We Lost Another One-R.I.P. Driver

I don't particularly care to have my load securement or brakes stress-tested, so unless I'm in a traffic jam with a stable position, my preference is to not allow anyone to camp out in a dangerous position (mainly space which is immediately in front and in the adjacent lanes, and secondarily any other space which is next to the truck) or creep by slowly.

 

I don’t understand that video. It wasn’t a sharp corner and he was off the brakes when they blew out the side. Weird. I worked for international paper for 5 years and not once had something happen like that to me or anyone else.

 

Not sure how heavy this steel was, looks like a pita to secure , probably cant get much leverage but i wonder if some cross chains up front wouldve have atleast helped in load shifting forward.. I dont think twice about it if i have something that looks like it can move i always throw cross chains in front

 

Hell i snapped dunnage by throwing it on top of my deck today

 

Loads like that one I’ll throw 2 choker chains or straps on it. Throw it over the load, under the load, then back over the load.

 

How would u go about cross chaining something with a wood bulkhead.? Ive never seen it done before i would be interested to see what it looks like if u got any pics, would be something id like to try myself

 

This is exactly the setup that saved my ### when I had a student slam on the brakes for a deer. It was a load very similar to what this guy had, except we had it tarped. It slid about three inches and stopped at the 8 4x4s chained together in front of the load (four high, two deep). I had to undo the bulkhead when we got to the receiver since the tarp was pinched in between the steel and the boards.

Three lessons I learned from that:

1. Always secure against forward movement. The regs say secure to 80% of the weight for forward motion. That's no joke, and most flatbed loads of steel beams or tubing or rebar or other stuff like this that I see going down the road aren't done right. Do it every time or make sure your will is up to date.

2. Don't train student drivers. They're stupid and they do stupid things.

3. Don't train student drivers if you have less than ten years of experience and really like teaching people and have the skills and patience necessary to train them. (I only have four years experience now, and obviously had a lot less then. That would lead me to No. 4, don't lease a truck, especially not from Prime, because you're going to feel so desperate for making money that training seems like it's not such a bad idea, but I'm pretty sure you all knew that already.)

Yeah, I'm lucky to be alive. Yeah, I'm stupid. So what? I survived.

 

Can you elaborate a little on the beam securement? What are they doing wrong that your seeing?

 

Here's some examples from when I was pulling flats. I thought I had a pic somewhere of an x-chain across the front of plate steel, but if I do, it's somewhere on the storage of a retired phone. The top photo is probably the best example of trying to do it right. The rest are a mixed bag, and at least one of these is an example of doing it wrong, because as I said before, I'm stupid. A couple are examples of doing the best I could with what I had at the time, which is partly why I decided to stop pulling flats. Not that I want to die from drowning or burning up in toxic chemicals, but at least with tankers I don't have to worry so much about stuff falling off the trailer or sliding up into the cab. The trucks I pulled flats with all had headache racks, but I never really counted on them stopping a load if it really got moving.

 

I searched Youtube. There are a number of Youtube videos but moist of the idiots are building them in the very front of the trailer, 10+ feet from any part of the load. I'm can't bring myself to post links to such poor displays of tradecraft

This guy shows basically how it's done. But if you have enough timbers and have a "short load", having them two-deep (twin stacks of 2-3 high) is better for added strength. Anything over about 3 posts high, then the integrity begins to lessen.


With the load in the post as I can make it out, I would have done a 2X2 bulkhead right up against the steel after it was loaded.