log truck drivers

Discussion in 'Questions To Truckers From The General Public' started by stripes, Feb 13, 2007.

  1. stripes

    stripes Bobtail Member

    1
    0
    Feb 13, 2007
    0
    needing to discredit some popular misconceptions about log trucks. we have been told they are nothing but junk, are not properly inspected, often times overloaded, etc. we were hoping to find credible info to refute a lot of unfair catagorizing of the trucks bringing in our logs. i feel that log trucks are actually some of the most inspected vehicles on the road. & i know many owner operators that will not even take their trucks in the woods. not all trucks that bring logs are overloaded, or junk trucks, but i need good information stating how and why ppl would misconceive that.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. Brad

    Brad Bobtail Member

    12
    1
    May 22, 2006
    0
    There are bookoos of log trucks running in my area. About 2 miles from my house, a DOT sits a few hours a day and 99% of the trucks he stops are loggers. I don't know if that means they deserve it or if the officer just has something personal against logging. I have to say though that they are mostly pretty old, run down looking trucks. Many broken windshields, missing mudflaps, taillights missing or duct taped on. I have run a dump truck around here since I got out of highschool (10 years) and I have only been stopped once in it. It is nowhere near a show winner, but I make sure the lights and stuff all work. I do know that all of the loggers that I know personally haul heavy. No more so than the steel haulers or dump buckets though. I guess I wasn't much help. :)
     
  4. MedicineMan

    MedicineMan Road Train Member

    5,799
    6,440
    Jan 13, 2007
    Woodville, TX
    0
    I think most truck types that stay on secondary roads get that stigma just because they arn't on the interstate getting inspected. WHich is why troopers sometimes pick them specificly to inspect
     
  5. MACK E-6

    MACK E-6 Moderator Staff Member

    45,836
    200,276
    Sep 19, 2005
    Baltimore, MD
    0
    Well, that would depend on why they are there on that secondary road. Maybe he had a delivery somewhere near there.
     
  6. Pedigreed Bulldog

    Pedigreed Bulldog Road Train Member

    7,740
    14,412
    May 7, 2011
    0
    Any time a truck goes off road, there is a very real possibility SOMETHING will happen, whether it is an air line that gets snagged, brake chamber knocked off, tire punctured, or just things rattling loose over time. That and when was the last time you saw a scale in the woods?

    I was inspected more in that 1 year I hauled logs than I have been in the other 9 years COMBINED! We had 3 trucks at our little company, and there was even one week when I was pulled over and inspected in all three trucks. Lots of written warnings during that time...including some "field fixes" that probably would have placed any highway tractor out of service, but the officers tended (at that time and in that area) to understand that a service truck isn't going to come find you in the middle of nowhere back in the woods. As long as the repair looks like it'll hold up to get you back to a shop, they'd let you go.

    Then again, the states weren't as broke back then...so the game may have changed. I'm just glad CSA2010 didn't kick in until all of those warnings were well over the 3 year history they hold against you.:biggrin_2556:

    Fact is, as a truck spends more and more time off road, maintenance and repair costs WILL go up. Inspections to make sure the truck owner is keeping up with those maintenance and repair items is important for highway safety. It really doesn't matter what the truck looks like...it could be a 30 year old truck with dents in every body panel and maybe a little rust here and there...doesn't matter, so long as the tires, brakes, engine, and driveline are all in good working order, the windows and mirrors are all intact, and there aren't parts and pieces falling off....

    [​IMG]
     
  7. driver4015

    driver4015 Medium Load Member

    529
    189
    Jan 28, 2008
    Bend ,Oregon
    0
    Growing up in Oregon and being from a logging family, one of my first driving jobs was a log truck, not fancy,#### sure not clean. But I made SURE it was safe. all the log trucks I drove had either hydrolic or air scales and we hauled legal,not saying everyone did(we were paid by scale) but we ran as close as we could. There's an old saying, you don't have to be crazy to be a log trucker, but it helps! There's just something about comming down a 14 % grade with no jakes(water cooled brakes) that makes you glad to get home at night.
     
  8. Pyrtruckin

    Pyrtruckin Bobtail Member

    14
    4
    Jun 4, 2010
    0
    Both log trucks and grain trucks always seem to get a bad rap. I have talk to DOT officers that have found more than once that 20 year old beat up, looks like #### truck is in better shape mechanically than some 2 year old long haul trucks. Not saying that is the case for all of them but they do get a bad rap. Just wait till more of the mexico trucks make it up this way then you wont have to worry much anymore
     
  9. Sequoia

    Sequoia Road Train Member

    2,692
    1,793
    Dec 4, 2010
    Tampa Bay, FL
    0
    You know what I really don't get is when two log trucks pass going opposite directions.
    You need logs over here..but there's already a log truck enroute from here going there, so we have a different log truck from over there coming over here, even though they had logs over there anyway and we have logs here too.
     
  10. Pedigreed Bulldog

    Pedigreed Bulldog Road Train Member

    7,740
    14,412
    May 7, 2011
    0
    Not all logs are created equal. Some go to the paper mill. Others go to the saw mill to be made into lumber. Then you have hardwood that might be on it's way to be made into furniture or even sliced into veneer. Different mills do different things with the logs, and what mill you send the logs to has a lot to do with the quality of the log.
     
  11. gravdigr

    gravdigr Road Train Member

    1,210
    1,120
    May 2, 2011
    Hollidaysburg, PA
    0
    One of my employees stepfather is o/oof his own log truck and let me tell you that truck is NICE. He washes it at least once a week, all pretty paint and chrome. He is always doing maintenance on it fixing one thing or another. I remember once he dropped one of his chrome fuel tanks right down on a stump. But a gut wrenching dent right up in the bottom. 1 week and $800 later he had a new tank and was installing it. I guess maybe it's different with company trucks but this guy takes amazing pride in his truck...he also always has work.

    Oh, and never let a log truck driver haul granite headstones. Had a driver slam on his brakes shifting the load, then used his cheater bar to lever it back on ruining about $2,500 worth of product...not a big deal until you consider some of those stones take 4-6 weeks to get in from the manufacturer...customers do not like an additional month and a half wait for their loved ones headstone. That was the first and last time that guy hauled granite lol.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.