I'm a Maverick driver running RMW (regional midwest) if you have a question

Discussion in 'Maverick' started by Craig Ryan, Nov 12, 2016.

  1. Craig Ryan

    Craig Ryan Light Load Member

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    Nov 12, 2016
    Indianapolis IN
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    I believe if you have experience driving, but no flatbed experience, you do not go out with a trainer. Please verify this with Maverick, I'm not a recruiter and don't know all the exact facts for every situation. The same applies to pay, you will come in at higher pay if you have experience. Give them a call!
     
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  3. Craig Ryan

    Craig Ryan Light Load Member

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    Nov 12, 2016
    Indianapolis IN
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    Home again! This is the first week in a long time I won't get a restart, but I made it. It was a short week since we left out on Tuesday morning. We delivered our coil to Chicago Heights, then deadheaded to the port of Portage, IN. We got 2 skidded coils going to Springdale, AR. This was my first time into this shipper since we changed our securement procedures for this product. We now use all straps over the coils and trip chains through the plastic pallets. Not much of a difference to me, it went smooth. By now my student is doing all the driving, so I sit in the passenger seat A LOT! I don't read books, play with my phone, do crosswords ... I watch the road and help my student anyway I can. We spent the night in our Madison, IL yard, and rolled out early in the morning. After delivering we deadheaded to our Fort Smith, AR yard and got a load of gray bar for Royal Oak, MI. We made it up to the Love's near Joplin before we ran out of hours. On the way up we stopped off in our Madison yard again to switch out a tarp with a bad tear, some worn straps, bungees, edge protectors... we went over all our gear. We then drove on and spent the night in northern Indiana along I-69. We were running hot for our appointment, but planned on getting in early. Alas, it didn't pan out as we ended up burning our clock waiting to unload. Our pre-plan was to go into Ohio to load skidded coils for Denver, NC... to deliver Monday. I was glad to get the message from my Fleet Manager that this was a take home load if I could work it out. We loaded Friday evening and drove to my home in IN Saturday morning. It'll be a short weekend, but I'm home. We'll pull out Sunday morning about 8 and drive close to the receiver. Hope all is well with you!
     
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  4. Craig Ryan

    Craig Ryan Light Load Member

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    Nov 12, 2016
    Indianapolis IN
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    Home again, got in Friday night about 10. My student is graduating this weekend after a fine job in my truck training. He's ready! We started the week driving on Sunday to NC. We dropped a load of skidded coils in Denver, NC first thing Monday morning, then deadheaded to Bennettsville, SC for a load of particle board going to Atlanta. It was a tight delivery, but we got it off ontime, then promptly deadheaded back to SC! We loaded carbon electrodes in Orangeburg headed up to Ghent, KY. A good trip and we were hoping we'd see some sunshine on the way. This whole week had been cloudy with rain or snow. We ended up loading at the same facility we dropped at doing a trailer swap for a load of stainless bar. It was finished really nice and we treated it like shiny bar, a straps only load. It was a short trip to Spring Valley, IL where we unloaded Friday morning. About then we were wondering how we'd get home, and when. A preplan came through to pick up coiled rod in Sterling, just up the road, and it was a take home load. A great experience for my student! I deliver Monday in Nashville, TN and haven't quite decided when I'll leave. Without a student I can be a bit more flexible, we'll see!
     
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  5. Craig Ryan

    Craig Ryan Light Load Member

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    Nov 12, 2016
    Indianapolis IN
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    Last week I left out on Monday morning, and just got in this afternoon (Friday). I started off driving down to Nashville from my home in Indy. I don't normally leave Monday with so far to drive, but I needed the time at home, and I wanted to be sure I got my 34 hours in. It worked out fine though, as soon as I unloaded I deadheaded to the Blytheville, AR area to get a load of steel beams. I got there and loaded, but was out of hours and had to camp out at the shipper. I was bushed anyway, it was a difficult load to tarp. I drove the steel to Petersburg, VA with the storms we had last week following me the whole way. In VA I then deadheaded to a lumber facility for a load going north to rural PA. This was just in time for the storm which came through! I unloaded, then promptly got a load at another lumber yard. I deadheaded SW to what I figure has to be the highest elevation in PA. It was a little road going in and the snow and ice picked up as I went. Almost at the shipper I had to take 4 tries at getting up a hill. While loading it was cold, windy, snowing... but beautiful. A whole load of Walnut planks going to MO. It'll deliver Monday, so I wanted to be sure I got home today. After loading I again was out of hours and slept up on that mountain. The owner recommended I get down from the mountain before nightfall, but I couldn't. I got up very early, and slipped and held her back the whole way down. I made it the 25 miles to I-80 and found it to be snow covered! Turns out the spot I came out was at the highest elevation of I-80 east of the Mississippi. Once I started heading west and down it got better. My truck was a mess, full of ice. When loading I had to chip the ice off all of my strap spools in order to use them. I stopped on the way in for a truck wash, I was due!
     
