Moron? I don't think so. Not a smart move? Without a doubt. i wouldn't even say that I am holier-than-thou in claiming that I have NEVER overloaded my trucks. That would be pure BS. I will be the first to admit that I have loaded out to 21k(F450 w/15k gvw) and finished the run safely. IMO the guy in the pic wasn't too bright on a few points. Items such as lack of sufficient tie-downs, insufficient towing vehicle, most of all....running a load like that durring the daytime. As far as I can tell in the pic, the load is properly balanced on the trailer, the rear of the truck is seeing a load but not squating. That tells me that he at minimum knows how to load. That initself is miles ahead of some of the "legal" loads seen on the road. Now, if the guy knows how to load, he prolly knows how to use his trailer brakes properly, which is also better than some legal weight loads with uneducated drivers. what is also obvious, he's using the equipment that he has. What he should have done, was do the tow at NIGHT! I really doubt there will be a truck driver who drives for a living, get out to a job and turn down a load because it is overweight. If that is the case we wouldn't have scalehouses. Have I done non-conforming runs? You bet. If it is not too far out of line, I gotta make a dollar. Will I take a different route suiting the load? You can bet on that too. Will I even do it at nite? Oh yea. If I get caught or wreck am I willing the shoulded the responsibility? If I didn't I would have walked away from the job. And I have done that too.
Here's my rub..... as you can tell I am not too concerned on the load. My concern is the dozer/trailer really his? Having had heavy equipment stolen in the past, I would want to make sure the items towed belongs to the tower or at least proof that he is authorized to move it.