"Thrown to the Wolves"- The Saga of the 10 Wides.

Anyone remember that first 10 wide? Can't see your trailer anymore. Can't back to save your life because you can't see your trailer. Checking your clearance nervously whenever you run through a jersey barrier. Swearing that once you get empty that you will never pull another oversized load because it's too stressful. Get a ticket and you'll swear that you're going back to pulling a box.
Background: I started driving local in 1987. Went OTR in 1990 pulling reefer. Started in open deck in 1991. The cabover was still the truck of choice of the bottom of the bottom feeders, JB and Schneider. Werner has been sucky for as long as I can remember. TMC was still rocking the anteater KW. I was driving for Osborn Transportation. Osborn was an outlaw company back then. Run out of hours, and they would toss you another logbook. They ran primarily 48 flat, tandems. Then one day, the spread axles show up. A driver tells me that I could load 40000 lbs on the spread. Stupid me got a 40000 lb coil and loaded it to the rear of the trailer. Worst ride ever up I59. Next scale I got to (Manchester,TN), I get a Stupid Driver Award. "But I was told I could load 40000 lbs on a spread!" Never did it again.

One day, I show up for work, and the shop had wired in a pair of revolving beacons on the top of my flattop KW. First time pulling a 3 axle lowboy. Had to take a machine up to Iowa. "Look at me! I'm pulling an oversized!" (Hey, it was my first time...it's kinda like getting laid. You think you know what you're doing, but you really don't have any idea on the first go). Got the load off, but jumped back on 80 heading back to Des Moines. Went into that scale with the banners still on, and got a Stupid Driver Award. Never did it again.

Osborn wasn't a heavy haul company, but we did pull heavy. What's the difference? There was no one at Osborn that could help me. They gave me a good truck. They could build any trailer to pull any load. But there was no one, in the office or another driver that could help me if I got into a bind. Trial and error is an expensive way to learn$$$$. You guys think that trying to remember all the state OSOW regs is difficult? Try doing it without the internet and cellphones. I remember grossing 120000 lbs and coming up to a 50 ton bridge in Missouri (you know how they mark their bridges...they route you over a bridge that's marked lighter than your load). Stressful...

The biggest difference between a heavy haul company and a pretend heavy haul company is the heavyhaul company will have real heavy haul drivers there that can help you. Even so, you will STILL be thrown to the wolves. Understand what that means. Just because you know someone out in the woods doesn't mean you're out of danger.

Anyways, I am hoping that some of you guys will share your 'thrown to the wolves' stories...where the boss wants you to get something big, heavy and ugly, load it and deliver and you, the poor driver, have no idea what you're doing.

 

@Rontonio, could you tell us about your very first oversized?

 

@cnsper
Yeah, they DEFINITELY threw you to the wolves.

 

Hey Solo...do you keep your permits? And give us one of those 'near disaster' stories. We know you have one.