This may be a daft question to those in the know but how do you know how heavy your load is, i am hoping to get my class one soon and have been offered a couple of jobs when and if i get it, what i wondered is say you pick up a box that is already loaded and if it is overloaded but your not told as far as im aware the driver is responsible for this but how would you know? hope someone can give me some info thanks.
Daft question Geoff? Not at all. Your right in your assumption that should you be overloaded it would be your responsibility. Overloading is an absolute offence, so therefore there is no defence for it. (Except if you are on the way to the nearest weighbridge)
I have not done much work from the docks but from what I gather it is common for the consignee to underestimate the weight. The only way you can know for sure is to put the vehicle over a weighbridge.
abs1:
This may be a daft question to those in the know but how do you know how heavy your load is, i am hoping to get my class one soon and have been offered a couple of jobs when and if i get it, what i wondered is say you pick up a box that is already loaded and if it is overloaded but your not told as far as im aware the driver is responsible for this but how would you know? hope someone can give me some info thanks.
Take it to a public weighbridge. All docks I’ve ever been to have one. Also you cannot be prosecuted for unknowingly driving overweight IF you are driving to the nearest available weighbridge to check it should one not be available on site…
I worked for a tipper operator for a while where it was common practice with some drivers when leaving the quarrys to put the right max weight for thier vehicle on the paperwork at the weighbridge to make it all look legitimate if stopped.
marlow:
I have not done much work from the docks but from what I gather it is common for the consignee to underestimate the weight. .
It used to be but then a law known as Consignor Liability was introduced, and it would now be a serious offence for a shipper to mis-represent the weight of the load.
As you gain experience, you learn to judge weight. If I load an unknown weight, then I estimate its weight by the handling of the vehicle, and on occasions when I have been weighed (eg at Dover for export) I am normally fairly close to the actual weight.
It all takes time though. Meanwhile, make sure you know the tare weight of your tractor unit and the trailers you tow, so you know your absolute maximum payload, and reject anything which exceeds it.
Vince