Is there a margin of capacity, above rating?

[Sam]

I have a Fontaine Renegade Double Drop RGN, rated for 70,000 pounds in 16 feet.

I routinely load it near this rating.
Recently, I've been asked to overload it, but I haven't done this, yet.

I don't know my limitations.
I saw a guy with this trailer, and he said he had 85,000 on it. I keep thinking about that, when I'm asked to load over 70,000.

So far, I will consider up to around 74,000 - if there is big money motivating the consideration.

I recently failed to make a new friend, for 76,000. This was huge big money to motivate me, but I was afraid I would break the trailer.

Does anybody know my limitations?

The attachments are a pdf brochure, and a vibe truck that weighs a little over 68,000 pounds.

 

[Chaz Murray]

I can not speak for Fontaine but on our trailers we try to build them with a safety factory of a min 1.5 If you really think about it, that is not much. Figure while you are going down the highway and that load bouncing you are prob. close to hitting the limit of what it is designed to handle. Overloading anything if it is not specifically designed for can never be a good thing. Another thing to think about...is it really worth the extra money for that one load to do possible permanent damage to your trailer and cost you lots more in the future to repair than you ever made off that one haul??:beatsme

Now if you are going to overload anyway I would move the load farther back on the trailer to keep the weight off the goose neck as much as possible since that will be typically be your weakest point on the trailer

 

[95zIV]

The other thing to consider is that one load overloaded could turn into a hundred overloads, well he did it before why not now?

 

[Bob Horrell]

Another thing to consider is if you were to have an accident when overloaded, it could cost you much more than the extra money you would make on the load. When there are accidents while hauling heavy loads, rated capacity and proper permits are always something that comes up in litigation. Even if it is not your fault, if you are overloaded then there is contributory negligence on your part. They really scrutinize the professional driver, no matter who is at fault.

 

[John C.]

I alway thought the highway rating usually determined how much you could haul on any particular trailer. People around here usually haul legal loads, so are never anywhere near the total rated load of the trailer.

I seems to me I heard somewhere along the lines of 4 to 1 safety factor in most everything. The problem with that is an overloaded trailer hitting a pot hole at highway speed will blow through that safety factor on one bump.

I guess I would not haul any load for any price if it meant it was not legal to do so. If it was legal and my trailer just didn't have the capacity I would have to look at how much business I might be losing and have a go at purchasing a bigger trailer.

 

[Sam]

Thank you, all, for doing my thinking for me. I always get a headache, when I try to think too much.

I think I will stick with what I've been doing, and maybe consider up to 74,000 - but only for short trips, where I know the roads.

I came close to doing one that was 76,000, 6 times. Had it not been for the 1,000 mile dead head, I may have done it.

The states look at wheel, tire and axle ratings. I think I could get legal permits, in many states, but not all of them. 76,000 would be tops, in most of the more lenient states.

Then, again, the bumps and bounces, and pot holes... The stress may take its toll on me, before it shows in the equipment.

 

[mettalgear]

Overweight loads........

Ya once you do them they will always expect them!
The first pic is when i haulled 60 2ton retaining wall blocks out to a guy and the seccond is when i haulled a Cat D5Xl

 

[Sam]

Ya once you do them they will always expect them!
The first pic is when i haulled 60 2ton retaining wall blocks out to a guy and the seccond is when i haulled a Cat D5Xl

Surely, that wasn't all 60 wall blocks, was it?

When I'm heavy, I always watch the trailer bounce, when I come to a stop, thinking about the stress on the truck and trailer.

So, how did you feel, going down the road?

 

[mettalgear]

DOPE! No not 60 blocks only 30 (60,000#'s)....... Man i guess thats what happends when you stay up way to late and get up way to eairly.. sorry didn't want to sound like a big strapper just tired.

 

[surfer-joe]

If the middle of the bottom of the deck only scrapes the ground once in a while, ya are good to go. Once it bends permanently, cut the middle out, flip it over and reweld it in place.

Believe it or not, I had a boss actually do this with an undersize lo-bed we had in Wyoming years ago. We used it to transport 651's and D9 tractors from one end of the job to the other fairly often. Once it bent and after we shut down for some winter weather, the torches and welders came out and when done, it had a remarkable bow upwards.

One of the honchos from Des Moines actually thought it was a pretty good field inititive. Course, he was the one that bought the damn thing in the first place from one of his buddies in Alabama.

 

[Bentworker]

I'm no trailer expert, but I've seen a few damaged ones. None of what I have written below will help you out figuring out what your Fontaine is good for, it is just some good rambling.

The one thing I have seen in common with destroyed trailers is high point loads. For me to even consider an overload I'd want it to be evenly loaded, not on the edge of beams, or small and heavy like a transformer, generator rotor, huge crane counterweights etc. Loading is also important, if at anytime all of the weight will be in one spot I'd try to figure out another way.


At work we have a mobile electric distribution substation that is built on top of a modified 2 beam trailer. The transformer is about 7' X 12' X 10' has a 5/8" thick tank, and steel core with a lot of copper in the winding, and is filled with oil, it probably weighs in at 50,000 pounds and is supported by four pads that load the top of the beams in four places. Each pad is damaged, the webs seem to be cracking on the bottom of the beam. to make it worse the tank is very rigid, and will not flex, stressing the trailer far beyond what any normal 50K load would. No way will I haul it, risking my CDL, pocketbook, and health.

