Got a trailer with 14t max pin weight , With a 6 x 2 tractor how do i found pin weight of trailer . if axles are overloaded is their any tollerence heard people talk about upto 10%?
you would be hard pushed to be overweight on a 14 tonne pin weight
if it is a tri axle unit and a tri axle trailer, add together all three axle weights and the pin weight
3x8 +14 = 38 tonne, then add the weight of the unit at say 7 tonne (e.g. small cabbed renault premium) = 45 tonne, the max is 44 tonne 
Also is there any give on amount over on axle in vosa eyes
no, pin weight is not the total of the 2nd and 3rd axle
if you look on the trailer manufacturers plate on the side of the chassis, it will tell you what the max pin weight is
the pin weight is usually less than the total combined rear axle weight for the unit
as i said earlier, if you are within your total gross weight and your individual axle weights, you should not have a problem with the pin weight
to be over on the pin weight, you theoretically should be over on your axle weights too, as for VOSA, it is down to their discretion and as to whether you have a weighbridge ticket or not
You need to think of your tractor unit as a rigid lorry.
The maximum pin weight of 14 tonnes is the load that the trailer imposes on it,
just the same as if 14 tonnes were loaded on the back of a rigid truck.
A three axle tractor unit’s gross weight is likely to be 24 tonnes and it may weigh 8-9 tonnes.
14+8/9=22/23 tonnes.
There should be no axle overloads unless the fifth wheel is a slider and is fully forward or back,
no different really to putting a 14 tonne weight either right on the front or back of a rigid truck.
If you want to measure the pin weight of a trailer, first weigh the tractor unit, then attach your loaded trailer and weigh the unit again,
leaving the trailer axles off the weighbridge.
Subtract the first weight from the second and you have the pin weight.
Regards,
Nick.
trailer
axle 1 axle 2 axle 3 unit drive unit drive unit a1 total
No, your unit’s gross weight is only 20 tonnes.
The pin weight in this case, assuming your unit weighs 9 tonnes, is 11 tonnes.
Trailer axles= 24000
Unit tare = 9000
Total = 33000
Therefore the pin weight is 44000-33000=11000
Regards,
Nick.
…
No, because some of the weight is transferred to the front axle of the tractor unit
and the two rear axle weights include some the weight of the tractor unit.
Regards,
Nick
many thanks Nick
An articulated lorry works on the principle of 20% of the load imposed through the fifth wheel, so 11 tonne is about right
My understanding of the “pin weight” on the trailer plate is actually a design maximum from the manufacturer, & when 44 ton GVW first came out I was under the impression that the trailer needed a 15 ton design weight?
On some of our Freuhauf tippers with the oringinal stickers on the neck, will show a diagram of the pin in the forward position marked as 12 tons, & in the rear position as 15 tons. (IIRC)
Ross.