What 393.75G-LOAD means in plain language
This violation comes down to one thing: the weight your vehicle is carrying is more than what the tires mounted on it are rated to handle. Every tire has a maximum load rating stamped into its sidewall, and federal rules require that the actual load on each tire never exceed that rated limit. When an inspector finds that your cargo or axle weight pushes beyond what the tires are built for, you're looking at a 393.75G-LOAD citation.
This isn't only about the total gross weight of the truck. An inspector can cite this violation if a single axle or even a single tire is carrying more than its rated capacity, even when your overall weight appears legal on the scale ticket. A load that is unevenly distributed, or tires that are undersized for the application, can trigger this violation just as easily as a straightforward overload.
The practical consequence is straightforward: overloaded tires run hotter, suffer accelerated wear, and are significantly more likely to suffer a blowout at highway speed. That's why enforcement takes this violation seriously, and why the numbers in our database look the way they do.
What our enforcement data actually shows
Across our 13 million+ inspection records, 393.75G-LOAD has generated 4,748 all-time citations, placing it at #351 out of 3,036 FMCSR codes by citation volume. That's a meaningful enforcement footprint. Over the last 12 months alone, our inspection records show 2,940 citations, and in just the last 90 days there were 641 — a pace that makes clear this is an actively enforced code right now.
The number that should get your attention most is the out-of-service rate. Although 393.75G-LOAD is not formally designated as an OOS-eligible violation under the standard OOS criteria, our data tells a very different story in practice: 3,239 of 4,748 all-time citations resulted in the driver being placed out of service, producing a 68.2% OOS rate. To put that in context, the all-FMCSR average OOS rate across every code in our database is 31.4%. This code runs more than twice that average. Inspectors are clearly exercising their authority to place vehicles out of service at a rate far above the norm when they find this violation.
Looking at the monthly trend over the past year, the volume has been consistently high. October 2025 was the peak with 353 citations and 212 OOS placements in a single month. Even the lighter months — January 2026 at 185 citations — still produced 119 OOS placements. There is no safe season for this violation.
Who gets cited most
Our inspection records for the last 180 days show that Texas is by far the most active enforcement state for this code, accounting for 1,088 citations with 623 OOS placements, a 57.3% OOS rate. Iowa comes in second with 160 citations — and a 100.0% OOS rate, meaning every single driver cited in Iowa was placed out of service. Illinois follows with 84 citations and a 97.6% OOS rate. The gap between Texas's 57.3% rate and Iowa's and Illinois's near-perfect OOS rates is stark: if you're cited in Iowa or Illinois, our data shows you are almost certainly not driving away from that inspection.
On the carrier side, our data shows fleets such as MENDEZ TRUCKING INC (USDOT 1445326) with 82 all-time citations and SMYRNA READY MIX CONCRETE LLC (USDOT 1738904) with 32 citations appearing at the top of the frequency list. The concentration of concrete and ready-mix operations in the top carrier list is notable — these are operations where loads are dense, axle weights shift with every pour, and tire load margins can tighten fast.
How severe is this compared to similar codes
Within the Vehicle Maintenance category, 393.75G-LOAD's 68.2% OOS rate stands out sharply when you line it up against peer codes. Consider 393.9(a) — Inoperable Required Lamps — which has 660,737 all-time citations but only a 15.4% OOS rate. That code is cited far more often but results in an OOS placement at less than a quarter of the rate of 393.75G-LOAD. Similarly, 393.78 — Windshield Condition Defective — carries 157,894 citations but only a 0.3% OOS rate; inspectors almost never pull a driver for a cracked windshield, but they pull them constantly for overloaded tires. Even 396.3(a)(1) — Inspection/Repair/Maintenance General — with 236,919 citations produces a 45.3% OOS rate, which is high by most standards but still well below this code's 68.2%. The message from our database is clear: 393.75G-LOAD punches far above its weight class on severity relative to how often it's written.
How to avoid it
The co-occurring violation data from our last 90 days points directly at the habits and conditions that put drivers in front of an inspector writing this code. Here's what to do before wheels roll:
- Check your tire load ratings against your loaded axle weights before every dispatch. The load rating is on the sidewall. If your bill of lading puts weight on an axle that exceeds what the tires are rated for, that's a citation waiting to happen — not a problem the scale house will catch for you.
- Inspect tires for inflation on every pre-trip. Our data shows 393.75A3-TAOL — tires with inflation below 50% of maximum — co-occurs with 393.75G-LOAD in 48 inspections in the last 90 days. An underinflated tire has a lower effective load capacity than a properly inflated one, turning a borderline load into a violation.
- Don't drive fatigued or impaired. 392.2W and 392.2RG appear together with 393.75G-LOAD in 183 and 126 inspections respectively over the last 90 days. Inspectors writing this violation are frequently also writing fatigue-related codes, which suggests these stops involve thorough Level I inspections where everything gets checked.
- Verify your lighting and equipment are 100% functional. 393.9 — Inoperable Required Lamp — co-occurs in 96 shared inspections, and 393.95A — missing or defective fire extinguisher — appears in 58. A burned-out lamp or missing extinguisher is what gets the inspector's clipboard out; the overloaded tire violation is what keeps you parked.
- Carry and produce your periodic inspection documentation. 396.17C — No proof of periodic inspection — shows up in 67 shared inspections in the last 90 days. Inspectors doing thorough stops want paperwork; not having it escalates the inspection depth.
- If you run a Freightliner, Peterbilt, Kenworth, or Mack, pay extra attention. Our data shows these four makes account for 702, 699, 669, and 592 all-time citations respectively under this code — together representing the large majority of vehicles cited. These are the platforms most commonly caught with this violation in our records.