Forklift weight

At my last job we had a driver show up with a load of new, crated machines from our other shop. He claims he was busted at the scale a half hour into his trip being 20k lbs overweight. They had to unload the excess at the scales and ship it back on a hotshot.

The weights of the completed units were listed relatively accurately. However, the crated units included spare parts inside the crates as well, which is where the discrepancy came from.

 

The problem arises is when people load heavy machinery and whatnot in crates that can weight 20k plus each. This stuff should really be shipped on a flat, but the customer cheaps out and throws it in a van. If you take even a 12k piece and a forklift heavy enough to pick up said piece, you’ll have in the neighborhood of 20k plus on the drive axle of the forklift. This kind of weight can fall though floors and bend crossmembers.

 

This is a very good question. 68000 GVR rating minus an average of 15500 lb dry van empty weight. The trailer should be able to safely haul 52500 lbs. However realistically, it would need to be spread out as evenly as possible. Roughly 1,000 lb. per ft. 45,000 lbs in a 30ft section of the center of the trailer will snap it in half. Certain loads put way too much stress on the floor. Worst example is a 9,000 lb. roll of paper, being loaded by a machine that weighs at least that much, probably more. Total of roughly 20,000 lbs rolling onto the trailer within a 10-12ft area. It weakens the cross members. They start to bow. Once they start to bow it gets worse, bowing more. More they bow, the more the floor cracks and delaminates. You can hear the floor cracking. Eventually the floor weakens to the point that a forklift wheel will go through. Not just paper. Bottle water, @ 2000lbs per pallet, loaded 2 pallets at a time. 2,000lb Ingots, loaded 2 at a time. There’s 3 different thicknesses of flooring, there’s heavy duty paper spec trailers with more cross members spaced closer together. To get an idea of how much the floor deflection is, watch underneath while a forklift is loading your trailer. Even a brand new trailer has some deflection. You’ll see why the floors are only good for so long, especially if always loading heavy. Light loads aren’t a problem. Trailers that haul Furniture or mattresses can have flooring like new after years of service. It’s the loading and unloading process, because of the forklift or machine doing the loading. Moves the floor in the process and weakens it more each time. I’ve watched it happen to the 2 trailers I’ve owned. If it’s a concern, especially if the trailers over 10 yrs old best to avoid certain loads.

 

What exactly is deflection?

 

Flex ??

 

It'll be fine.

Bouncing down the road with a loaded trailer puts more stress on things than the static weight of a forklift.

 

The flex or movement of floor

 

@JolliRoger is probably your hook up here........was a trucker and owned a forklift business.

 

The trailers not maxed out, because the 80k includes the weight of the Truck. Roughly 20k. If the Trailer itself weighs 15k, and the freight weighs 45k, that means the Trailers GVW is at 60k. Well under the 68k. maximum GVWR. The 8k forklift is pretty much irrelevant. Except as I mentioned earlier. Big heavy equipment loading heavy freight puts a lot of stress on the floor system. It’s the effect of rolling. The wood floor and cross members flex. First sign is the screws get countersunk deeper into the wood. This causes the floor to get loosened from the cross members. Sometimes the bolts (or rivets) holding the cross members to the side rails will break. Over time it only gets worse. Eventually the cross members become permanently bowed, causing more movement or flexing of the cross members, getting worse every time it’s being loaded or unloaded. The I beam cross members can crack, but usually don’t, just break more bolts. What usually happens is a wheel of a heavy forklift eventually puts a hole in an already cracked up weak spot of wood. Look under any dry van trailer being loaded/unloaded. You’ll see it. Even a brand new trailer being loaded with light freight will flex as the forklift rolls across it.