My only personal experence with overload damage is on non CDL bumper tow trailers.

I tore a small tandem axle bumper trailer (old mobile home trailer) above the axles by improperly loading a Caterpillar D2 on it, all it took was some poor planning, crappy cribbing, and presto, I tore the 5" channel in half right above the axles at a stress point where some pockets were cut for stakes. The dozer had the blade off and was around 6,500 pounds.

Some friends of mine were trying to help me out with my Case 1835C skid steer (about 5,700 lbs with 4-n-1 and counterweights. They loaded it up on a borrowed Big Tex 70DM (good for about 4800 pounds since it is rated at 7K and weighs about 2,200), with no cribbing and folded the trailer over the axles on both sides. The beams were box tube and one had a small dimple from the axle smacking into it. When they loaded the skid steer that dimple turned into a nasty crumple as the beam failed, and when it did the other side couldn't take the load and folded at a weld on one of the spring hangers. Both trailers are now better than new. The channel iron mobile home trailer is fully boxed, and ready for another stupid adventure. The big tex met the plazma cutter and had major surgery, the damaged sections of box tube main beams were cut out and replaced, and are now backed up with angle iron the full length of the trailer to keep from folding it in half again. I still can't believe that they made a 7K rated trailer out of 2X4 X.120 wall tube!

 

[OneWelder]

I not sure if they still do it - but trailers used to have a concentrated load rating - as well as load rating.
There was a rather colorful contractor in the next town, who broke his detachable lowbed with a D-9. Not one to worry he welded it solid- Trailer continued to bend from D-9- but not to worry - He welded abot a 2 ft box under the goose neck putting the king pin at the bottom.Trailer keep bending - box kept getting Bigger with several additions in height.
Eventually when you met the truck , the gooseneck was several ft. over the top of cab

 

[Sam]

If the middle of the bottom of the deck only scrapes the ground once in a while, ya are good to go. Once it bends permanently, cut the middle out, flip it over and reweld it in place.

Believe it or not, I had a boss actually do this with an undersize lo-bed we had in Wyoming years ago. We used it to transport 651's and D9 tractors from one end of the job to the other fairly often. Once it bent and after we shut down for some winter weather, the torches and welders came out and when done, it had a remarkable bow upwards.

One of the honchos from Des Moines actually thought it was a pretty good field inititive. Course, he was the one that bought the damn thing in the first place from one of his buddies in Alabama.

That is some pretty good thinking.

I high centered with the vibe truck, coming from a lot that was below road grade. The truck was in the paved median, the front half of the trailer was blocking 2 east bound lanes of traffic, and the back of the trailer was in the hole.

I managed to add air to the truck bags, and to the trailer bags, and got enough to get out of that situation. I was embarrassed, for about 10 minutes, and it sure impressed that Swift driver, who wanted to help...

mettalgear, that made me laugh...

Bentworker, I think you are right about loading evenly. I try to be careful about the foot print the load will put on the deck.

If it is fairly concentrated, I would be looking for wood or steel to make a bigger foot print on the deck, to disperse the weight, from the unit.

It can get tricky, sometimes.

OneWelder, that would have me running scared.

 

[Jammar7]

Depends! How long is the load? Is it self supporting? Is it a face/load (load flat on deck) or is it blocked on each end?

Example: If you run the figures.... your trailers is 70,000 in 16' right? If you took that same load out to 70,000 in 20'.... the trailer would respond as if you only had about 60,000 on it. and if you block the load on each end and allow the deck to camber under the load... even better.

So the question is...... what's the load? Length, weight, self supporting, etc....?

 

[rigandig]

The data/ vin plate will usually answer any questions about rating, gross and concentrated. If not , a call to the factory will certainly get you answers. Some mfg's will give the trailer a 35T rating overall, and list a concentrated rating also at 35T. That means, 35T in 16' or more of deck space, not to exceed 35T overall. The safety factor that the mfg's build into their trailers is there for the braying (bouncing) when under way, and for the shift in weight when going around curves. There may be some consideration given by them to the fact that the trailer may be overloaded during it's service life, but that is miniscule at best. Things to consider are; each and everytime you overload a trailer you are shortening it's service life. Not only does it stress the steel, it accelerates wears on suspension parts, brakes,and tires. Also, as mentioned above, if there is an accident, especially one where there is a fatality, the law and lawyers look at and for information regarding weight/rating of the trailer. Even if the accident was caused by circumstances outside of your control, you could still be liable and face charges that could have you seeing jail time as well as civil suits that could break you. All this brought on because some broker/dispatcher wants to make a dime off of of your bad decision. If there is one thing people/drivers and o/o'ps should never forget, it's that those guys are not your friend. I had a phone call from our Hvy Haul Mgr the other day. He told me he was pullin his hair out tryin to solve problems brought on by guys tryin to do stuff with trailers that the trailers were'nt meant to do.
A direct result of slow economy, short cash flow, and some (insert favorite expletive here) dispatcher/broker convincing guys that this will help them get out of the hole.
OK let me climb down off of my soap box now. Just my .02 worth.