Question:
I just had the pleasure of doing a short course on one of their drivers here in PA who was pulling around a fully stretched out 53' trailer...... PA has a 41' kingpin to center of tandem assembly length limit....... No less than a big fine waiting to happen. I asked the driver if their trainer ever explained length limits/laws. Oh-duhhhhhhh, guess what the answer was?
Dagnabbit folks......this thing called "truckin" isn't just "steerin' wheel holdin", its more then that...and it requires a steep learning curve to get all the rules down pat before someone nails you and empties your pockets.
And whats sad is the quality of trainers I've even had to teach Swift drivers how to "axle out" a trailer after they got loaded...... As Bedspread says: "Sheesh!"
Folks, if you are going to drive a semi....you gotta learn this stuff. Pulling a stretched out 53 is just downright dangerous....because your off-tracking is expanded tremendously.....and that means to compensate you have to swing out twice as far to turn a corner.....and you will probably still take out the telephone pole, mailbox, fire plug or whatever else is on the corner, and you will run over the little old lady and the mother with her baby in a carriage. And if you don't set your tandems correctly for the states you will travel in....its gonna cost ypou $$$$$$. And if you don't axle out its gonna cost you $$$$$. The length's by state and the weights are in the Motor Carriers Atlas.
IF you don't believe this.....find someone who went into CA overlength....ask them what it cost, and if they were overweight on an axle...ask them what that cost....... Then ask yourself if you can afford a stupid mistake.
AND, finally......if your trainer doesn't or didn't teach you how to do this......GET EVEN WITH THEM SOMEHOW I will leave the chosen method to your devices.So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:
In most states king pin laws actually only apply if you are off the national network.
Answer:

That may just be the case...in a couple of states....but given that an OTR driver is subject to transiting a number of different states every day.....it is far more prudent to make sure that they are right.......from the git-go. And keeping in mind that they are subject to leaving the "national network" to fuel and eat......again, better to be prepared in advance then to be caught and fined. For instance... you load in NY and are going to CA...... you have a 46,000 lb load. Do you wait til you get to CA to slide your tandems up to 40'.....only to find out you are a couple thousand over on your tandems? No, you do it in the beginning when you can still make the shipper reload it correctly. Been there, done that....load didn't feel right ...slid the tandems up to hole #6, scaled it, went right back to shipper....told them to reload the trailer, or empty it out. They reloaded it.
Lets also not forget that axleing out a trailer also has a direct effect on how the tractor and trailer will ride/handle....and affect its turning radius usually significantly... 40/41' kingpin length versus 49/50' length. Its a safety issue.
But the main point I was trying to make......is learn the rules, and apply them.So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:
That's about as good as the Shelton truck I was coming up behind on I-10 heading west. The tarp was flapping like Batman's cape! I yelled on the radio and got no answer so I moved up alongside and got the lady's attention. I motioned her over and when we both got clear of the road I asked her just who taught her to tarp a load of lumber. She told me NO ONE! These fools had taken someone who had NEVER pulled a flatbed before, gave them a truck, 6 (count em SIX) tarp straps (bungie straps) and a load assignment. After I got some tarp straps from my sidebox I showed her how to tie the tarps down the correct way. Then I asked her if she could do it by herself. She assured me she could. I then asked for the name of her driver manager and wished her good luck. I stewed about her for some time going on down the road. I ran up on another Shelton truck and asked him for the number in the Altha office. I then called this woman (her DM) and proceeded to tell her just what I thought of ignorant people that would put a woman in a truck and not tell her one damned thing about tarping a load. I then gave her my number and told her that when she had gotten this woman properly trained to please call me and let me know. And the DM did call and I have since talked to the woman driver and she is doing wonderful.

