U.S. truck axle weight laws?

Stuck at 80 in most states. Some western states will allow more

 

80000 without permits

 

Basically you are restricted to the 80,000 max, a lot of states allow between 440 to 550 lbs over if you have a APU.

some states have a slightly higher allowance on off interstate local roads.

 

With a tri-axle rear, why would you have a 14k steer axle?

 

99000? Not on just a triaxle drive tractor.

We ran containers in my time with a standing permit in two states to ports (Md and VA, both stood at 99K enforceable beyond that, I once had a 134500 ticket, 3000 dollars by VA the permit was not sufficient)

Interstate routes are just part of a problem. You hop off beyond a mile or two at most onto state or local routes and find yourself sometimes simply just too heavy to be on it. Ive used to run near 80000 with a milk tanker across a 8 ton rated bridge but on that bridge was a fire department weight ratings that allowed 34K tandems so the bridge being short enough to take one tandem at a time did it.

In spread axle we had a 10 foot spread off a 48 foot flatbed, you could and did put 40K back there provided you were only 80000 gross.

I don't know about the steers, we generally ignored it however things have changed since those days. Maybe 13 to 14K at our heaviest up there depending on which old iron we put on there.

I am sorry I cannot offer you a hard this or that answer you seek. It's generally a very good idea to get a permit for your weight wherever you are going if you do not have the American axles sufficient to support your over gross weight.

 

Your allowed more weight on an axle group like a tri, but still limited to 80,000 gross. Some states allow more weight on state routes if you have the extended weights on your registration- it depends on the state. Interstate is 80,000 lbs. The ONLY way to legally haul more weight is with an overweight permit, BUT it has to be a NON-DIVISABLE load to get said permit 99.9% of the time. There are a extremely few instances where you can get an overweight permit for a divisible load but they are usally an annual permit for a certain commodity and again depends on the state. If you try and get an overweight permit in certain states and you don't have the extended weights on registration it is big ticket time. Iowa and Michigan comes to mind. Dont pay attention to what other people did or got away with, don't mean it's right !

 

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!!!!!!!

There is no such thing as an "80,000 lb interstate limit". The 80,000 lbs number is a MINIMUM, not a maximum. Run 12/34/34, and you will be good everywhere.

We run every single day at 88,000 over the interstates. Some states allow it, some don't. Most of them in the West, as stated. Some states, like Iowa, allow it on secondary roads. Others, like Minnesota, only on secondary roads with agricultural goods. Each state is different. Some require an additional "extended weight permit". Most are nominal (I think Idaho is something like $47 per year). Our permit book requires a "heavy package" sticker....

There is a good reason to go with a 14K front axle (we do) and that is the bridge law. Especially Oregon. By putting more weight up front, your inner bridges become less, and you can carry more total weight. Again, Oregon being the PIA with their own version of the bridge law. With a 12K front end and our 225" wheel base and a triaxle 53' trailer, we're limited to 89.5K with a standard 12K front end, but the 14.6 front end bumps that to 92.1K. That's almost like free money.

 

Like I said some states allow it. Yes, yes, yes.