The most ridiculously expensive equipment you've hauled.

Lets just say more than once there's been 9 digits before the decimal point.

 

Not sure of the actual value, load information stated "Extremely Valuable!!!" I picked up 2 slabs of an experimental alloy in Kokomo Indiana and took it to a processor in Middletown Ohio, dropped those two and picked up two others and took them back. The bills stated Nickle alloy, when I asked the guy there what they were he stated a new experimental nickle alloy for NASA. When i asked what they were gonna do with it, he said they were planning on using it to make parts for some new equipment. They didnt care if I used chains to secure it, he said wasnt nothing going to scratch it.

 

Just my standard response to those who want to get into the high dollah oversize aerospace/aircraft freight.
A successful driver must have the innate ability to see what needs to be done, do what needs to be done and "thread the needle" driving ability .Driver training can only give a driver the basic's.
The members of this forum by and large have the innate abilities and proven themselves to do the job at hand without succumbing to the "deer in the headlights or buck fever" stress reactions experienced by some beginner O/D drivers.

 

Last week hauled three pipe pulse units, stated value was 1.1 million.
When working as a contractor in Iraq hauled $200,000 Cash in my back pack while traveling between FOB's on a regular basis.

 

I'd love to do this type of work. I love a challenge and when obstacles pop up I always find a way around or thru them. I get even more motivated when someone tells me a certain task can't be done safely or for many other reasons and I say "watch me". I wouldn't consider myself a heavy hauler. Right now I haul stone! With permits I'm good to 117k and I'm bored to death with it. But this thread is awesome! Keep it going guys and girls

 

It's problem solving. Shipper says, "I need a Transporter. I need a load moved." They know who you are, because you have proven time and again that you are an A game player. They give you the dims on the load, and you start doing your homework. If that load has half a million man-hours on it, it is extremely expensive. But just as saddlesore brought out, it's just another load. If the DOT classify something as a 'superload', the rules change, but its still just another load. These guys will treat that $100,000 load the same way they would the 100,000,000 load. It's like a fighter, EVERY fight is an important fight. The first time you slack in the fight, you get your arse handed to you. The first time you slack on a load, something devastating to your name and career happens.

The funny thing is, everyone here has had mishaps. Something went wrong. Dims were way off on the load. Road construction. Pole car hit a bridge. Weather curfew. Fuel stops too far away (on the bigger loads, this will be a problem). There's almost always something that goes wrong.

Pulled a load out of Ct to Miss, oversized, aircraft ($$$$$). Routed down I81. Stopped at Whites at the 205, got a room. Next morning, I strike out southbound. Saw a sign about the road being closed and a detour. I called Virginia and tried to get my permit amended so I wouldnt have to take the detour. They wouldnt amend it and I had to do the detour, US11. There was a hazmat spill and both sides of 81 were closed. They routed all traffic up US11. Every big load there was had to share 2 skinny lanes. We were taking wide spots in the road and taking turns passing each other. Of course, with all the other traffic, this made for an extremely slow process. Going up a steep hill a truck burned out his clutch. It just wouldnt give him enough friction to climb the hill. Got back to the interstate, and I hear about another accident at the Tn/Va line and the road shut down. It was late afternoon, so I stopped in Glade Springs at the Petro and called it an night. It took all day to run less than 200 miles. I had planned to be within striking distance of Memphis, but that wasn't happening.

 

patience and problem solving is an art form with a little common sense thrown in doing this kinda work. it is a learned art form, you are not born with it.