can anyone tell me the law on liquid loads and axle weights please ?
recently a friend of mine was weighed on axle pads though he was legal on overall weight vosa did him on 1 axle being over weight
the tanker is a single pot so the weight is shifting all the time, they put a restriction on him so he lowered his airbags on unit this shifted the weight enough to lift the restriction and they let him go but he still ended up with the fine, surely this can not be right?
if so i think 90% of food tankers are running illegal !!!
Welcome to Trucknet-UK catgut1958 
catgut1958:
can anyone tell me the law on liquid loads and axle weights please ?
recently a friend of mine was weighed on axle pads though he was legal on overall weight vosa did him on 1 axle being over weight
the tanker is a single pot so the weight is shifting all the time, they put a restriction on him so he lowered his airbags on unit this shifted the weight enough to lift the restriction and they let him go but he still ended up with the fine, surely this can not be right?
if so i think 90% of food tankers are running illegal !!!
I don’t know much about tanker stuff and haven’t driven one for many years, I can see why your mate would feel a bit hard done by but surely the point is that when carrying liquid the axle weights should be within the limits when the vehicle is stationary, obviously with a single pot no amount of baffles will stop the weight shifting whilst the vehicle is moving but liquid will settle to a natural weight distribution when the vehicle is stationary, so I don’t really see that your mate has a leg to stand on to be honest.
I’m sure other people may have better advise to offer but it seems to me that if lowering the suspension on the unit adjusted the weight distribution enough to bring the axle weights within limit then perhaps the fifth wheel being moved forward (if possible) would solve the problem, I’m not saying this would solve the problem but if there’s enough room between the tank and the cab I would have thought it was worth a try.
catgut1958:
can anyone tell me the law on liquid loads and axle weights please ?
recently a friend of mine was weighed on axle pads though he was legal on overall weight vosa did him on 1 axle being over weight
the tanker is a single pot so the weight is shifting all the time, they put a restriction on him so he lowered his airbags on unit this shifted the weight enough to lift the restriction and they let him go but he still ended up with the fine, surely this can not be right?
if so i think 90% of food tankers are running illegal !!!
This “friend” has he got any photos of the lorry and tanker in question.
My only explanation would be the fifth wheel height or rear air bags are under pressure.
We had one Crane Freuhauf tanker that would pop the rear tyres when it was coupled behind a Scania, so obviously it wasn’t the speed 
It was discovered the mounting plate was thicker than normal and it caused the front to ride high, strangely enough it was OK with any other barrel in the yard.
To be fair, your “friend” has caught someone on a bad day unless there was a serious fault or it was a massive overload, as VOSA are normally quite lenient with moving loads. However an overload of any kind is absolute.
HI HE WAS CARRYING GLUCOSE,VOSA HAD HIM STAND FOR 20 MINS BUT AS SOON AS YOU MOVE IT YOU HAVE JELLY MOVING
IF HE SAT FOR 20 MINS EACH AXLE MAYBE,
BUT THE SMALLEST UNEVEN SURFACE WILL CHANGE WHERE THE LOAD SITS
SURELY COMMON SENSE SAYS AXLE WEIGHING ON LIQUID LOADS IS WRONG■■?
MY FRIEND IS A MEMBER OF THIS SITE AND IF HE WISHES TO JOIN IN HE CAN I WANTED THE THOUGHTS OF OTHER MEMBERS AND TO SEE IF ANY ONE HAS A CLUE TO THE LAWS ON THIS ISSUE
catgut1958:
HI HE WAS CARRYING GLUCOSE,VOSA HAD HIM STAND FOR 20 MINS BUT AS SOON AS YOU MOVE IT YOU HAVE JELLY MOVING
IF HE SAT FOR 20 MINS EACH AXLE MAYBE,
BUT THE SMALLEST UNEVEN SURFACE WILL CHANGE WHERE THE LOAD SITS
SURELY COMMON SENSE SAYS AXLE WEIGHING ON LIQUID LOADS IS WRONG■■?
He could have stood for 7 hours and it wouldn’t have made a difference.
You said they weighed him on axle pads, and not a dynamic plate, then he would have needed to stand still on every pad till it settled.
Has anyone measured the fifth wheel against another one yet? If he made enough difference by lowering the air bags, then it sounds like it was the rear axle that was overloaded.
By the way, shouting doesn’t get your point across any better!
As for the laws, your friend broke them. An absolute offence, but there may be mitigating circumstances for the driver, if the fifth wheel has been mounted wrong or the air bags are not inflating properly for instance.