Ask a Yard Dog

At the warehouse I work at, all of our flatbeds are jacked up to the max, to allow for driver error, and so that if we screw up on a load, it will fall away from the truck and not towards the driver. We set our loads so that once the truck has the trailor and drops it, that the trailors load balances and evens out. Perfect everytime, it also allows us to see if we have things secured properly.

Because of the building materials my company uses to build the houses and contracts, that's why we do it anyway.

 

Well I have to admit I don't really understand that statement. Could you explain please?

 

Hi OP, I am glad you created this topic thanks. I have a question, I didn't read the other posts so unsure if this has already been asked, but are you always on the go or are there long periods of time when you can just sit and relax? Some places have yard dogs sitting in one spot while other places that have trucks coming and going nonstop have the yard dogs always on the go. I wonder if I ever become a yard dog if I could just sit and close my eyes and listen to the cb to do something.

 

Disregard.




OP good thread topic

 

We angle our loads downhill. So once the trail or is lowered, the load moves to even itself out. After that we tighten all straps and place the guard rods in place.

 

You know if it is secured properly by how much moves before retightening it. The reason you load it the way you do with all downhill until the trail or becomes level, is so that anything you load on. Won't roll off and will catch itself. Sounds odd. But we've decreased load times doing this. And have never had loose or lost product on any of our flatbeds doing this.

 

I'm not the OP but also drive a yard truck for a living. In answer to your question, the amount of downtime you have will be directly proportionate to how busy your distribution center or yard will be. There are days I go on shift that are very slow. Sometimes I show up and the boss has me pull an empty trailer from our yard to the distributor. Then I check in with our loaders and ask them what we'll be needing for the day, a lot of times they need like 4 spread axle trailers.

So the day begins when I arrive at our client. As soon as I get into the yard, I notice which docks are empty and consult with the forklift drivers. If they say they don't need anything 'special' , I'll immediately fill up most of the docks by backing in trailers until there are only 2 open spaces for live loads.

The forklift drivers will then 'lock' the trailer to the dock, and go to work. I walk into the warehouse/shipping area and see which loads are finished and ready to pull out. I'll airbag the loads of necessary, raise the dock plate, unlock the dock, and then hop in the yard truck and go pull the loads out.

Driving the Ottawa is different than driving a Peterbilt. It's automatic, it's not as top-heavy, and it looks kind of ridiculous. You must make sure that when connecting to the trailer, you don't jump the kingpin --which is a real headache to get out of. Often i find myself backing up to the trailer, putting it in neutral, setting the air brake, and then raising the 5th wheel, to lift the trailer up before i'm locked in, and then back into it....

As for downtime, that depends on the needs of your yard. Some days we have 20 or 30 loads to pull out (and empty trailers to back into their place). Those days are long and stressful, and nonstop. Then other days, I have only 3 or 5 loads on my list, the forklift drivers take really, really long lunch breaks, and I'm just waiting in the truck with my engine cut off for hours at a time. On the 3-5 load days, I work only by myself and only see 3 other people, and almost talk to nobody. It's a great gig if you can hit the docks without tearing off trailer doors.

 

I figure it will be different at each company or yard. But what are the penalties for a yard dog who damages a trailer? And doesnt say they did it. ( NO WAY this guy didnt know he did something)

Picked up my load of handstacked/wedged tries for that days run(dedicated acct). do my stuff (insp, etc) pull out, slide tandems , go to close the doors and find the pass door has a 3 inch gap at the bottom. 4 of the 5 hinges are bent out and the inboard latch has been bent over an inch . Cant shut the door. Little investigation, our driver dropped in the yard in good condition according to the guard , yard dog set the trailer in the door the next day. Rescheduled appt. 6-8 hr total turnaround time for unload/reload. And customer responsible for the repair to our company trailer.