What's it like transporting heavy equipment?

Discussion in 'Flatbed Trucking Forum' started by Ddr1992 579, May 17, 2020.

  1. Muddydog79

    Muddydog79 Heavy Load Member

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    Can you even get a cdl if you are drawing disability? How would you be legally able to pass the physical? Just curious.
     
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  3. shawnhhllc

    shawnhhllc Medium Load Member

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    upload_2020-5-17_13-5-53.jpeg

    Something else to ponder. Don’t take someone’s word on what your hauling weighs. Look it up on the company that manufactured on their spec sheet. You’ll also need the width and height. I only need four chains and a strap to be legal on the loader. Me nah !!! Let me put four 1/2 inch chains and 1/2 inch binders. Then I have to put an additional three more chains two in the read and one through the middle. This is done so that it can be bound down to not exceed 13’6”. There’s a system that I have to follow in order to tighten them and loosen. If not then you’ll get to the last few and you won’t be able to budge them loose.

    knowing and learning your trailer on load placements is a top priority. It all starts there. You don’t want to get loaded and then go scale and find your heavy on your drives or over on your rear. Then your moving equipment around at the truck stop and that’s a busy place to be moving high dollar equipment. To many bad things can happen.

    Measure your load. I measure my load four or five times just to make darn sure and then I look in my atlas for low clearances along my route.

    learning experience for me. Load in the pic was 13’5” high. Made the first drop and I went along my way to make my second drop (the loader). Pull into the coop. Right lane comes on. Well crap I know what they want. I didn’t remeasure the height of my load I was now 13’7”. I explained myself and told him I was new. He pulled me aside and advised me to measure every time. Yes sir I completely understand that now. I was able to tighten bi fees back down 13’6”. So I was good. He was watching me so I couldn’t just dump the air.

    open deck is something new everyday. Not everyday is equipment/agriculture/machinery day. You’ll have backhauls. I’m loving it. Kinda wishing we ran all 48 maybe something will change for me.
     
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  4. Nostalgic

    Nostalgic Road Train Member

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    Unloading the little excavator gave you back 2" of arch? Or was it more of a combination of suspension and arch? Either way, interesting and useful to know.
     
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  5. shawnhhllc

    shawnhhllc Medium Load Member

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    Suspension. He measured with a tape. I measured with a pole. So he could’ve been off a little and I could’ve had some bend in my pole trying to make it short as possible. Either way now I remeasure. And make sure I’m on flat ground.
     
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  6. FoolsErrand

    FoolsErrand Road Train Member

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    To the OP.. I suggest starting in flatbed until you can handle 10% grade takeoffs and upshifts.

    Mountainous regions tend to be places where mineral resources are extracted from the remoter parts with the worst roads. A lot of big iron goes there. And they are steep, tight places. The kinda steep that shuts a truck off in gear if you mess up. The kind that makes you stab the breaks so hard to not roll back that you use up your air in 3 pumps trying to get restarted without spinning the tires.

    You want to learn how to be calm and handle this scene at 80k or less, not 100 or more. If your air has run down and you break a driveshaft, pulling your knobs is all you got left before going down the hill awful fast. Keep those slacks tip top adjusted.
     
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  7. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

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    I dont do oversize or big equipment but can haul some smaller equipment on my flatbed, my advice:

    Make sure u know how to operate basic controls of the equipment before u unload it. If shipper loads for u then ask about the controls because equipment is usually unloaded/loaded by driver. Dont want to be trying to figure out how to operate something when its on ur deck unsecured. All it takes is a wrong move and u risk driving right off. Helps if u have an equipment background and know the basics of it.

    I just delivered a machine to the port, going overseas. Well the instruction manual was in a different language and so was all the buttons/levers. Couldnt figure out how to get it in reverse to unload it from the trailer. Took me 30 minutes of pressing every button and knob and pulling every lever atleast 15 times. Before some guy saw me having trouble and came to help. Between the two of us we figured it out and of course it was always in the most obvious place and makes ya feel real dumb afterwords LOL
     
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  8. 201

    201 Road Train Member

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    Steel tracks on steel ramps in the rain is pretty tense too. We cut old tires tread and fastened them to the ramps with much better results.
     
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  9. brianv31

    brianv31 Light Load Member

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    If it's a machine you're hauling, ask if it runs and drives. I don't know how many times a shipper will either not know or not tell you what kind of situation you're getting in. Many times there's a reason the freight is being hauled and it's to get worked on, was sold cheap because of its condition, etc
    As has been said, don't take anyone's word on dims and weight, verify it yourself
     
  10. not4hire

    not4hire Road Train Member

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    "We never include the dimensions or weight of the skid." o_O
     
  11. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Good post. It always helps to know if there's anything that might make loading or unloading a machine a challenge.
    Things like... a dozer with track brakes on one side only, an excavator with a fractured swing gear, any machine with ruptured hydraulic hoses, rubber tired equipment with flat tires, any machine that had had a fire, and any machine that would have to be towed or winched onto an RGN because it doesn't run. At one time or another we've been asked to haul all the above mentioned problems.
    My favorite was a concrete curb and gutter machine with a home made control box consisting of four rows of six toggle switches, some spring loaded and some multi position, and not a single one of them was marked. At night. In the rain.
     
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