Dump Truck Business Start Up

LOL so does that mean everyone at some point will lay that truck and end dump on its side? If so what does that do to ones insurance and record?

 

See:

I laid over a body, in a landfil. The 5 stage ram that does the lifting work, on coupling 3 had a seal on the top cap improperly installed after a quick repair. It was put in backwards, so the cap wasn't completely screwed down and torqued properly. Over a few months period of time, it kept unscrewing itself slowly every time it was lifted. The amount of twisting it was doing was nearly imperceptibly small, and even when I lifted the body to it's full height (about 19'ish feet in the air) I wouldn't have been able to see it anyhow.

The day I lifted it, the cap was just loose enough for stage 4 to lean over and crack the case. When stage 3 cracked over it just cascaded into a huge mess of steal and hydraulic fluid. The end result of this was ram snapping, shooting through the cab and narrowly avoiding hitting myself before it fell over on the spot another truck had just left.

I'd say it's a 10/90 split on the blame. I was still very new and didn't know well enough to roll forward with the box all the way up. I now dump in stage 4, but I always lift to 5 then bounce the box to get everything rolling out of it, lower back to 4'th and continually drop slowly as I pull forward. A small bump in the ground, can translate to a few feet of movement on the top of the box fully raised. A lot of places that framless/dump drivers go are typically very uneven and not ideal as far as dumping goes.

 

Sounds like you was able to repair the truck and keep your job... Did this go on your record?

 

Wasn't my truck. Boss was steamed. When he walked into the landfils office, we just about going into a screaming match about the ordeal. He sent me home for the day, I didn't come in for two more days till he showed up at my house and explained how the ram wasn't repaired properly.

I was pissed and looking for another job in the two days I was gone. He asked me to come back and apologized. We both have short tempers. Never works out well for either party. Oh well, I'm still there. Still a member of the tub-tip club, but I'm not looking to renew!

I am in the process of leaving in the coming weeks, and no; this incident didn't go on my record. Otherwise I would've defiantly heard about it.

 

@cabwrecker, when you say you dump at stage four that means the fourth section of the hoist, correct. Then when box is dumped you raise to stage five then bump it?

Just asking to learn. I am currently pulling a 24' dump trailer and go into new housing subdivisions. Some tight spots and not always on level ground. I have a day cab and can keep a good eye on the box. I would like to get a year experience with the 24' er and then move to Redbank transport and pull a longer dump trailer.

My my company hired a driver to drive the dump trailer that said he had more miles in reverse than any of us put together in forward. Well, as soon as he would leave the yard he is calling the boss saying the truck is too big, it's going to get stuck, it's going to flop, he's going to get a overweight blah, blah blah. I told my boss that if he needed the truck to roll and make money I would drive it but he would have to pay me for it. 40+ loads in 4 days and the. I got a 25% raise. I now have two trucks. My dump trailer and my straight truck.

 

Your link doesn't seem to work .......... Maybe it's me .

We have an old saying...." It either goes out the back or out the side" !

 

i would not look thru the back window at the trailer as it dumps but thru the mirrors so you can see the lean.i have gottne out of a few super puckers by dropping the dump quickly enough from watching the mirrors.when the trl leaves the mirror from a lean,time to act.

 

X#1, thanks for the reply. I usually use the mirrors when I have the tractor in line with the dump box but sometimes I have to have the tractor at a 90* to the dump because I am in a tight spot in a housing subdivision. Narrow streets, contractors trucks parked every where sometimes makes it difficult to get into the optimum position. I guess the reason I started to watch through the cab was because once I was watching the hoist on the way up and noticed it pushing to one side of the hoist pocket. I immediately put the box down and repositioned.

Thanks so much for the input. I am hoping that putting my short dump trailer into some tight spots in these subdivisions that it will help me in the future when I move to a longer dump box. It has certainly helped with my novice TT skills.

 

Do teamster demand something from dump truck O/O?

 

Interesting thread. I have experience in end dumps and have considered buying one. Though if I could find a good end dump or tanker work in Baltimore I would consider staying a company driver a bit longer.

Adam