average load

[twobears]

whats a average load of lumber on a tractor trailer in board feet?? thanks...delbert

[Radar67]

The weight of lumber varies. so it would depend on the type of wood and if it was green or dry. As an example. Red Oak - Green 11,000 bdf weighs roughly 60,000 pounds, Ash - Green 15,000 bdf / 60,000 pounds, and Yellow Poplar Green 18,000 bdf / 60,000 pounds.

In recent research, semis max out at 80,000 pounds GVW. The truck itself weighs about 20,000 pounds, so that leaves approximately 60,000 pounds for goods.

Oh, welcome to the forum.

Stew

[dewwood]

In mixed hardwoods average loads are:

Logs                                   4000 BF Doyle
Green lumber                     8000 BF
Dry lumber                         12000 BF

[james]

Actually the truck ways aprox 20k the trailer 10-12 k leaving 48-50 k for the load
:P
james

[twobears]

JAMES:you had me worryed there for a minute.i drove truck for alittle over a year and my max payload was 44,300 pounds.
sorry about the lack of info in my first post.i was very busy at the time and had a bout of old timers.i knew what the load was but,i got that darn old timers moment and couldn,t spit it out.
i was looking at a want ad on another website and it seemed like the guy was really overloading his trucks..i think he made a typo..or atleast i hope he did...lol

delbert

[Furby]

The rig I trained in was licensed for a little under 18k and the most we could take based on the bills was 46k.
The rest was trailer, personal items and us. ;D

[sandman2234]

Very light rigs run around 26,000 pounds empty. Normal rigs are closer to 33,000 and some are even heavier than that. The one I drive daily is a daycab and weighs in a 31,000 with a 53' drybox.
       David from jax

[Quartlow]

there are DanG few that weigh 26,000# empty. The norm is closer to 29,000# to 35,000# for reeffers.

My brother could get down to 24,000 if he threw off all the excess lumber. But that wa swith a 1967 GMC Crackerbox and a 48 foot East aluminum flat.
He used to make a ton of cash bringing 52,000 pound single coils out of the mill to the wharehouse  since the large cars couldn't scale them and the mill would not let them out overweight.

He also had a regular haul from Niles Ohio to Pittsburgh hauling a 55,000 pound mill roll. No body else around could scale it and had to have a permit to haul it. He just loaded it and went

That same trailer and My nephews Volvo was 30,000 at best.

You can bet the average truck and steel flatbed is around 31,000 to 33,000

[Ron Wenrich]

I think a lot depends on what's legal in your state.  Species is a factor as is thickness.

We put on about 8500 bf for green oak, and 11,000 bf in tulip poplar.  We have sent loads of ash that were about 14 Mbf, but I doubt it was a legal load.   

We use log trailers to haul all our stock.  They don't have floors and use removable uprights so we can put on bundles of lumber.  We put on about 5 Mbf of logs. 

[thedeeredude]

We used to put about 9000bf  of poplar on canvas side trailers.