Guides · LoadLegit · 2026-07-06

The dispatcher's pre-dispatch weight compliance checklist

When a truck scales overweight, the driver gets the ticket — but the dispatcher owns the fallout: the missed window, the angry carrier, the customer call. This checklist front-loads the questions that prevent that call. It's written for dispatch agencies and 3PLs, and it works whether you run 5 trucks or 500.

Before you book the load

• Confirm the real freight weight — shipper-stated weights are optimistic often enough to matter. Ask for the packing list, not the estimate.
• Check gross feasibility: freight + tractor tare + trailer tare must clear 80,000 lb with margin. A 46,000 lb load behind a heavy tractor is already a problem.
• Flag the risk profiles: dense freight (paper, steel, liquids), single-commodity full loads, and anything the shipper loads "nose first" deserve extra attention.

Before loading

• Plan the distribution — where should the heavy pallets sit so the CoG lands near the trailer's balance point? (Primer: weight distribution in a 53′ trailer.)
• Predict the axle weights from the plan, don't hope. The math is deterministic; software makes it instant.
• Know the lane's rules — bridge law and kingpin-to-tandem limits vary by state; the slide that fixes weight in one state can violate length law in another.

After scaling

• Require a scale on risk loads and have the driver send the ticket before leaving the truck stop.
• Have the fix ready: if the tandems are over, the answer should be a computed slide — "back 3 holes" — not trial and error (how the slide works).
• Log it. A record of checked loads is worth real money the day a customer or insurer asks about your compliance process.

Make it systematic (and make it yours)

A checklist that lives in a dispatcher's head retires with the dispatcher. LoadLegit turns this into a per-load workflow — pack or enter the load, get the verdict and the fix, keep the history — and dispatch agencies can offer it to every carrier they serve under their own brand via white-label. That turns a cost centre into a service you sell. See how per-load pricing works, or start with the free calculator.