Answer:
Kinda makes you think "trucking companies are their own worst enemies"....eh?
But when something goes wrong, and push comes to shove....its more than likely the drivers problem or fault.......
I'm beginning to think that "trainers" should have to go through a special 3rd party federally approved and monitored school to get certified before they can even think about "training"..........
And for what its worth...the WSE driver had zero knowledge about "length laws". This one had a really "great" trainer.So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:

I had the same problem once. I hauled an oversize pump and it was suppose to be a no tarp load. The shipeer changed to having to be tarped. I tarped and left. Later but not by much I was in a rest area and some driver asked who taught me how to tarp. I said I did and I'm about to unlearn my lesson. I took the tarp off and delivered my load. I hate tarps. I found it easier My way. If I can't do it right I just don't do it. I ahte tarps so in my mind I'll never do it right so I dont do it. Oh yea one more thing. If I'm not paid to do it, (tarp) it aint getting done anyway.
The rules of the road aren't that hard to learn but they have to be remebered like it or not. Once you have them figured out you can go back to holding the steering wheel. Everybody does it.

Answer:
This does not mean a limo trailer. Stretched as in having the trailer tandems slid all the way to rear. You'll find alot of trailers at shippers with the tandems all the way to the rear. they do that for safety reason. So the fork lift will not cause the trailer to tip or move. Dont drive that way. Move them before you leave the shippers and then go get weighed out and set them where they need to be.

Answer:

So learn the rules.
I used to go nuts too until I fully learned the rules of what the king pin laws (which is different than the brdige law some states use), when I used to see 53 foot trailers running down the highway with the tandems slid all the way to the rear.
You are going on like this WSE driver was illegal when in fact s/he may have been pergectly legal for where the driver came from, was at that time, and was going.
BTW: While it varies from state to state, you have between 1 and 5 miles in most states to leave the national network for services and to make deliveries/pickups before you can actually run afoul of kingpin laws.
Answer:

uturn.... I really wasn't looking to getting into an argument about this. I just found it remarkable that this driver admitted to having ZERO knowledge of length laws. As the original post says....the driver was in PA....which has a 41' KP to center of tandem axle group length. So the driver was actually illegal in PA.....and to boot it was in an area where you don't want to be "stretched out".
I know what you mean about "going nuts".....I was the same way until I learned the rules.....and I still wonder why there isn't just one set standard for the entire country?
And you newbies need to learn the rules.....because failure to do so will cost you $$. Just because you can axle out legally doen't mean you will be legal in that state....or the next one. For instance....if you load 45,000 lbs of widgets, you have to hope "Bubba" on the forklift didn't nose-load you heavy, or put any of it behind the 48' mark inside the trailer, because if he did....you have problems.
Also, while the trailer may axle out to 12/33.7/33.7 at 42', you might be going into a state where you need to be 41' or even 40' like California. Don't ever let anyone tell you that "they will let you slide". On a good day, well they just might, but don't bet the farm or your paycheck on it. If what I have written sounds confusing....print this post out, and show it to someone who has experience and ask them to really explain it.
One other issue: Permits.....learn them, or get to know the people in your permits department. Oregon....if your tractor has not been permitted for that state for this year...you have to get a $5.00 permit, or pay a $421.00 fine. That permit is "green" this year. It will be in your permit book. If you do not have it and are going to Oregon, figure out where you are going to enter that state and have your permits people order the permit for you and have them fax the temporary to you at a truck stop. If your tractor has one of those "cool" Oregon tags on it....right next to your other tag.....and your company is not based in OR take it off. They are no longer used and there is a fine for having it on there. If you are based out of OR...not including Swift or other national company with a different than OR base plate....you should not have the OR tag on there. If you are entering NY you have to have a "HUT" sticker.....if not you pay $$ !! Your permits people can get you the temp and fax it to you. Idaho has very specific rules regarding leaving the Interstate/National Network by more than a mile. It requires a $28.00 permit.....if you don't get it.....mo' $$ from your pocket. Also, last time I was in Idaho they had me slide my tandems all the way forward, and measured my truck from the front to the tandems and computed my "offtracking" before I could have the permit....alot of really tight hairpin turns in the mountains there...and you are allowed to go up to 37,800 lbs on your tandems because of the shortness of the tandem length. All these fines fall on YOU!! Vermont is really hinky about 53' trailers.....and they require a permit to leave the interstate...and you can only use specific roads. Although I understand now they have eased up on one or two roads and you don't have to have a permit for them.
So, the best advice I can give you is "pummel your trainer about the head and shoulders" and make him do more than make money off of you. Make him/her teach you about these things, and when you get assigned your tractor....before you start your grand adventure, take a deep breath....find your permit book, take it and walk to your permits department and ask them to "inventory" it and bring it up to date. It can save you big $$. Forewarned and pre-prepared can prevent "shrieking dismay" in a weighstation when you have to fork over your money. And the fines can be stiff enough that you will work for a week or two to pay back the advance you take to cover them......... I don't know about you, but I would not want to explain to my family why they can't eat for the next two weeks or so.......
I'm not trying to scare you....just trying to give you a "heads up" so you don't experience one or more of these "pitfalls". I've NEVER paid a fine, been really lucky....had a good trainer, and I'm curious.....so I asked questions.
Good luck to you!!So I like what I do, you don't, too bad, get over it. Get on with your life, I am.

