Watch your weight

Trailer makers sometimes use a sticker to indicate the optimum location for placing a heavy load, such as a steel coil.

 Knowing how to distribute your cargo when loading will help you maximize payload and keep you running legal.

Years ago, a dry van trailer collapsed near El Paso, Texas. The service manager at the Utility Trailer dealership went to the scene to find out what happened. “There was 177,000 pounds of metal castings that came across from Juarez, Mexico,” recalls Chuck Cole, manager of technical sales for Utility. “It hit a major bump on I-10 and broke in half.”

Though most operators will never pull such a heavy load, today’s trailers can handle loads well above legal limits. They’re also capable of handling weight that is poorly distributed, though not indefinitely. Planning your cargo’s positioning lessens the likelihood of trailer wear and damage. Combined with regular equipment inspections and intelligent driving practices, careful weight placement also will maximize your payloads, reduce component costs and help you avoid overweight fines.

Fred Jones keeps track of past loads to familiarize himself with how a similar product might be positioned on his trailer.

Rod Ehrlich, chief technology officer at Wabash National, says many shippers focus on load planning and distribution. An example is the paper industry, which faces challenges of loading paper rolls that can weigh up to 8,000 pounds apiece into a tractor-trailer that is limited to a 48,000-pound payload. “Those rolls are not going to fill up the trailer,” he says. “How you put those in is very strategic.”

One solution is to position the rolls in a zig-zag pattern, with rolls touching to reduce movement and to achieve optimal weight distribution. “Rolls can be 7 feet to 8 feet tall and subject to falling,” Ehrlich says. “If two of those rolls topple over at the same time, they’ll roll the entire trailer over. That happens fairly often because of a lack of understanding.”

 Cole, who teaches load distribution policies to trailer dealers, says that once an operator knows the weight of his tractor and trailer, the most critical points to consider are the proper locations for the tractor’s fifth wheel and the trailer’s suspension, using a bit of rudimentary math.