Start Trucking your own bees TODAY!

[busy bee apiary]

I run a 26' bed with 9 rows of ten framers on the new truck but with good bees three high your always over weight on the steer or drives. My old truck was 23' with 8 rows and you always seemed to be on the safe side unless they were lead heavy. If I were to do it again I'd just go with the 8 rows for a ten wheeler.

[gregstahlman]

we will go 3 high on doubles 9 rows back which is 216 hives. or as singles will go 5 high 9 rows back which is 360 hives. with that many hives and a trailer and bobcat make the truck ride like a cadillac lol. with the air ride and our pallet design we only tie the back row and everything ride beautiful. would hate to think about tieing all them rows of bees. must be time consuming. occasionally have gone 3 high with doubles with a medium of honey on each hive. that was definately a new experience. love pulling the nutz out of those internationals

[swarm_trapper]

whats the difference in your pallet design that keeps them from falling off the truck?

[Keith Jarrett]

Ithree high your always over weight on the steer or drives. If I were to do it again I'd just go with the 8 rows for a ten wheeler.

The avg ten wheeler should have a useful carrying load of somewhere in the 30-35 thousand, So, a nine row, three high = 216, the avg weight per hive would have to be 145-150 plus to be over weight. Not sure that's going to happen in Calif.

[bluegrass]

I passed two loads of bees headed out of Hartford CT a couple of days ago. Pretty late to be headed south, maybe it was just empty equipment, but the loads were both netted.

You don't want to haul across country overloaded, you will get a dozen tickets and take all the profit out of your pollination contract in a hurry. Max weight for the interstate system is 80K. Depending on how you are loaded you can be well under 80K and still be over loaded on one axle set. OK is about the worst stickler in the country on weight... Ohio is pretty tough at the scales also. They will ticket you for being 1 lb over and inspect the truck and issue a 10 safety violations on top of it.

[busy bee apiary]

The avg ten wheeler should have a useful carrying load of somewhere in the 30-35 thousand, So, a nine row, three high = 216, the avg weight per hive would have to be 145-150 plus to be over weight. Not sure that's going to happen in Calif.

. Lol those would be big bees maybe to much weight! Guess I was going on 46500 for the gross with 20000+/- for truck with a steel bed. That's 34000 for the drive and 12500 on the steer. That's the magic number in montana/north Dakota figured the same for California

[bluegrass]

federal law is a Max of 12 K on the steer. That is what applies on the Interstate. Interstate weight limits are usually lower then state weight limits. For a semi I think its 34K per tandem and 12K on the steer. That would be for a tractor and 53 ft trailer

[bluegrass]

Here are the fed Guidelines and formulas. http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/publ...ghts/index.htm

[Keith Jarrett]

front axels weights, I could be wrong but here in Calif they have up to 20,000lb front axel weights. The cement trucks here are GVW 60,000 with a twenty front and a booster. Why would they have many 14,600 front axel if they could never use them? Not sure about all of this.

[AstroZomBEE]

Where is it stated that 12k is the max for a steer axle?? i know that is most common in Semi's but i run strait trucks with 14k and 16k front ends to help spread the load.

[bluegrass]

I am only talking about a semi, sorry thought that is what you guys were referring to.

[Keith Jarrett]

Bluegrass, some semi talk & some ten wheeler, it's all good.