Refused my first load today

I have 14 wenches and straps specifically for loads like this. Weaving the straps through is a pain, but it works, i wouldve also used a bulkhead front and back. Ive yet to turn down a load, but i do complain about the amount of work vs reward.

 

Oh and chewy. Invest in more straps and winches and or 4 inch ratchets.

 

Bout the most I can milk outta the company. I have plenty of spares but that's all I can deploy. I refuse to pay out of pocket for stuff that wears out or can be cut.

 

There are ways to secure that without a crazy number of straps and chains. The front half that was 4 bundles wide. I can think of 3 ways to secure it. 2 would work with chain or straps one would be chain only. the rear stack though would limit you to one way.

 

My mistake man. I must have you confused with someone else. I thought you were a landstar bco. In the case of a company driver, obviously i wouldn't expect you to pay for your own equipment.

 

Looks like a Gerdau special.

From what I've gathered, pretty much every location but the one here in Manitoba ships out their product like this.

Teach them about the T-block. It blows my mind how such a simple thing is lost on shippers. It's literally a 1.5 foot long 2x4 with two pieces of 1.5 foot 2x4 or 1 piece of 4x4 nailed on the face of the board. You place them in between each bundle, snuggly bump the bundles together, then choke and strap/chain the hell out of them. They don't go anywhere and there is more than enough space to get even a 1 inch chain around that bundle.

And this is something my Gerdau insists all trucks use when the customer requires vertical blocking (for crane lifts). They even supply them freely.

I'm going to need to take a picture the next time I'm there.

 

I know the place Chewy was at. If they are like they where last time I was therected, they don't even want you to get out of the truck while loading. If you brought in your own T-blocks, they'd refuse to use them on the grounds it would slow shipping down too much, or some such hooey.

 

Hot rolled steel like that vertical bracing is of not much use. The only side load you would get is what the crane operator put on it. Your straps/chains would add nothing as they would not pull the outside stacks in. Nothing wrong with the way it was loaded and not hard to secure. 4X4s stacked and chained down as a bulkhead in the front and the rear. Then it's am a matter of strapping/chaining straight over the top. The load is contained.

If you want to put down pressure on the middle bundles you could place a 4X4 on top of the them (under your tie down of course). 5 bundles wide add a 2X4 to the middle bundle.
Where there were four bundles wide you could also go over the outside bundle and then choke the two middle with chain. If you place your binder in the center it would give a very even pull.
Hot rolled steel is rough it does not tend to slide. Chains do work well on it as they will bite in. You will not hurt it as its not a "finished" product. But you have listen to the shipper/receivers demands.

Stick to your decision if you don't think you can haul it safely then don't. Better safe than sorry. But just because "everybody does it" does not mean it's wrong either.

 

Chewy, I ain't gonna dispute your decision to refuse that load, as it's your ride. But I have hauled out of there on numerous occassions, and can say that they load that way as a customer requirement (reciever requires it).

Now, that said: when I got one of those loads, I used 2" straps and ratchets to weave through the bundles (2 "weaves" on each end of each group) plus my normal 4" winch straps over the top. Ran them up to Pittsburgh on a somewhat regular basis with zero problem and zero movement.

After the first time, it doesn't even take that long to weave the 2" straps through. An additional 3-5 minutes of work, and I'm down the road. As has beem said before, there's more than one way to skin a cat....or haul a load.