Answer:
SkyWalker,
Not all of the trainers are like that. Willis Shaw lost alot of great trainers because of their change in payscale and all. Trust me, I had a great trainer and there are still good trainers out there for WSE.
Do you remember the truck number the kid had? I can do some investigation and see who his trainer was. I can definately pull some strings to have that trainer back in the office for conferencing.I agree for once, something needs to be done about the trainers.Sweet Whiskey

Answer:
Stuffs said:
I hope you don't ever have to pay for the product that you damage by not tarping it.
Newbies; don't take this attitude and/or bad advise----if the bills say "tarp load", TARP IT. You may end up buying it!It's apparent this place is never going to change....then again; why should it? It gets the clientel it deserves.
Bette Midler

Answer:

I hope you don't ever have to pay for the product that you damage by not tarping it.
Newbies; don't take this attitude and/or bad advise----if the bills say "tarp load", TARP IT. You may end up buying it! You make real big assumptions. Nothing damaged and nothing to pay for. I wonder if you bothered to read the last sentence or just jumped on your horse.

I really wish newbies would take this attitude a little more often. I guess you don't mind working for free or for very low wages. Strange, you didn't use to think that way.
Oh yea, I hate tarps so I'm not going to do it. I will not take a job that requires it and when some clown of a shipper thinks I have to do it even though I'm not getting paid to do it he can shove it up his (edited). I hope you understood all that this time.
Unfortunatly most drivers do all sorts of free work and never complain. Biltch on TN or their CB but never to the right people. Just keep on doing it and enjoying it like White DOG seems to be doing.
This should make newbies really begin to wonder what type of job their getting into. Especially when company employees (drivers) are so brain washed they believe it. It seems strange to be required to work for free because you might have to pay for some thing if you don't. How friggen retarded is that.

Answer:
PURE unadulterated COMMON SENSE goes a long way when deciding if a load needs to be tarped or not. I've had some loads that I just could not understand why they wanted it tarped. So I asked, and was told because the reciever wants it tarped. So I called the reciever and was told, because the shipper wants it tarped. Needless to say, that load of pipe didn't get tarped. Turns out that some bigwig at the recievers thought trucks looked "better" when the load is tarped. To all newbies, pay attention to the person teaching you to pull a flatbed. After you have been in it for a while you will know which loads really need to be tarped. But, like WD says, argue with them about the tarp pay. It's a hot or cold, dirty job. Make sure you get paid for it.

Answer:
The only WD in this thread that said any thing just said to do it because they said so.

Answer:
Excuse me Stuffs, I looked at the wrong post. Stuffs said it ya'll. I stand corrected.