Nailed it!! (Flatbed to a Barge From Russia)

One of those dozers could have gone down to barge to anchor it to shore. That is one error. The next error is the failure or inadequate power from tow boat at the rear. Third is the thinking that driver is somewhat stupid and slow to understand he needs to get out of that cab. I appreciate his last moment hero power surge, but too long, too late and too little. His mind and thinking process are not that fast.

His pause when the rear axle of trailer tested the ramp indicated he was on the correct path mentally, but did not have a plan B in place so he sat there thinking over the problem that literally got wider by the moment.

Most people lose it when they take to long thinking something over.

Would I try that? Hell yes. Not too different than some of the things Ive had to do in the past.

 

I would think his first mistake was not being lined up correctly to make that back in one smooth, straight shot, him getting the trailer axles on the barge and hitting the brakes is what started pushing the barge out, (at least that is what I am seeing) just thinking if he would/could of backed on with little or no brake he had a good chance of it working?

 

In Soviet Russia, barge sinks you!

Hard to say how I'd react in that situation but the driver might have been better off jamming it into gear and mash it up the hill. May have at least had a shot at saving the truck.

 

Obviously did not have enough vodka on-hand to perform that job to the demands required. Seriously, you thought one little tug pushing was going to hold that barge in place against those forces and dynamics?

 

I was thinking of how to hold trailer brakes off without making them lock and I have to go back to the 70's 123 system in which there was a tractor brake, a trailer brake and a everything brake instead of the two knobs we use today.

I would have yanked the trailer off there when it began to back away. The pipe is already a little rusty so it would not hurt it to take a splash.

I wasted a life driving. I should have gone for something like this in safety probably.

 

I see why so many East Europeans come to America to drive trucks.
Safety rules don't exist in most countries.

 

Check out this hard hat

 

Tug boat crew was down below shooting vodka lol instead of powering into the back of the barge to keep it tight to the shoreline.

Rule #1 working on the water, you gotta have your equipment secure before you start working. One job i was on, we were working off of these floats, often called Whiskey Floats because if you fall in you have to buy the whiskey for the crew that saved you. The floats are typically 5 12x12's bolted together about 20 feet long. Anyway, to move from on bent (column) to another we'd holler for the skiff boat commander to come over and tow us across over to the next bridge column. Well, he wasn't available so we shoved off real hard and hoped to drift over to where we needed to be or at least close enough to throw a rope to the guys over there. Next thing you know, we are drifting out onto the open bay lol. Eventually the skiff came out and got us.

 

Actually... I would not mind trying out some of those Soviet era 6x6, you can cross rivers with them loaded. On trailers spec'ed the same for terrain. Do stuff with them that will break Macks and Autocars back in the day.

As far as the rules... hah. That's ok. Newton is the only Laws I need to keep in mind.