No trucks over XX tons, do you pay attention?

[badger5301]

Made me laugh when I saw the topic of this thread. Just the other day I was in Dubuque Iowa in the seven axle grain semi I drive as a retirement hobby for a friend of mine. It weighs 32,000 unloaded and with the trailer and tractor tag axles I can gross out to 96,000 IBS. Was following my outdated Garmin to find the terminal to pick up fertilizer when I turned onto the street Mr Garmin directed me. The first sign I saw was no vehicles over 5 ton. I only had to go about one block so I continued on instead of backing out. Been back there seven times since picking up the same stuff but I have stayed off that street.

[emm-dee]

Originally Posted by 67L48

When I was last in Boulder, there were signs in the area that had weight limits of 7,000 lbs or below. I hadn't ever seen a sign with such a low rating that would preclude anything over a 1/2 ton from entering.

This is from the corner of Valmont Rd and Fulsom Rd, where Valmont turns into Edgewood Dr. I don't know enough about city ordinances to know if passenger trucks would be excepted or not. But it's about the 341st reason I avoid Boulder like the plague.

Good to know Boulder is still the king of illogical signs. Way back in the ‘70s they put up a sign at the courthouse that said “Authorized Vehicle Entrance”. A co-worker who liked to mess with things started driving into the lot through that entrance. Since the real intent of the sign was to serve official vehicles like police cars it wasn’t long before he got a ticket. Actually got something like three or four tickets because he really liked to poke the bear.

When it got to court he prevailed because of the wording. It was determined that the sign as written meant it was an authorized entrance since it was a vehicle entrance. Wording had to be changed to read “Authorized Vehicles Entrance” to reflect that the word authorized referred to vehicles.

Ya gotta love the English language.

[jimmarako]

Originally Posted by GoneSouth10

I'm not an engineer, but isn't this how suspension bridges are supposed to work? Although the flex is very exaggerated and thus easily visible here, I'm pretty sure that the bridge flexes whenever vehicles go over it, you just can't see it. Pretty cool to see it flex THAT much . . .

On the other hand . . .

The golden gate almost over flexed once. Imagine if everyone did panic and started running.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/05/...dge-flattened/

Jim M.

[jenandjon]

OK here is the deal with that. The sign says not truck over 4 ton. Its not inforced. But, If one of the trucks over 4 ton would happen to get in an accident they would be in big trouble. Because its posted they they were not supposed to be there in the first place. I live in rural Nebraska. There are many bridges with 10 ton limits. If I drive my 95,000 lb semi over one and it happens to collapse while I'm on it. I just bought a bridge and got in lots of trouble.

[Summit1]

Never heard any such signs... maybe the sound from them was drowned out by the sound of the Cummins TD.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

My county imposes spring weight limits.

When I was a kid the county I lived in did that too. We all got some time off from school because school buses couldn't run. Being a rural county 70% or more of the kids would have 2-3 hour walks to school, one way.

County eventually rebuilt the roads so they aren't doing "Spring Limits" anymore.

[pdfr]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

When I am towing my TT my Gross Combined Weight is about 10 pounds under 6 tons (12,000 lbs). I pay CLOSE attention when I see a sign on a bridge saying "no vehicles/combinations over 12,000 lbs.

Ran into one last year about 100 yards from a NF campground entrance due to bridge repairs. Last thing I want is to have to figure out how to get all or part of my rig out of the creek.

You have nothing to worry about. The other end of the bridge likely also has a sign 12k lbs limit. The bridge is safe to at least 24k lbs and then some.

[upflying]

Originally Posted by badger5301

Made me laugh when I saw the topic of this thread. Just the other day I was in Dubuque Iowa in the seven axle grain semi I drive as a retirement hobby for a friend of mine. It weighs 32,000 unloaded and with the trailer and tractor tag axles I can gross out to 96,000 IBS. Was following my outdated Garmin to find the terminal to pick up fertilizer when I turned onto the street Mr Garmin directed me. The first sign I saw was no vehicles over 5 ton. I only had to go about one block so I continued on instead of backing out. Been back there seven times since picking up the same stuff but I have stayed off that street.

You are legal on the 5 ton roadway because you have a delivery in the area.
How would you get to the grain depot without violating the weight limit, levitation?
Those weight limit signs are intended for truckers using the roadway as a shortcut. Truckers must stay on truck routes.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by upflying

Those weight limit signs are intended for truckers using the roadway as a shortcut. Truckers must stay on truck routes.

In Virginia, the DOT makes it simple to understand by just posting signs that state “Truck Through Traffic Prohibited”, or something similar to that.

Bruce

[nrkmann]

Without a scale this is unenforceable. What will the judge say when the ticketing officer says, “your honor, it looked over the limit to me.” And under cross examination he is asked, “Officer how did you gain the expertise to estimate the weight by eyeballing a vehicle?” Without proof you are innocent.

[W5CI]

those signs are for Commercial Trucks not our pickup trucks

[skipatroller]

Originally Posted by jimmarako

Something to keep us busy while sitting around. Do you ever listen to the "no truck" signs posted around?

I live in a rural area (for NJ) that has a lot of narrow roads, no shoulders, poorly maintained,..... For 15+ years I've been driving down the same county road to work. There is one section that has a short steep hill, nothing crazy. A while ago signs popped up: "No trucks over 4 tons, 13% grade". The hill is short (~0.2 miles) and of course ends at a T intersection.

