What math do truck drivers use?

Answer 1

Addition, subtraction, division, multiplication. A couple examples:

• Since I don't have a Qualcomm on my truck, I have to manually record my mileage at each state line for fuel tax purposes. Let's say I leave State A, drive through State B, and enter State C. At State B, I write down the last four digits of my odometer (let's say it's 3426), and I do the same at State C (we'll say it's 3871). When I do my recap and fuel tax report, I'll subtract my mileage at the state line for State B from my mileage at the state line for State C to get a count of how many miles I ran through State B (in this case, it would be 445 miles).
• Some customers have a scale on-site, which only gives out gross weights - it won't give a weight reading by each set of axles. So you axle out. First, you put your steer axle on the scale. Let's say it reads 11,500 lbs. Then you pull forward to where both your steer and drive axles are on the scale. Let's say it reads 42,650. Then, you pull forward to where all axles are on the scale. Let's say, it gives a gross weight of 72,500. You subtract the weight you got when you just had the steer axle on the scale (11,500) from the weight you got when you had the steer and drive axles on the scale (42,650). It comes out to 31,150, meaning you have 31,150 lbs. on your drive axles. Then you take your gross weight reading (72,500) and subtract the reading you got with the steer and drive axles from that (42,650) to get your trailer axle weights. In this case, it would be 29,850 lbs. on the trailer, and, if you have sliding tandem axles, it means you can move the trailer axles forward about two holes to give a smoother ride.