Eight Pallets, One Weighbridge Ticket
Your rigid truck has a GVM of 15,000 kg and a tare mass of 6,400 kg, split 2,900 kg on the steer axle and 3,500 kg on the rear axle group. The compliance plate lists a steer axle limit of 6,000 kg and a rear axle group limit of 9,000 kg. You load eight pallets, each 1,050 kg, and the forklift driver places them hard against the tailgate because he cannot reach further forward. The weighbridge ticket reads 14,800 kg total, with 3,700 kg on the steer axle. The loader says the load is legal because you are 200 kg under GVM, and offers to sign the paperwork so you can get going.
1. Using the weighbridge figures, is the truck legal to drive? Show your working against each limit.
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Total mass (GVM): 14,800 kg against a 15,000 kg GVM - 200 kg under. Compliant.
Steer axle: 3,700 kg against a 6,000 kg limit - 2,300 kg under. Compliant.
Rear axle group: the ticket only gives total and steer, so subtract: 14,800 − 3,700 = 11,100 kg. The limit is 9,000 kg, so the rear group is 2,100 kg over.
Conclusion: the vehicle is not legal to drive. Staying under GVM does not make a vehicle legal - GVM, every individual axle limit and the axle group limits must all be satisfied at once. Here the load is concentrated at the tailgate, which is exactly the worst place for it: it levers weight off the steer axle and dumps it onto the rear group. The driver is responsible for the vehicle being within mass limits before it moves, and a signature from a loader does not change that.
2. You want to fix it without unloading. What has to change on the axle masses, and what checks do you complete before you leave?
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What has to change: at least 2,100 kg of axle mass must come off the rear group, and the steer axle must not go above 6,000 kg while you do it.
Option 1 - redistribute. Spread the pallets and load them against the headboard. The steer has 2,300 kg of headroom, so moving roughly 2,100 kg of pallet mass off the tailgate is arithmetically possible (steer would read about 5,800 kg, rear about 9,000 kg). That is legal but with almost no margin, and a fully loaded steer axle changes steering feel and brake balance.
Option 2 - reduce the load. Two pallets (2,100 kg) removed brings the rear group to 9,000 kg exactly and total mass to 12,700 kg. Also legal, also with no margin - a third pallet gives a sensible buffer.
Checks before leaving:
- New weighbridge ticket showing each axle/axle group, not just the total.
- Tyre pressures and tyre ratings for the axle loads.
- Load restraint re-checked after the pallets are repositioned.
- If you cannot get both the rear group and the steer comfortably inside their limits, the load comes off.
3. The loader signs the paperwork and says the overweight is now his responsibility. How do you respond, and what actually goes wrong if you drive with the rear group 2,100 kg over?
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On responsibility: a signature on a docket does not transfer the legal duty. Under chain of responsibility obligations, the driver, the operator, the loader and the consignor can each be held accountable for a vehicle running outside its mass limits. The driver's duty is personal and cannot be delegated to a yard hand - if you drive it, you are the one committing the offence and the one in the crash.
What goes wrong physically:
- Overloaded tyres and wheel bearings on the rear group run hotter and fail suddenly - rear tyre failures at highway speed are a common outcome of sustained axle overload.
- Rear suspension bottoms out, so the truck porpoises and loses stability, particularly in corners and on crests.
- Weight levered off the steer axle reduces steering grip and front braking effectiveness.
- Braking distances increase and the vehicle handles nothing like it does at legal mass.
Practical consequence: the truck can be defected and grounded, the trip is lost anyway, and an insurance claim on an overloaded vehicle can be refused. The cheaper answer is always a re-weigh before you leave the yard.