On 4/10/2012 11:04 PM, Ignoramus21956 wrote:
On 2012-04-11, Steve wrote:
Ignoramus21956 wrote:
I have a Ford LNT9000 Semi tractor.
....
Its name plate on the door says, GVWR 44,800 lbs.

What exactly does it mean?

Someone told me that this means that the total weight of truck plus
trailer (combined) cannot exceed 44,800 lbs. That person is wrong to a point.

GVWR = Gross Vehicle Weight Rating - This means that the total weight of
the tractor itself cannot exceed 44,800 pounds.

....
This makes no sense to me, as GVWR is not the same as GCWR, and if
they wanted to put GCWR on the truck, they would say so.

GCWR - Gross Combined Weight Rating - The total weight of tractor and
whatever the load behind you is.

Right.



So... How big of a trailer can this truck tow?

How big have you got? Seriously.

....
Its empty weight is 16,000 lbs, maximum gross weight is 76,000 lbs,
and capacity is 60,000 lbs. I got this information from the Trailking
company.

Here is a simplified version.

You have a trailer rated for 40,000 pounds GVWR. Then you have your
tractor with a 44,800 pound GVWR. Let's say that your empty trailer
weighs in at 8,000 pounds. And your tractor weighs in at 10,000
pounds.

You have a GCWR of 84,800 pounds.

You have the capacity to load up to 66,000 pounds of cargo. (Subtract
out the actual weight of the trailer and the tractor from the GCWR +
drop the 800 pounds off the tractor for a reason that I'll explain in a
bit.)

When you load the trailer you need to make sure that once loaded the
TOTAL weight on the trailers two axles do not exceed the 40,000 pound
number and the total weight on the tractors three axles doesn't exceed
44,000 pounds.

.....

OK, thanks. We are trying to figure out how to register all that stuff
to be legal and not questionable.
....

Good for registration...only other "gotcha'" is alluded to is what are
local axle load limits that may be under what the vehicle ratings are
capable of.

I mentioned in one of the previous threads the conundrum we're in in
this area of being on border of multiple states; each has its own limits
on weights/lengths and they're not consistent (and they don't care if
you came from the higher into the lower). You can get by a weight
restriction some places by a permitting process; two of the five nearby
states either will not permit or will not if the load can be broken.
The biggest difference is the length; OK allows 2ft over what KS does
but NM is 700 lb under the limits of each of those two as well as the
shorter length. It's not a lot but it can bite. And, of course, in
metro areas there are often local restrictions to boot and probably 80%
of violations are on individual axle limits as opposed to overall owing
to loading nonuniformity. This is a real key w/ heavy equipment like a
dozer or somesuch that is a concentrated weight to ensure have it
balanced properly and enough axles and axle spacings.
That's why see the many-axled trailer in so much of the NE and upper
midwest--MI must be particularly restrictive from what I've observed
when traveling to the Monroe fossil and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants
in my former days...

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