Sand Disappearing from Truck??

Discussion in 'Oilfield Trucking Forum' started by sbryant82585, Jun 26, 2014.

  1. sbryant82585

    sbryant82585 Bobtail Member

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    Aug 24, 2012
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    I have a problem with a company I'm working for. Essentially they are accusing me of stealing 20-30k pounds of sand. When I got to the sand plant I scaled it at 29,840. After I got loaded I rescaled and they said I was 3k over gross. To me it was weird because when I pulled off in second gear I thought everything was ok. No, I was 3k over. So, I put my hose into the rail car and unload for 5 minutes thinking that it will put me at the desired weight. I scaled in again and they said I was at 79,960. They gave me 50k of product when I only needed 48 but I was under gross so I rolled with it. From the plant, another driver and I rolled over to TA and then waited until we were needed on location. Finally we arrive on location and I was told to do a 4/1 split. Here's the problem, the whole load fit into compartment 4 and I never had to do the split. Compartment 4 can only hold 30,000 pounds of product. The sand coordinator checked and saw the there was still room in the compartment. Now the company Is pretty much accusing me of stealing 20-30k worth of product.

    How could this happen? I was with another driver the whole time and he could verify that I never stopped anywhere except for the TA. I checked my valves and they were closed. I hit the trailer and it was empty. I find it hard to believe that I lost 20-30k of product on my way to location. When I did my pre-trip before I left the TA there weren't any mounds of sand. On the ticket I did notice that my truck number was wrong. Still, that doesn't explain the scale reading.

    Im im just trying to figure out what could've happened to the product. Could someone be ####### with me?
     
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  3. mrrandomson

    mrrandomson Bobtail Member

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    Jun 20, 2013
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    I know nothing about hauling sand, but ask yourself these questions and they might help you figure it out.

    How did you find out you were overweight?

    Are you sure you offloaded ~3K and not more?

    What I'm driving at is, is it possible you got the wrong scale ticket and offloaded a lot more sand than you thought?
     
  4. sbryant82585

    sbryant82585 Bobtail Member

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    Aug 24, 2012
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    I found out I was 3k overweight when I went to scale out. They told me to go offload so I did. I only blew off for five minutes so there's no way I blew 20-30k pounds of product back into the rail car. Maybe their scales are off. Like I said, thankfully I have a witness or else I would be ###### right now.
     
  5. rookietrucker

    rookietrucker Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    A few things I seen wrong with this. First, always check your load ticket BEFORE you leave the loading facility. I suspect, this is where your problem lies (truck number on ticket). Does the place have two scales with another truck on the other scale and you got their ticket? Load out personnel are not perfect. Most of these places, are kids or people who don't give a hoot about their job. I have also caught facilities scales to be incorrect. Also, if you only had 30k of sand, you would know by the feel of the truck starting off in gear at the facility.

    Compartment Four, depending on cu ft, it is possible to get more in by feathering the load in. Also, did you happen to blow sand out the other side ? I've seen guys blow a half a load out and not realize it. Usually, this is from the pipe inside with a hole, allowing it to blow out the other side. Usually the driver gets the blame for this, because your suppose to be paying attention, not just your gauges but the whole process.

    Not sure how to recommend on clearing yourself with the company. Perhaps, getting a statement with the driver you were running with. I would also call that loading facility and cross check your ticket.
     
  6. plater1

    plater1 Medium Load Member

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    Jan 24, 2011
    back in NY
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    where did you load? who was the pusher? there is a possibility that if that sand box had one of those dust suppression systems (UPP new grey boxes) it could have leaked into compartment #3. It is also possible the operators pulled sand from that compartment while you were unloading (lots of green hats, trainees with UPP).
     
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  7. 201

    201 Road Train Member

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    Wow, s, sounds like you are a victim of someone else(scale operator) not doing their job. Many times, when I hauled gravel, I had scale operators punch in the wrong MT weight. This is ridiculous, and you aren't hauling copper or gold dust, or something valuable, it's sand , for heavens sake. Sounds like someone screwed up, and they are blaming you.(typical) What, do they think you are selling sand to flood victims? If you get it straightened out, I'd tell them to cram it with walnuts!:biggrin_25512:
     
  8. rookietrucker

    rookietrucker Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    [QUOTE="semi" retired;4095675]Wow, s, sounds like you are a victim of someone else(scale operator) not doing their job. Many times, when I hauled gravel, I had scale operators punch in the wrong MT weight. This is ridiculous, and you aren't hauling copper or gold dust, or something valuable, it's sand , for heavens sake. Sounds like someone screwed up, and they are blaming you.(typical) What, do they think you are selling sand to flood victims? If you get it straightened out, I'd tell them to cram it with walnuts!:biggrin_25512:[/QUOTE]

    You would be surprised what some of the specialty sand prices out at. Some of the sand loads I've hauled, can hover around 100k :biggrin_2556:
     
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  9. plater1

    plater1 Medium Load Member

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    Jan 24, 2011
    back in NY
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    i used to haul ceramic sand, it was $.50 a pound. that was several years ago, i am sure the price has gone up since then.
     
  10. haulhand

    haulhand Road Train Member

    The other day I had 4 loads of ceramic that cost 12.00 a pound. They were a bit uptight over any on the ground.
     
  11. 201

    201 Road Train Member

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    I see where every grain counts nowadays. When I hauled regular old sand to batch plants years ago, we never tarped it, and we'd lose a lot blowing around (illegal now,I'm sure) My problem with this, is that this person is their employee, and right away, he(or she) is guilty of stealing. Let's see if we can screw the driver 1st, and work down from there. Quitting now would look fishy, but I'd get it straightened out, and tell them to go to you know where. In all my years of driving, I usually had a good relationship with those I worked for, and never ONCE was accused of stealing anything, even though, I did come up short on certain occasions. I'm just appalled by this, and companies wonder why there is a driver shortage. The fact that you blew some off and came up legal, shows you know what you are doing. I used to haul silica sand, and it was a load and guess deal, rarely would I ever load while on a scale, and never had the same weight twice, and they wouldn't let you dump any off, so it was take your chances . Man, I hated that job!
     
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