Dangers of Overloading Your Truck

Are you looking to increase your truck’s load carrying capacity? Before you get carried away, read this.

Overloading of trucks is a pretty common issue in the industry. Independent truck drivers, as well as fleet managers, are always looking for ways to improve carrying capacity and increase semi-truck load. However, there are a lot of dangers you need to be aware of when it comes to loading your truck beyond its limits. There is a reason that every vehicle manufacturer places a payload limit on their vehicles.

With fleets and independent drivers both looking for ways to save money on fuel, their trucks may end up carrying larger loads in order to accommodate fewer trips. And with managers looking for ways to lower the costs of adding more trucks to their fleet, they often purchase vehicles with lower GVW. This might save money in the short term, but the price you pay over time for overloading your truck will take its toll.

If we had to guess, we’d say that most of you reading this already know the risks of overloading a truck. But, we are going to start from ground zero and pretend that you don’t. Let’s look at some of the ways that overloading a truck can cost you so that you can avoid these sometimes dangerous situations.

Overloaded Trucks

• Increase your liability
• Increase your costs due to premature wear on the vehicle- particularly brakes, tires, and suspension
• Are the #1 cause of unscheduled maintenance
• Violate both state and federal regulations
• Can cause drivers to lose control of the vehicle more easily
• Are unsafe to operate
• Have a higher risk of rollover
• Require additional braking time
• Have reduced emergency handling capacity
• Are the leading cause of truck related accidents

It is never a good idea to overload your vehicle. Along with putting yourself in danger, it also puts other drivers at danger. If you need to carry larger loads, there are safe ways to do it.

In our next post we are going to talk about what you can do to avoid overloading a truck and also look at some ways that you can safely improve your carrying capacity. Remember to always put safety first!

If your truck has seen better days and is in need of spring or suspension repair, call us today and set up an appointment. We are experts at getting your truck’s suspension repaired quickly and making sure you can safely carry the loads you need to carry. Call us today (800) 619-4652!