Drive past a tractor-trailer. Underneath and half way back was this wide sticker:
<------MOUNT GENSET HERE ------>
What’s a Genset?
Generator set, an engine and a generator.
If the generator is placed too far forward or backwards on the trailer, then the load won’t be balanced. The driver will get notified at the first weigh station he passes that he’s not in compliance.
The driver now has to turn all the way around, drive back, and get the generator shipping/rental company to use their forklift or crane to move the generator forward or backwards to balance the weight. Now the driver goes back to the weigh station and tries again.
That sign just tells the loader exactly where to place it in order to avoid these headaches.
Actually at the weigh station if the weight is too far forward or aft, The truck can not be moved until it is in specs. So the driver has to move the genset by him/herself. There is no driving back to fix it. It is a safety issue. The reason for the specs is both for the overload & the lack of traction for braking.
I may be wrong but on a tractor-trailer a genset would be used to power something the driver is hauling. Perhaps a reefer.
A genset is the generator that keeps a refrigerated container operating when it is loaded to a trailer (aka chassis).
The traditional genset, a clip on, is a box that gets attached to the upper front section of the container. The longshoremen pickup the genset on a forklift, align it to the container, it gets attached with bolts, plugged in, and turned on. At this point the trucker can re-attach the trailer and be on his way.
What you saw is for an ‘underslung genset’ which is attached to the trailer itself before the trucker goes to the port to pickup the container. At the port, all that needs to be done is to plug the container to the genset, which saves on the labor and the wait for the trucker.
Makes perfect sense, thank you so much.
Interesting that Longshoremen would put up with this. Since the crane work/ bolting adds hours to the timecard, it’s surprising any other method is acceptable.