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  6. Craig Ryan

    Craig Ryan Light Load Member

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    Nov 12, 2016
    Indianapolis IN
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    With a load of walnut lumber on over the weekend, I had to leave out Sunday morning for my delivery. I got my 34 hours in though, so I don't mind. I drove to SW Missouri and parked at a Love's about 6 miles from my delivery. I unloaded and got a message to dead head to Fort Smith, and I knew a load would probably come in as I drove down there. Sure enough, I loaded bar bar bound for Detroit, and used my chest cam to record my securement process. Unfortunately the camera was just below the rail line so the attaching of bungees part didn't come across well. I split the video into 3 shorter segments, you can see it on my YouTube channel. I delivered the bar in cold and snow, then deadheaded to NW Ohio for a load of slitted coils eye to the sky. Three of us trainers were all loading together without students, which was unusual. We were all also headed to Denver, North Carolina. The drive down was interrupted by me picking up a student in the Columbus, Ohio area. We unloaded quickly and being short of hours took a guess on which way to drive looking for a place to park. We guessed right! An order to dead head to Charleston, SC came through to load in the morning. By now the week was getting long and we loaded on Friday morning a long way from home. But the load of I-Beams delivered in Indpls Monday morning, close to my home. We drove hard and made it a good part of the way before running out of hours. It didn't help to have a drive tire go soft, so we lost a couple of hours waiting and getting road service. Our wireless tire monitoring system detected the leak in time to give me a chance to safely pull off before the tire was ruined, or someone could get hurt. The service tech. pulled it off the rim right on the truck and plugged it. I think he spent 20 minutes! We got home about noon Saturday, and the weather has been beautiful up here this weekend! I took the time to stop in at our local Red Wing shop and got a new pair of boots to try. I've been wearing Chippewas, which I've liked, but I'm always looking. My truck needs servicing, so after I'm empty I'm heading to our local TA for service. I'm not sure how that will make my Monday, but I don't mind the rest, I've been working hard!
     
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  7. RollingRecaps

    RollingRecaps Light Load Member

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    Apr 6, 2016
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    I didn't know Maverick used straps over skidded coils? And the trip chain goes through the pallet instead of in front of the coil with rubber pad? If you hit the brakes won't the coil slide forward right off the pallet? Im Sure they are banded to the pallet? Have any pictures? I would like to see how you get enough straps over a skidded coil. Im assuming they are eye to the sky on skids. Also I noticed you have winches on the right side of trailer, is it your company policy to use the right side winches when you bellywrap or was that your choice?
     
  8. Stone Dude

    Stone Dude Light Load Member

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    Sep 20, 2016
    Iowa
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    Not Craig, but I'm a Maverick flatbedder so I can answer.

    Maverick's policy is to use chains on skidded coils and a trip chain in front of the skid ... unless the customer wants it another way, like said customer above. (I've loaded there once myself, and they want things done their own way).

    As for the winches, it's driver choice what you use. I always use the driver side winches unless I need more because it's easier to check them if they're on the drivers side. That way when I do load checks I can just get out, grab my bar and walk down the trailer checking each winch, then walk back up the trailer, toss my bar in the box and get back in the truck.

    Doesn't always work out like that though. Right now I've got a load of plastic pipes that a mess of different stuff so I needed all the driver side winches and 2 passenger sides ones as well.
     
  9. RollingRecaps

    RollingRecaps Light Load Member

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    Apr 6, 2016
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    Ok. Thanks for the reply Stone. I have loaded next to some maverick drivers and they said the company requires a strap or chain for every 8000lbs?. I was just wondering how he got all the straps on. If the skid was 24100 he would need 4 straps over the top or maybe they let you count that strap through the pallet as a securement?. I use that number because we just loaded 2 skidded coils 24100 each.
     
  10. Stone Dude

    Stone Dude Light Load Member

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    Sep 20, 2016
    Iowa
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    We count securement on the skid as long as the product is actually secured to the skid in some way.
     
  11. Craig Ryan

    Craig Ryan Light Load Member

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    Nov 12, 2016
    Indianapolis IN
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    Well said Stone Dude! I don't always check in during the week. Rollingrecaps, it's pretty rare we would get a skidded coil over 24k. For our customers most come in closer to 22k. If so, with two coils we typically run two chains over the top of each, then put a trip chain front and rear which is up on the product. This particular customer has us do it a different way with just straps. We crisscross them as you would on a big aluminum coil and use three. The chain goes through the skid, but it's a custom skid for that product. Thanks for the interest!
     
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