Unsecured load on sealed trailer

maybe ask to see in writing what their "deal with the DOT" is! Bet you get a lot of hot air after that.

 

When a sealed trailer is NOT secured,

WHO is responsible ??

 

The driver

 

Sealed pre-loaded trailers are a bigger problem than just not knowing if they are secured or secured properly. How about knowing what is actually contained in that trailer? What about when you scale the load (as we all do) and you find that the weight declared on the BOL's isn't even close to what the bills declare as weight? What are you as a driver going to do when the freight weight, the known weight of your rig and trailer empty (you do know what your empty weight is don't you?) add up to 5-6 thousand pounds more?

The company comes back with "It could be pallet weight", or "Maybe it was scaled by a different tractor than you drive!", or "Just get the axles legal and if you're under 80k just run with it!"

Let's say it was originally loaded in Mexico...think of the possibilities....aren't we supposed to know what we are hauling and what we have in the trailer?

 

i hate presealed trailers--about the only thing you can do is--find out if you can break the sealinspect and reseal it---however lots of the times it isnt an option--and you the driver are resposable for the security of that load--maybe make a remark on qcomm just to cover your butt

 

Yeppers OHTW, we are held responsible. You can always get your companies OK to break the seal. You have to mark on the BOL that the seal was broken, when, where, and by whom. Then also mark the new seal number and update your company with the info. You should also mark your logbook with the same info. It's your job to know what is in the trailer, sealed or not.

 

More than "part of the job"...it's in the FMCSA rules and regs!

 

And just how do you secure a load in a van? With load locks? Yeah... right. The walls and doors are the security, but somewhere along the line, the Nazis in the DOT have decided that that's not enough. They expect that a couple of load bars will hold back a 3000lb roll of paper from coming out the side in an accident. Bull####!

Vans are NOT flatbeds. I repeat, vans are NOT flatbeds.

And in response to Allow Me... yes, the DOT (in Tennessee) does open the doors and hand out tickets for improper load securement (of paper).