$1900 Tow Bill

I don't mind taking a coffee and reading carefully your post.

I will take the liberty of stepping up and protecting our esteemed moderator who has probably been alive longer than both of us together and say this.

It is not the bending side to side like a book we are dealing with here. Anything like that that ever tears a trailer from side to side is going to be something extremely life threatening to a whole lot of souls trapped in that immediate area.

Second and last. The Cornerstone of my defense thought is simple. We are not talking about bending like a book latherally or longtudially. From the gladhands all the way through to the ICC Decap bar. You just cannot bend a trailer say around a 5 foot tree walnut without a enormous work of the devil hisself such as a thermonuclear cobalt salted device or a all out EF5+ tornado. (We have had orange empty trailers FLY over dallas forth worth on Live TV one day about half a mile up and around 1 to two miles from tornado cheerfully trashing a pumpkin yard. That'\s probably the closest to out there that I have accepted as fact.

The cornerstone is this.

Torsion. Twist. Tension. Wrapping. Grab the front end, put the trailer spreads into a vice grip and start twisting the whole thing like a bad cuban cigar... Keep twisting until something fails first. Usually either the 5th wheel plate up front under the floor or the straps.

 

Come on now you should know that’s not what the regulation says.
Two straps FOR the first 10’ feet and one strap for every fraction of 10’

 

Funny. There’s a good chance that dunnage will walk without them.

 

Not to mention, it isn't dollar for dollar written off. They only get the effective tax rate amount, so say 20-30% of that $1,900 is all that is saved off their tax bill.

 

Pin pullers are my favorite type of driver, let's me charge double!!

 

Lol oh god yes. Who the hell teaches this! "Well I though I was gonna". Yea you thought all right! Some days I miss the wreckers, dont miss any of the people however.

 

Me too. I still run one now and then for the guy that bought my company, and get to cruise around in the new ones for a few dealers that I help out. I deliver and demo/teach their customers that have not bought a specific model brand new before. As I write this I am in Texarkana on my way to Austin in the morning to deliver a used unit one of my dealers sold.

And, since I write for American Towman and Tow Industry Week I get to go to all the tow shows across the country, hang with my buddies and get paid to give lectures/seminars. Loving semi-retirement.

 

My ride for the last two days, delivering around lunch tomorrow. @jamespmack

 

I like color, and the company I worked for we had a custom built for a few years, I was no fan of it. But it did the job.

 

Except there are no edge protection between those soft straps and sharp steel.... He should consider himself lucky he didn't dump the load in the shipper's yard.