Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Yes, we stayed plenty busy. We were lucky enough to not have outside trucks getting in the way. We have a lot of dedicated loads that go every day, so we had those to take care of, as well as trying to keep our local grain customers happy as well. With the kind of freight we run, harvest is more of a pain in the butt than anything else. Legal logging is the biggest challenge. With CSA and ever increasing greedy lawyers, fudging a log is no longer worth the risk in our eyes, so our policy is to keep things true and tight.

Everyone on this board can relate to how difficult that can be

 

Whatever you do, don't connect the vibrator line to the air bags on the trailer! Some bonehead did just that on a trailer I pulled for a short while. The vibrator would work great on the first half the load, while the bags were under pressure. Sure enough, as it emptied out you had nothing left to work with...... As with anything, you have to be smarter than the equipment to be successful. He connected it to the gauge instead of the supply line....... DOH!

One thing I did learn with that trailer and it's lack of air is that wide open is NOT always best on a vibrator. Play with the valve while it's running and flowing and find what works best. Seems like a slower pounding effect was more effective on most products, rather than a full blast jackhammer approach.

As far as oiling, it is important and at the least just carry a can of pneumatic tool oil and throw a few drops in the vibrator line before you connect it.

If it were mine to do, I'd plumb it straight off the tanks on the trailer with a good sized line. And believe it or not on some loads you could almost use a larger air reserve. I always unloaded at high idle to help keep the vibrator going full blast.

 

A blowgun poked upward into the trap will help start it too, one of the things I wished for every time I ran into that without one. To anyone with a portable vibrator, I'd highly recommend getting a blowgun and wand set up with an air line and quick connect. Then just pop it onto that valve and connect the vibrator uses and have at it.

Midds can be okay, but it does set up in the trailer. Seems like the rougher the roads are, the worse it compacts. The last load I hauled wouldn't start for anything, dry as a bone, even with oversized doors.

 

I hauled a load of diammonium sulfate out of a Honeywell plant one time that did the same thing, as well as rusting the bolts in the hoppers - they turned bright orange. The inside was rough as anything after that, "luckily" I was hauling some messier products at the time and that helped clean it up afterward. Not to mention leaving the tarp and traps open for about a week in the rain while I was home on a break.

 

Not really unless I'm missing something. If you haul 4 loads and are over hrs on the last one just "misplace the first load ticket" I didn't start at 5am I started at 7.

 

Ask my recently audited neighbor how that strategy worked for him. He'll likely tell you not so well.

 

Actually you make a good point wheathauler i personally was toying with the idea of going over on a visa to do the wheat harvest, however it would be interesting to see by far who are the biggest audience in here the Dry Freight haulers, Reefer Haulers, or flat bed, i wonder what the biggest amount would be, i personally was hauling Reefers.