Items On Catwalk...and Hydraulic Lines...

1/2 the year, all that is attached to my catwalk is my chain boards, two bungees for holding open doors, and my 5th wheel pulled hangs down through a hole in the catwalk about 8" off the ground. The 1/2, there are 8 15" bungees attached to my catwalk for my chains, which hang off the side of the frame on a chain hanger.

4 years back, rolled across the scale on 90 W. of Rapid City. They told me to pull around and park. The guy came out and told me that I couldn't have my puller hanging down like it was, said it might hook on something. Told him it's been hanging in that exact same spot for 6 yrs, it's got a slight bend to it from all the snow/slush/crud that it's been banged against. He told me to have a nice day. The only other person to gripe was DOT during a level 1 when he hooked his collar on it, I chuckled, he didn't.

 

All of that stuff you list lives in my side box under the bunk. I have nothing on my catwalk.

 

I think it just comes from to many idiots who think something will just sit there going down the road, or that 1 bungee on something is enough. Personally, I don't trust bungees and I simply will not leave anything on the catwalk.

Let's be honest for a minute. How many trucks do you see everyday with there pin puller pushed through the step grating, just hanging there. How many trucks do you see with anti freeze/windshield washer fluid containers stuffed on top of the fuel tank, leaning against the frame rail, nothing securing it. Guys that throw spare boards under the deck of there flatbed in the cross members, and do not secure it with anything (by the way, unless it is a system designed specifically for lumber, and any lumber is secured with at least a 2 inch strap, it is ILLEGAL TO PUT BOARDS UNDER THE DECK IN THE SUPPORT STRUCTURE!) The list is endless, and there IS way to much of this going on.

Some guys out there look like the 4 wheelers you see at Home Depot with 2x4's in there pickup bed, they assume because the tipping point is inside the length of the box it will never fly out. Wind, bumps, vibrations? All these things will pick those boards up and throw them before you even notice.

One big problem is these companies are not thinking when they spec there trucks. They never consider how much stuff we need to carry, or that frame space is like gold, even more so now with DPF's, Urea tanks and APU's. 244'' WB is not enough anymore, and it never was.

The only thing I use bungee cords for is when I get a trailer that has no hanger for the dolly crank handle. Leaving it hanging there in the wind is a huge no no, that bolt COULD break because it is rusty and old, next thing you know that handle is flying through a window at 60 MPH. I always use 2 bungee cords on loose handles, had many impressed DOT officers give me props for that. If I get a trailer with air lines sagging really low because the axles are slid up and there is excess air line, I bungee them up so there is no chance of them every rubbing the ground, or catching a rock or the ground in yards or parking lots (some yards are like driving on the moon)

All in all, there is no excuse for companies to not give more storage. There are boxes designed and made specifically to be mounted in between the frame rails where the catwalk is. I have even seen one where the top of the box was flush with the top of the frame, and the box was designed to fit around the drive shaft, and it went about 20 inches down.

Can Am in BC is an example of a company who does not care about what the driver needs to carry, or his time. There new trucks are set back axle petes with the 63 inch bunk, 244'' WB. They have a lift axle, in front of the drives, as well as a lift on the trailer, making it a quad axle, to haul large amounts of lumber. On the passenger side, there is the Urea tank, and a genset, then the molded step box into the cab. Meaning what, ONLY ONE SMALL FUEL TANK, AND NO STORAGE BOXES!! You can't go very far with ONE, 120 gallon tank, pulling quad axle weights, in the mountains.

Stop being greedy, forget about trucks with lift axles and trailers with lift axles, and be happy pulling tri-axle weights on single trailers. Who's going to buy those trucks when they try to sell them? No one wants a truck with 1 fuel tank and no room for storage.

 

Flatbedders get the short end of this deal, ones without huge headache racks especially.

 

If it's illegal to put boards in the support structure then it should be easy to quote the law. Note I said law, not regulation.

I have a board rack now, for the first time. Before that I've run well over 200,000 miles with wood strapped across the frame and/or under the trailer. I have never lost a single one. Read that again. Not a single one. Ever. I've had them creep out on me and had to reset them, but if you don't notice that, you're not going to notice a blown tire, a locked up brake melting down your entire hub, or half your load falling off the trailer, so there's no help for you.

In my experience, wood will work loose much more often with a strap, since the strap doesn't take up slack as the wood settles. Bungies will take that slack up and keep the stack tight.

 

How about a 1100 BMW motorcycle on a sissor lift, which I've had on my catwalk for the last year? Sure makes things fun out there. Last spring, Did actually have a TN. officer pull me over to see the bike and tell his buddy. But haven't had DOT given me any problem over it.
If I knew How, I'd attach a photo.

 

Man, I need one of those so I can bring my bike with me and have something to do on resets. Also need a truck that doesn't spray a constant fan of oil out the back of the cab cause that just wouldn't go together.

 

My pet coyote rides on the cat walk is that ilegal come on

 

Just get a Harley.