 15 hours across a weekend at top rates now would I?
Drivers have enough on their plates without all the âits your fault if you get caught with our bent setupâ â â â â â â â â .
As well as all the money spent on âhealth and safetyâ, VOSA should be fining firms a lot more than the driver gets fined. There are a lot of depots whoâll load the truck without allowing the driver to inspect during loading (sealed, no admission to building, etc.) Iâll look in the back as much as possible after pulling off the bay, and have occasionally caught umpteen pallets of bricks, hazchem loads, and other easy to spot âattempted palm-offsâ, but overall it is the driverâs responsibility to keep the firms themselves on their toes. In these days of austerity there are sadly going to be more attempts out there to âcut cornersâ by firms once the wages have been pushed as far as they can go downwards⌠Donât let the buggers intimidate you with âno work if you donât complyâ or âthe agency boss is my mate, Iâll get you bootedâ which have both happened to me. Iâm still alive, running straight, and have a clean license after all this time whilst many of the offending firms have long since gone.
âŚI must consider getting a job with VOSA actually - It would be nice to be on the other side of the wall!
Yes, I am âthinking of the childrenâ being saved!
A lot of the quarries wont give you a ticket for any overload even 100kgs which is nothing when you look at it on the floor, tipped off. Although some weighbridges tell you to move right to the front of the bridge, so the front wheel is starting to come off, thus knocking off 100-200 kgs. I did it last week when shovel driver didnât react quick enough to my weighloader siren.