A Few Flatbed Questions

Super Trucker...NO! Just stating the facts! Your gonna have this guy putting 10 chains on a 20k coil...LOL. Even with 5/16" chains your putting to many on the coil. Now if you feel safer....than good for you, and you should put as many on that makes you feel safe. But if your driving is so bad you need that many to make you feel safe...then that many probably still won't hold it on the trailer!

Look if your upset that I corrected you... I'm Sorry! But you just telling this guy to start throwing chains on a coil till you have no more left is ridicules! Explain to the guy, if your using certain chains you have to put so many on.

As for my trailer, If the DOT man that climbed up in and checked my coil (which was legally chained down without 8 chains) had his way and in his words not mine..."IF all trailers that hauled coils had to have this setup, it would keep idiots who don't know what they are doing from hauling them and keep coils on the trailers better."

Hey RickG where are you? You usually have the regs for stuff like this on hand to post...LOL

 

The way I figure, if you have a 20K load, and say your chains are rated for 5500 pounds each, then you should have at least 4 on that load. A fifth to give an adequate margin of safety. In theory, hang the truck upside down and the load should still be supported.

Just remember, that is for a "static load"

If you ever got into an accident, a 9G load put on your cargo would turn a 20,000 pound load into a 180,000 pound load and you sure as hell won't have enough chains in your cabinet to stop that one!!! When I was in the aircraft certification biz, we had to make sure modifications could withstand a 9G loading. That meant, the devices being installed or the modifications made had to have enough screws/rivets, etc. to withstand 9Gs force with a margin of safety above that too.

To put it in perspective, a skydiver experiences over 20Gs for a very brief moment (milliseconds) as his parachute opens. Fighter pilots experience upto 9Gs of sustained force. It is very possible for a load to experience over 9Gs force in a nasty accident (at least for a brief moment anyways).

Thats something to think about when you come upto stale greens in heavy traffic. Got enough securement for your peace of mind now??

 

The problem is, the chain rating from the manuf. is one thing, then the DOT rating is another. Thats where all the confusion is!

To make it all worse, everytime a truck losses a coil the DOT take the rating down another notch. So if you have a 20k chain and you have 4 on a 40k coil that should be more than enough? But DOT, keeps derating the chains so we have to put more on a coil when the problem isn't the chains...its either the driver or type of accident they was involved in. No matter how many chains we throw on a coil, you roll one over and that coil digs into concrete, pavement, or dirt with enough force, its coming off that trailer!

 

Just helping a new skater to skate.

 

Your right, Ive never hauled a coil, stayed away from those babies, but I haul logs and DOT says we have to have a strap or chain every 10ft of load. We have a good bit of rollovers up here and I have never seen a load stay on the truck. When I was flatbedding I never hauled coils for the simple reason of not having any exp. Hauled slinkys once but never a coil. Id certainly get some training on securement if you dont have very much exp. I know I wouldnt haul them without it!!

 

Stick truck?


Mr Les2 is right about the DOT regs changing. The original poster asked about coil hauling and it does seem like the regs change all the time. Had to do a securement class with my current company. Had a bunch of 5/16s chain around and the instructor gives me a formula to work with.
X= WLL/2 or something like that (geez, I forgot already!)

Instructor: You have 1 coil, 36000 lbs, loaded shotgun, how many...?

Six: 6 chains, 2 straps

Instructor: How did you come up with that?

Six: 24999 or less, I use 4 and 1. 25000+, I use 6 and 2.

Instructor: You didnt use the formula...

Six: Never had time for pencil and paper in a steel mill.

 

You know...Ive personally think that coil hauling is easier than pulling a trailer load of slinkies.

 

I would say to me coil hauling is a little more tricky. If its just one coil because the weight is center and not spread out on the trailer. Slinkies are spread out and you have to do more work to secure them. To each his own, I would rather have the weight spread out but its the nature of flatbedding unless you only run a specific kind of freight. I haul whatever comes across the screen

 

Ya, its a stick truck

 

I cant really say seems how I've never pulled a coil, but I hauled the slinkies twice and the other drivers there showed me both times how to strap them down, didnt have to use chains on them, just straps.