Question:
Years ago, I had this shipper who coerced me into taking an overloaded shipment. I arrived Friday morning and checked with the shipping office. I was told my load won't be ready till late this afternoon. I thought it was peculiar that through most of the day, O/Os with junky old trucks were picking up all day from this shipper. I was the last one loaded later that day. My bills had no weight declared and it felt real heavy as I pulled out the exit gate. My worst fears was confirmed when I got to the nearest public scale. Drove back to find the shipper closed till Monday morning. The load was from Buffalo, NY bound for Miami, FL. After talking with O/Os who were familiar with I95, I decided to risk running to Miami with my overloaded truck, rather than to sit and wait till Monday morning. Fortunately, I never got caught. I ran the backroads in the daytime and snuck past closed scales at night. Another time I was overloaded, I was picking up raw pinto beans in a farming region of Colorado. The shipper had a scale to weigh me empty and loaded. His scale said I had 44,000 pounds of pinto beans on board. I looked over the legal business documents posted on the wall and saw a certificate from the Department of Weights and Measure saying his scale was tested and found to be accurate. What was suspicious about the certificate was the inspector did 4 test in one month!! This inspector came back every week and reinspected the scale. I suspected the shipper had bribed the inspector to give all his quarterly inspections in one month instead of returning every 3 months. My suspicions were confirmed when I went to the nearest truckstop to learn I had over 47,000 on board. The shipper was hoping I would had taken his readings and drove on to my destination. In conclusion, beware of shippers who will purposely overload you. O/Os with junky old trucks will run overloaded to please the customer. Seeing numerous old trucks picking up is a strong red flag. Just look at these container haulers in the harbor as an example. They come over the CB radio in Spanish telling each other if its safe to sneak past the scale when its closed.

Answer:
Some might have difficulty with the idea that you were tricked into running overloaded (over legal weight).
You actually decided to break the law, and expose the public to the increased danger, not to mention your personal criminal liability had you been involved in a serious crash with an illegal load.
The shipper played a trick on your for sure, and obviously hoped you'd keep going instead of waiting till Monday for a re-load.
But you decided to break the law once you discovered the load's true weight.
You even documented your decision with a separate scale visit before contnuing to the receiver.
If your decision had resulted in jail time for manslaughter, you'd probably be advising newbies not to move an illegal load no matter how long it takes to make it legal.
Your story -- well intended and a good heads-up about the kind of tricks some shippers play with drivers -- perpetuates the idea that it's OK to knowingly run illegal or dangerous equipment if it's too inconvenient or expensive to fix it.
The responsibility for breaking the law by finishing the trip was your's alone.
So too for new drivers still learning that chain of responsibility as they read through these threads.
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

Answer:
As I've stated, I consulted a number of O/Os who always ran I-95 and was told most scales were closed over the weekend along that route and the ones that were open could easily be bypassed by running a parallel roadway. My last two weeks had been bad on my mileage quota; I only averaged 2,300 miles. My minimum quota was 3,000. Sitting till Monday morning would've made it a 3rd week in a row that I barely went over 2,000 miles. So my take-home pay was one factor to running overweight. The second factor were several O/Os I had spoken to; they said that if it was their load, they'd all run it with no hesitation, knowing all the scales were either closed or easily bypassed along a parallel route on I-95. My intended audience are newbies, not the veterans. I shared this to warn others of unscrupulous shippers; and as an added incentive for them to give serious consideration to get out of hauling for common carriers and into private fleets. Certain veteran drivers will dispute me, but theres all these local private fleet drivers they always see showing no stress and worry at the shipper/receiver/truck stops. I strongly encourage newbies to talk to these local private fleet drivers and get advice on who to contact, whether a resume will matter or not, and ask how often they see a new driver get hired on with their private fleet. The statistics clearly show that common carriers account for over 98% of truck accidents and driver fatigue is always a contributing factor. Steering newbies away from common carriers means saving lives, their marriage (divorce is high among common carrier drivers), and their sanity. Thus, veteran drivers' criticism are irrelevant to me. What only matters are the number of views on my postings. I am disseminating the truth , getting newbies to cut down on job hopping, and hopefully steering them towards a happier and successful trucking career with a private fleet. Newbies, please learn from my mistakes and take all my postings under advicement.

Answer:

I hope your intended audience discards these irresponsible justifications for breaking the law and enabling shippers and others to compromise your safety, career, and possibly your freedom. This part of your "advice" suggests a slippery slope of irresponsibility that can only hurt their chances of securing a top job in the future, in my opinion.
You were not "tricked" into running overloaded.
You volunteered when you did not return the illegal load to the shipper.
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

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Sometimes I just have to laugh. Some folks can't see the Forest through the trees.
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Oh they see it but its the old mindset if I sit here I will lose money.
They need to look at larger picture and just say no when asked to run in a way that is not legal.

