Blade Hauler Mishap

Ok, here is something I was informed about on that deal.
Come to find out I kinda know the driver. Have worked around him years ago at different wind jobs. Nice guy and he was like triplesix stated, one of their go to guys on crap deals. He would do them and get the job done.
So back to this mis cue.. Well he had slip hooks on the chains, which they hada ban on slip hooks for awhile. But had been letting up on it some, if you had the proper rated hooks...
Guess who did not have the proper rated slip hooks on that ld?
Also the reason they fired him was he got a ticket for careless driving from the state.. That's their reason, but I believe he got thrown under the bus because they had several miscues with that same customer

 

Well before you get to that point in the game, there's no more handholding. ZERO handholding. If a driver is coming in to pull the first blade, and you're going to show him the ropes, all you're going to do is show him how to stretch the trailer and load. Usually, the guys that's been doing it will have cheater chains made up just for blades. Just like every other trucking gig, driving is the easy part. Blades is super easy. If you're a driver, you instantly adjust your driving style for the load...no matter how big, how wide, how heavy. In a tanker, you adjust for the surge. In multi axles, you adjust for the weight and the pivot points. In blades, you adjust for the length.

The main difference is that now, all the little things, things you could get away with, now become critical. If a driver used to skimp on his homework with smaller loads, he will skimp on his homework on the bigger stuff too. You always hear me say, "Whenever you play, bring your A-Game." Cluck would say, "Big or small, do it right or don't do it at all."

Load Securement

Years ago, we were loading 52M blade. There were drivers for various companies that would put 4 points securement because the thing wasn't heavy. I put 10 points. 10? It's not necessarily the weight that you have to consider...it's the sheer size of the load.you know how some drivers are in a hurry because they have to be first and have to be up front to have bragging rights? One driver went speeding out of a parkinglot, hit the little service road to interstate 27, and the tractor leaned right. That little drop,with a big load, produced so much torque that it ripped the chains in half. Thankfully, he didn't lose the load.

Trip Planning

Most newer drivers talk about their shower points at the Loves. As soon as they see a Loves, they go bat #### and start dreaming about Carl Jrs and Wendy's. When they trip plan, they look for the Loves along their routes. They find a Loves, and that where they plan to stop.

"Driver, are you really going to try to get that big arse load into Doorslammer Heaven? Do you REALLY want to make a 3 point turn to get in and another 3 point turn to get out of a truckstop? If you are going west, and that truckstop is to the south of the interstate, do you really want to try that at 200 ft long???"

Everyone laughed when that girl drove that van over that little 6 ton bridges dropped the bridge. We had a driver, miss a turn and tried to make a u turn on US 259 in Texas, got stuck on the shoulder and block all sides of a divided highway. Everyone misses a turn right? Not if you, not your wife, not your pilot car, not your buddy through texting, YOU did your homework.

"What is Handholding, Six?"

That's when someone in an office tries to "help" you with your homework. Telling you how to secure a load, where to fuel, when to drive, how to drive, how fast to drive, where to stop, where to park, when to deliver...etc. And there is why companies like ATS is having problems. Instead of paying for talent, they think that they can save money by employing drivers that need handholding to pull big loads. It's A Typical beancounting. "Hey, let's save money on talent by hiring no talent drivers and holding their hands!"

But it's not just ATS, all big companies do it. Whenever you hear about some driver comparing his company to others, "my company has the best training. They even train the DOT. They have the best KoolAid in America!" We all laugh. We know that driver likes handholding. And even to goobermint gets in on handholding with the regs and elogs and whatnot. Has absolutely nothing to do with safety. Put a moron in a truck filled with idiot lights and cattle prods and a GPS, route him and he will get there! I think I mentioned a couple years ago how I was running down 81 in PA in the middle of the night when I saw a truck sitting on the shoulder with the rear of his trailer on fire, I slow down, look at the driver, he has his interior light on and the phone to his head waiting for night dispatch to tell him what to do. DRIVER, IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS AT ALL, CALL DISPATCH. And he's on hold. With a truck fire. Sounds cozy.

"So what's the cure to handholding, Six"

Talent.

You have to pay for talent. Want to win the big game, hire big talent. That beancounting, micromanaging Jerry Jones crap isn't going to get you into the big game. Talent is contagious. Dig into your pocket, bring in some AGame players, mix them in with your solid driver pool. They will take them under their wing and show them the ropes. No need for handholding. You see it done here in the heavyhaul forum every day. Safety scores will drop, claims will drop, money will come in.

 

Amen @TripleSix

 

Amen to that brother!
That's a special kinda SMRT smart right there...

 

So eloquently said...that's talent

 

Knowing the site rep at that plant, and being on a job right now....
The driver came into the turn too fast.
He yanked the wheel right to keep the truck out of the concrete.
Yank the wheel with a self steer trailer, the trailer kicks left thinking its turning. Trailer wheels hit concrete, brakes came on real fast, metaphorically speaking.
5/16 chainS (4 not 1) up front with grade 5 slip hooks on at least 2. Slip hook straightened out hen the sudden slow down happened, bye bye blade.
Then they made all the blade guys put 6 chains up front a day or so after. Well 4 days to be exact.
ATS have some excellent blade haulers, and of course some that are not so excellent as with any big company. I have seen worse, or at least as bad, from some other companies that decided they can do it too. Same for towers etc.
It's not an ATS deal, but a driver deal IMHO. They have the "guidelines" to do it right, but it's down to the driver if he follows or not.
Nope, I dont drink the ATS KoolAid, but have worked with their drivers quite a bit. Some excellent, some good, and some not so good.......As with any company, mine included.
Just throwing some facts out there for general consumption.

 

I know this late to the post, but I talked to the guy who was called to retrieve this load. He knew the driver very well. And that's exactly what happened. To fast into the curve, over correction caused trailer to steer into barriers.