Came Across A Driver Who Hates Drops & Hooks Along With Swaps

I’d rather keep a known acceptable (or good) trailer than rolling the dice. 18mos in and I’m still finding “new” things that can be damaged on a trailer.

 

You old Tattle Tale you!

FTR, Big Maude says there’s three ways of communication around our parts. “telephone, telegraph and telefrank”. Ain’t true though! I can keep a secret. It’s the people I tell that have big mouths!

 

We have this problem in the long haul world when the company day cab loads a defective trailer that has been written up but needed to be emptied . Tosses the tag and says it’s the highway guys job to pre trip it.

 

I don’t like drop and hooks.
I really like live loads after re negotiating my detention pay/policy.
They get one hour free to unload me after that it’s 35$/hr and it back logs.
Edit: missed my original point.
I do a detailed pre trip and choose trailers in good condition. I don’t want to fight with something stupid.

you want unloaded in a hurry tell the forklift driver “no rush man take your time, you guys are paying me 50$/hr to sit here”

 

I don't mind picking up pre loaded trailers in our flatbed division but picking up relays from other drivers has always been a nightmare. Once picked up a 46K coil with only 2 coil racks, all of the chains I could shake by hand, and the tarp was just thrown over it with dunnage holding the excess on each side with a strap over them. No tarp straps. More often than not they also don't leave the BOLs anywhere and I have to waste time getting them faxed to me at a truck stop.

When I was dry van, it was pretty much the same thing. Every time I picked up a pre-loaded that's already closed and sealed, it's a mystery until you open it up at the cons. Have opened the doors to having wooden spools falling out on me to pallets of Gatorade all shifted and leading because the shipper didn't put airbags between the pallets.

 

When I was dry van, I was the same exact way. I'm not answering that phone somebody has to come knock on my door and cuss me out to leave. Gonna get a split sleeper break started at least and collect some detention if not get my 10 hour break over with.

 

My company maintains theyre trailers very well and if I do pick up a trailer with issues it's usually because of the lazy driver before me ...fortunately that doesn't happen often, when It did happen I would call safety to complain but I don't bother with that anymore as they are afraid of hurting lazy drivers feelings and sweep it under the rug .
Now i just call maintenance and make them send a service truck to me
Last time was a trailer dropped at miller's in Milwaukee with a blown tire and apparently the last driver was blind and deaf cause he couldn't see the warning lite on front radius or hear the air hissing out of the auto inflation system.
Service truck to the brewery that day to mount the spare was almost 600.00 ...maybe that will get someone's attention.

 

I am going to guess the driver worked for Western Express. The sad state in many of the trailers I was told to pull was abismal at best.

 

Tho if that driver had such a problem with that company. Why was he still there?