I have a 2500 with a GVW of 9500 pounds so I would be technically not allowed on this road. However I'm registered at 7600 pounds so I should be OK. ;-)

Over the 20 years I've lived here I've seen plenty of UPS trucks, 2500, 3500, garbage trucks, school buses, landscapers, ....... countless vehicles over 4 tons. The sign has been up for a year or so now. I keep using the road. I still see all of the above.


There is another county road leading to the local regional airport. Several miles of this road are also freshly marked "no trucks over 4 tons". In this case there some older worn out signs. The road goes past several working farms and horse farms. I'm sure the guy in the diesel dually pulling the 4 horse goose-neck is just a smidge over 4 tons.

My guess is someone in the county got a new toy and is having fun printing out signs. Several small towns here do not have police departments, and I'm sure the state police could really care less.

So with no enforcement whats the point? The only signs like this I pay attention to are on a few of the smaller bridges crossing the Delaware river. They are listed at 3 ton max. And since my truck would be a tight fit as is I'll avoid those. And if it says "No trailers" i think they really mean it.

Jim M.

First of all on regards to any and most of all commercial vehicles if they are doing a service or delivery these load signs do not apply, the benefit of having a vehicle registered as commercial.

In NY state where I live once you get to a certain vehicle weight they must be registered commercial, you can also chose to register lighter trucks (1/2 tons) with commercial plates as well.

In regards to the police, well that like rolling the dice and as you said they pretty much won't bother.

[snapcap14]

Do you really want to go up and over or down skyline drive above the posted sign. Do you want to be in front of someone going down or behind someone going over. Not me. That said they do allow local delivery and they do allow buses.
All commercial trucks have gvwr posted on the sides so it’s easy for LEO to know if they are legal

[aircommuter]

Originally Posted by jimmarako

This is even more confusing. My 2500 has a curb weight of around 6700 pounds. So does that mean I'm OK on this road? Curb weight = empty weight? So when I go to the quarry and load up with 3000 pounds of gravel I still good to go.

Jim M.

It goes by your weight when you enter the road or bridge as the case may be. Not the gvwr, but actual gross weight. I think this explained before.

[aircommuter]

Originally Posted by snapcap14

Do you really want to go up and over or down skyline drive above the posted sign. Do you want to be in front of someone going down or behind someone going over. Not me. That said they do allow local delivery and they do allow buses.
All commercial trucks have gvwr posted on the sides so it’s easy for LEO to know if they are legal

But it is the actual weight not the rating of the truck.

[aircommuter]

Originally Posted by nrkmann

Without a scale this is unenforceable. What will the judge say when the ticketing officer says, “your honor, it looked over the limit to me.” And under cross examination he is asked, “Officer how did you gain the expertise to estimate the weight by eyeballing a vehicle?” Without proof you are innocent.

You haven’t been to traffic court before?

[Oafdawg]

Originally Posted by nrkmann

Without a scale this is unenforceable. What will the judge say when the ticketing officer says, “your honor, it looked over the limit to me.” And under cross examination he is asked, “Officer how did you gain the expertise to estimate the weight by eyeballing a vehicle?” Without proof you are innocent.

Most county sheriffs in the more populous areas and certainly the highway patrol or state police have portable scales that can be brought to the scene to weigh trucks. If a bridge weight limit is consistently abused they might even have the unit with portable scales standing by while watching the bridge.

[aircommuter]

If they pull the truck over they can direct them to a nearby scale if one exists also.

[270S]

If one continues to ignore signs, eventually you'll be on a thread where someone ignored a sign and became the subject of ridicule for stupidity. Before I had an RV (driving around in my car), I did't notice signs saying "NO TRUCKS", thinking that they were trying to keep streets "quiet" for residents, ... Then one day as I drove around I noticed 3 separate short (500 yards long) residential street parallel connecting perpendicular to 2 "major" in town streets that all had that sign. Again, it appeared it was there to keep commercial traffic from taking a short cut connecting the 2 parallel major streets. How wrong!! the sign was there because all of the utilities (Phone. cable, and ELECTRIC POWER LINES) were on utility poles on one side of the street only. There were no poles on the other side. This meant that the lines starting at apx 10 - 12 feet on one side on the street connected directly to homes on the other side of the street. This connected end was often at only 7 to 8 feet off the ground. Even worse, with the dip in the wires due to their weight, the height of the wires was only 6 to 7 feet off the road in places!!!!. Obviously most cars would have no issue, but even SUVs or large vans and pickup trucks might have clearance issues depending on what part of the street they were on at the time they crossed under the wires. It sounds impossible in today's world, but I was amazed how low power lines were on those 3 streets.

So, continue ignoring street, warning, traffic signs or lights and one day we'll read about you on a thread. For the rest of us that follow the rules and do common sense like distancing, we'll hopefully avoid becoming another statistic. Stay safe everyone and for any that are suffering from coronavirus, in one way or another wish you well and a safe recovery for you and your family.

[aircommuter]

I agree with the last paragraph. But low hanging wires could be caught by a car with a simple sign trailer or a CB whip antenna. Having been in the utility installation business at one time the minimum requirement is 16’. Codes of course can vary. Definitely negligence to be that low.
Sometimes the no trucks signs are posted because that route may allow trucks to get around the scales also.

I get your point however that may be a reason, but not a good one when simply doing it right is the real solution.