The Truckers’ Report flatbed Hall of Shame.

Ive done a lot of stupid #### but ive always been real particular with where my winch bar goes when i set it down. To avoid ever leaving it on the deck. I could care less about losing it. Id just hate to have it go thru someones windshield and kill them. Or cause a big wreck... Idk if you guys have a routine. But if you dont,heres what i do. maybe something that will help you.

anytime i touch my winch bar my rule is it goes on the deck , sticking off the side a couple inches so i can see it in my mirrors if i accidently leave it there. It doesnt ever get put anywhere else, not even for 2 milliseconds unless its my storage box where i put it away...and i put it away in the same spot everytime and its my last check after i do a final walk around after strapping/tarping etc and im ready to hit the road. Ive found that getting in a routine helps because theres always that one guy that comes up to talk to you while ur about done or somebody behind u is waiting for u to move or whatecer the case may be . ur rushed and get in a hurry. If you have that routine down , your subconscious brain will always put that winch bar sticking 6 inches off the side of the deck where it can be seen, even when ur not thinking about it. Ive caught it a couple times in mirrors in this exact situation where i got in a rush and forgot about it...

 

If I put mine on the deck I always leave it sticking out too.

 

I've forgot about mine a few times. You do this long enough......it happens. The dumbest thing I've done is left a fuel cap off once. I was empty and making a turn onto a 4 lane and picking up speed fast. Fuel sloshed out if my tank and I ran it over as I'm making that turn. I almost spun around to stuff my trailer into my sleeper. Super slick. That was prolly 10 or so years ago. Ever since then, I'm very spastic about it now. I will check my caps every time I walk by. I check them before I get in the cab, when I get out while I'm loading....etc. I've now got a debilitating phobia because of that incident.....lol.

 

Yes, good advice. Any time my routine gets altered, it seems like everything ends in catastrophe.

Normally I don’t even touch the winch bar until I am ready to hit every winch, then it goes right back into the box. And I have to go front to back, can’t go back to front or my brain will explode.

This particular incident was during unloading on a multi-order load. There was some confusion about which items were to be left at stop #1 and which items went to stop #2. This resulted in one pallet needing to be restrapped, which I stupidly did while talking on the phone with the customer. There was my mistake. I can’t do #### while talking on the phone.

***Follow up tip for any newbies who may be reading: always keep a spare winch bar! I keep one in my headache rack and one in my trailer box.

 

Yep, thats the best trick for winch bars, developed the same habit after i traveled over 250 miles with it on my catwalk.

The likelihood much like things in the back of a pickup bed is that its not going anywhere, but the potential cost of the mistake isnt worth it

 

When I load or deliver, my phone stays in the truck. For some reason, that's always when the brokers or the office decides to call. Only time my phone comes out of the cab when I'm loading is if I need to watch my weights on the app. So far the worst I've done was an extra unused strap roll sitting on the edge of the deck from when I loaded. Somehow I missed it on my walkaround, post-trip, and pre-trip and found it when I was pulling the straps at delivery...

 

Drill a half inch hole through one end, loop a rope through the hole, and hang it around your neck

 

What app is that?

 

Home - AppWeigh

It can be off a little in higher elevations, but saves me a ton of grief when a shipper loads me heavy or a little heavy on one end.

 

Pshhh, you kids and your new fangled devices.