Suicide or just lazy?

Always got a kick out of many Lanstar RGN and stepdeck haulers using 5 /16/chain,was loading Bradleys at Ft Irwin once and the officer in charges turned 4 landstar drivers away because they only had 5/16 chains,,he patted be on the back when he saw I was using two 5/8 chains to secure the rear and 1/2 alloy on the front,,Heck it has to be embarrassing when some thing falls off.

 

Chain it down until it meets legal requirements. Then add that many more chains, good rule of thumb to follow. Yes I know I chain down more than required, seems to be worth it when i see pictures like those, or things I've seen with my own eyes. Heavy haul is my favorite thing to do, partially because its also the most challenging thing to haul. But i never cut corners on the chain down, a few more minutes spent doing it well, beats the alternative if its not right.
I have seen a buncher come off a lowbed and that didn't end well for the people in the car it hit. No not me, or one of my drivers. But he was lazy and didn't want to spend the extra 5 minutes to get it right. That laziness cost 3 people their lives who were behind him. Got five chains on the loader, and it looks good now.... Great, now add five more is my motto.

 

Ehh, chain it down until it’s safe. My load securement is as good as anyone but getting carried away just for the sake of doing it doesn’t impress me. Move 6 or 8 loads a day and put 12+ chains on every load and see how long that lasts. I’m sure you already do it but you’d be the only one I know.

 

This is an old post, but some of these guys have no clue what happened and shouldn’t be making the comments they did

 

You gotta remember martin plays on 15% plus grades daily .. so his extra chains theory is a good idea

 

Sure it’s a good theory.

 

Yes I know I was not invited to the party or have a dog in this fight .
But here is my take on it , not trying to argue ,just my own messed up reasoning .
I am NOT a local guy , but I trow chains until I can't find anywhere esle to chain to . Yes I go way overboard .
My mail take on it is, I don't chain down to go the road , I chain down for the oh f&$k moment.
There is aslo the day when everything goes to hell and somebody possiblely gets hurt or dies . I need to know I did everything in my power to stop or prevent that . If for anything my own sake . I hope that day never comes , but everyday I start the truck, there is a chance .
Even for local moves I still chain down 6 ways from Sunday , maybe not as much as I normal do.
Yes I know I don't do 10 loads a day.
I will never put anybody at risk due to cash or time .
Again I am not saying anybody is unsafe or wrong , this is only my reasoning .

 

Company I transport for has 3 Cat 950's and a similar size John Deere. I always have two 1/2" chains x'd on each axle and then two 3/8" on the counterweight. Put the bucket up against the step. Pictures like that make me think I should put more

 

You've got I covered weight wize.
IMHO, I treat articulated machines as two separate units, so I would use 8 chains minimum. 4 ahead of the articulation point, and 4 behind. Not saying you need to, just how I'd do it.

 

I lean towards lazy. Darwin tends to weed out the rest. Suicide? I don't think so.

Being lazy can be the result of anything in life. I recall one incident in a meat plant where I was almost killed by my own trailer at the wash rack because I was so tired and mechanically walking with Zero situational awareness or any high level functioning. Lazy? hardly. Not that incident.

HOWEVER. I have had incidents in the past where if you were losing motivation to do a job well, it's long past time you gtfo out of it before it did kill you or someone or several someones.

I wont get into securement. One chain is all the same to me. But it is not to the Heavy Haul People. One thing I always do is throw everything onto the load with the idea that God can pick the whole thing up and it will stay on the deck due to a excessive amount of chain and strap. Like 20 to 30 of them which would be teased as overkill or unnecessary. I have had too many short stops in flatbedding or otherwise to trust chain or strap to hold onto something. It's going to get loose if it can.