Answer:
Newbies should also understand that most (if not all) of these scum-bag common carriers will not LET you run over gross weight
if you document it on the Qualcomm.
The Qualcomm creates an archived record.
If you were involved in a serious accident that went to court, they don't want that record showing they advised you to break the law,
or even left the decision up to you. They will usually respond, "return to shipper" if it's over gross.
(Under gross but can't make axels by a couple hundred pounds? Not as big a risk -- they may agree to pay the overweight ticket
if one of your axels is slightly overweight, but you're still under gross.)
Furthermore, since the shipper has failed to load you legally as required by contract and regulation, and you're detained
all weekend as a result, you're probably entitled to layover or detention pay, or a combination of both.
Maybe private fleets don't work that way.... ...but those common carriers generally give you at least something for sitting
on a load all weekend because the shipper screwed up -- especially if they told you not to run the load as-is.
You and your company are under no obligation to deliver the appointment since the freight wasn't properly loaded in time to do so.
And if it were me, I'd tell my dispatcher on Monday I also expect reimbursement for the motel receipt I'm holding in my hand.
Hell -- if there's a bar with some half-way decent dancing girls nearby, not the worst reset.
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

Answer:
I used to lease to a company that had a young driver who is now doing 8 years because he "was tricked" as you put it, or as another stated, he decided to run heavy. Going downhill at a red light, he ran over a family and 5 perished in the minivan. The only reason he isn't doing more time is b/c his family spent a ton of money on his defense.
Just refuse to do it. You'd be surprised after the initial exchange that ensues how easily a shipper will agree to load legal if they really understand you are not going to put up with their b/s. I understand @ the end of day deal you talked about. It happens every once in awhile. Last time it happened was a load of beer. I told the shipper if he doesn't cut the load, to take it all off, no problem. He cut it. They try to make it an uncomfortable situation, just see thru their play, and remember YOU are ultimately responsible for what goes on. Learn to read your tires. Alot of the time you can tell if you are over by looking at them. That one reason why DOT is looking at them.
If there is no scale nearby, it can be tricky, especially if they close as you are rolling out the gate. I'd get to a scale ASAP, and take it from there. They have options, and a real carrier knows it.
I would suggest getting on the phone, asking for delay time to start. Then tell your dispatcher you will not haul heavy, ever. Should they say you have to etc., then drop the trailer and tell them you are going to have to find a job that won't ask you to break the law. Most carriers don't want the hassle of having to move a heavy load, and finding a new driver. Most want to run legal.
If they are not for real, chances are they will find a driver who will take the load from there, that's the problem., again. Or they can get storage set up etc. The reality is that if you find yourself in a situation like I wrote about in the beginning of my post, you are a man alone, swingin' in the wind, your fault. They will not back you up, and they don't have to.
You are the captain of the ship. Act like it.
Answer:
I used to lease to a company that had a young driver who is now doing 8 years because he "was tricked" as you put it, or as another stated, he decided to run heavy. Going downhill at a red light, he ran over a family and 5 perished in the minivan. The only reason he isn't doing more time is b/c his family spent a ton of money on his defense.
Just refuse to do it. You'd be surprised after the initial exchange that ensues how easily a shipper will agree to load legal if they really understand you are not going to put up with their b/s. I understand @ the end of day deal you talked about. It happens every once in awhile. Last time it happened was a load of beer. I told the shipper if he doesn't cut the load, to take it all off, no problem. He cut it. They try to make it an uncomfortable situation, just see thru their play, and remember YOU are ultimately responsible for what goes on. Learn to read your tires. Alot of the time you can tell if you are over by looking at them. That one reason why DOT is looking at them.
If there is no scale nearby, it can be tricky, especially if they close as you are rolling out the gate. I'd get to a scale ASAP, and take it from there. They have options, and a real carrier knows it.
I would suggest getting on the phone, asking for delay time to start. Then tell your dispatcher you will not haul heavy, ever. Should they say you have to etc., then drop the trailer and tell them you are going to have to find a job that won't ask you to break the law. Most carriers don't want the hassle of having to move a heavy load, and finding a new driver. Most want to run legal.
If they are not for real, chances are they will find a driver who will take the load from there, that's the problem., again. Or they can get storage set up etc. The reality is that if you find yourself in a situation like I wrote about in the beginning of my post, you are a man alone, swingin' in the wind, your fault. They will not back you up, and they don't have to.
You are the captain of the ship. Act like it.
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Now I don't know about all states but Washington told me no difference between over axle and over gross. But most likely won't say much up to 300-400 pounds.
Answer:

With the only overweight ticket I ever got, California took 250 pounds off the 600 pound over on my trailer tandems, "for the scale." He explained the scale isn't perfect and wanted to give me the benefit of the doubt. I was not over gross. (The bills said 34,000lbs and the load turned out to be 44,000 and poorly loaded for CA -- my bad not scaling it)
My understanding about how some carriers feel about over gross, versus over one axel, is the difference they may face in court if you kill someone. Over gross exceeds the truck's expected braking capability. The same argument may not apply to under gross but over one axel. Don't know if that's really the reason but carriers seems to have a bigger problem with over gross, than just over one axel but under gross. If you've got a Qualcomm, document the problem and get them to answer back with what they want you to do.
If you're taking a risk, at least make dispatch your documented accomplice. Your defense attorney will appreciate it.
I would expect DOT to cite any overweight and even put you out of service if the violation is extreme.
If you can't make it legal, take it back to the shipper.
If your log book is behind, bring it up to date.
If you've got a bad tire or light, fix it.
If you're speeding, slow down.
If you do this job properly, you're not worried if a scale house is open or where the bears are,
and can enjoy the ride instead of constantly asking "what'd you leave behind you?" and "how's the coops doing?"
.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

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Over Gross fines are more costly overall than over axle. Citations may be issued for both.
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Maybe that's all it is.http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sect...onusWeek.php#tabs

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I was tricked into driving a truck......

Answer:
You tricked them into letting you.