Rolling into the Flatbed side, any tips or tricks?

To me heavy haul isn't till you get to 120 or 130k gross. Up to that point it's more os/ow. And there are varying degrees of that.

 

I would consider the log trucks in northern Maine. Heavy haul.

 

Heavy haul to me is when your empty weight is more than a maximum loaded weight of a normal truck.

40t is not heavy haul. 40t payload now your in the ball park for a start.

Heavy haul is a ball game all of its own. Small mistakes will be very costly. There is no wiggle room when it comes to it. It will destroy parts if you make mistakes. Resting foot on clutch. By by clutch in a few miles. Grinding a gear under power... By by gearbox. Harsh on changes by by gearbox, to fast into a corner by by load and truck, the list is long and plentiful.

@TripleSix says it all the time and with heavy haul it is imperative. You need A game TRUCK DRIVERS, that bring their A GAME every time!! Heavy haul is not an arena for steering wheel attendants.

 

Here in montana id you have the axles you can gross 130k. If you don't need a permit, it isn't heavy haul.

 

Idk. In Michigan they can run what 160 or 180 on a Michigan special? I would consider the heavy haul. Pretty much if a standard class 8 truck won't haul it. Then it's heavy haul

 

Years ago, heavyhaul was 9 axles or more. But things have changed quite a bit. Loads are bigger and taller and more expensive , not just heavier. Trailers are much more advanced. Traffic is heavier. Smarter, more capable drivers are needed. @kylefitzy is pulling 19 wides through metro areas. That's a superload. Different set of rules from OSOW. IMO, that makes it heavyhaul.

If your load is so tall that it requires bucket trucks and a fleet of pilot cars and highway patrol, it's heavyhaul. Superload rules apply. If a State or a province deems the load a superload, then it's heavyhaul.

 

I will agree and disagree with @TripleSix.

I agree loads are getting bigger dimensionally as larger subassemblies are being transported from factories to assembly location.

I can only speak for what I do. A 70k pound gross, 19.5' wide load on a stretch flat is a different skill set then a 13 axle load. At 19.5' wide we are running mostly two lane roads (thats a fun fact if you didn't know) and if we drop a tire off the edge of the road we can almost always recover. A 13 axle will have a much harder time recovering some something like that. That's why you always have to bring your A game.

There is a different skill set when you have 7' hanging off you're passenger side. You're watching the road, and at the same time watching for anything your pilot car missed. Sign post with no signs on them are the worst, followed closely by telephone pole guy wires. If you clip one of those with what I haul its a major cargo claim. We had a driver bump the back of his sleeper at about 3 MPH in a parking lot because he turned to sharp. He bent a 2 foot long bracket and it was a $6000 repair. That's why you have to bring your A game.

80k pounds is a lot of weight. 150k pounds is exponentially more weight when it comes to a drivetrain. Your starts and stops have to be as smooth as possible. You get no do overs when it comes to taking a turn to fast. Im sure there is more but I have never pulled any thing over 5 axles.

Its all comes down to one thing. Always bringing your A game.

 

Me personally, I would take a super load on weight over width or height any day. I've never been over 15' that was stressful enough.

 

Being nearly 2 lanes wide requires a certain skillset. Not the same as a 13 axle, but different. IMO, just as OSOW requires the load to be nondivisible, if a single object puts the load in superload status, that's enough for me.

19 wides aren't as common as 200k loads.

 

You should check your math, if the criteria for us to be considered HH is an empty weight of 80,000 then none of us qualify.