Why arent steel coils transported on RGN or double-drop? would it not be safer compared to a normal flatbed with a bulkhead?
Posted by Maleficent-Door6461@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 60 comments
Chilliebro@reddit
In Europe we haul coils in standard covered trailers.
If you want to be fancy there are ones you can order with a coil cradle in the middle of the flooring.
Easy peasy.
flatdecktrucker92@reddit
In a dry van? With paper thin walls? How do you secure them?
Chilliebro@reddit
Standard covered for us is basically what you call a covered flatbed in the us :-)
Straps or chains depending on material is used to secure them
And we have to secure it with beams (if possible) and preferly coil pouch
flatdecktrucker92@reddit
Oh I see. The kind with the folding tarp sides?
I've done 99% flat deck
Chilliebro@reddit
Hell yeah! I mostly pull curtainsider or low-decks
GiveMeAUsernameFGS@reddit
A lot use curtainsiders, whereas some of us, myself included, use sliders. Check out A Hingley, Monex, Runtech, Owens etc in the UK. You'll see lots of examples of sliders/ wendy houses doing mixed steel loads 👍
JustAGuyTrynaSurvive@reddit
RGNs are very heavy and just wouldn't make sense using them to transport a coil because you would have to permit the load when you wouldn't have to on a flatbed or step deck. I guess the only exception would be if the coil weighed 60k or more
ultralight_ultradumb@reddit
We sometimes do transport coils on step decks but you can’t fit as many coils on, and you’re guaranteed to have one on your drives. Also, it’s harder to tarp them, and coils pretty much always have to be tarped.
RGN is a whole other level, they don’t want to hand those out to any jamoke with a winch bar.
Also, the company owners don’t really care if we die.
UhOhAllWillyNilly@reddit
I think your last point is the salient one
cm2460@reddit
NUH UH THEY SAID SAFETY IS NUMBER 1!!!
lleu81@reddit
You misheard. Safety (score) is number 1. Common mistake.
errie_tholluxe@reddit
The score is implied , always. Same with "our number 1 concern 53 ft ahead" . They can even add driver, but they really mean just the truck
THEDarkSpartian@reddit
No, they're talking about the driver. The possibility of the driver suing them. Or getting them sued.
Josef_Kant_Deal@reddit
No, they're just talking about the front of the trailer
THEDarkSpartian@reddit
A $500 bulkhead is nothing compared to a million dollar lawsuit.
UhOhAllWillyNilly@reddit
A score of 1 is the best score possible. Perversely enough, safety is scored like golf where lower numbers are better.
anon23337@reddit
Safety is number one after profit and the other shit they prioritize.
Eastern_East_96@reddit
Your last point is completely false, my company said safety is their biggest priority (I work for western express).
Lavasioux@reddit
As long as the coils don't roll over the profits, send it!- Management
thestug93@reddit
I know this may come as a shock, but safety is not the biggest concern, making money is. In general guys that haul coils also haul other types of flatbed stuff. Having a trailer that can haul all types of general flatbed freight is going to make getting loads and minimizing deadheads much easier. Also I'm uncertain if RGN trailers are designed to handle center loading coils. I know the trailers I used to haul coils on were specifically specced to be coil rated meaning loading all the weight in a concentrated area in the middle of the trailer was perfectly acceptable.
windybrownstar@reddit
Tare weight.
Nozerone@reddit
Because an RGN that can handle 50k lbs is a lot heavier than a flatbed or stepdeck that can handle 50k lbs. Flatbeds and step decks have a lot of room under the bed for vertical strengthening. An RGN requires all the strengthening to be horizontal along the trailer. If you ever look at a flatbed or stepdeck, you can see a long verticle brace running along the underside of the trailer. That is what gives those trailers pretty much all of their strength. RGNs sit to low for something like that. So any strengthening has to be built in with the frame of the trailer.
Hardanklesnw@reddit
This guy RGN’s
Nozerone@reddit
I use to. Certainly my favorite kind of work to do in the industry. The perks I get at my new company though are enough to sacrifice the RGN. I do miss it though.
DaRealMexicanTrucker@reddit
Good answer bud. Have a brew 🍺
My51stThrowaway@reddit
God damn this guy knows his shit
Supertrucker82@reddit
Well said
Randorini@reddit
This is the most correct answer, with my truck and lowboy, I'm 52k empty, I can't haul 90% of loads because they weight over 28k and are divisible
Topopotomopolot@reddit
Rgns are like 5k lbs heavier than flats.
Eye-vin_@reddit
I had our RGN for a week because of a few specific equipment loads, but wound up having to use it for skidded loads of stone and some structural steel. It was a huge pain to load "non-RGN" freight on it, and trying to scale the axles properly and evenly distribute the weight.
Add to that, there are no winches along the side of our low boy so it was 3" portable straps all day long and having to stow them into an Rubbermaid bin on the top deck. It took way longer than standard flatbeds for everything except the heavy equipment.
Also, as others have said, most flatbeds that regularly run coils have a "coil pack" built into the frame around the middle of the trailer so it allows the weight to sit all in one place without too many issues.
Show_Quality_Trash@reddit
Oversized coils do get the RGN
lord_nuker@reddit
Rng's are expensive to own, more difficult to operate, and requires much more mental capacity than ordinary flatbeds. Just think about the increase in railroad crossing accidents... And then you also have to spend time and money on drivers to learn how to take it apart and get it back together...
Ben325e2@reddit
It's unusual but I learned how to split and recombine a RGN in my trucking school. Community College: )
Icy-Present-27@reddit
I paid 3000$ for trucking school and they didn't even teach me how to hook up to a trailer. 100% of my knowledge was on the job training.
lord_nuker@reddit
👍👍
xj5635@reddit
And there's plenty of work for rgns that I'm sure would pay better than coil. Why run coil over a longer distance when you can move Billy bobs dozer 15 miles and make 600+ bucks for a couple of hours work.
cCueBasE@reddit
You wouldn’t detach to load a coil though.
Randorini@reddit
Yeah but 90% of the freight for any kind of back haul would require it
pianodude01@reddit
Rgns and double drops are specialized equipment that costs more, weigh more, and is harder to use. They also have fewer tie-down points compared to a regular flat/stepdeck.
They weigh 1.5-2x as much, which means they can't handle as heavy or as many. (Unless permited).
You also need a specially modified truck to hook to them (frame ramps + air suspension dump)
Mechanik_J@reddit
If you're strapping or chaining down correctly, with correct straps and/or chains, you can transfer anything on any trailer.
Leto_ll@reddit
How to chain 1700 gallons of milk plz
tvieno@reddit
Put the milk in 7 IBC totes and there you go.
Leto_ll@reddit
Hey, you did the math. But I bet the receiver won't like those cages being all bent up, better get some edge protectors, plywood and tarps
tvieno@reddit
I take it you never seen a flatbed haul them before.
Leto_ll@reddit
I'm sure it can be done, but not why. Everyone I deal with obsesses about clean and secure
Mechanik_J@reddit
This is probably not recommended since a tank trailer would be easier...
It's going to take a couple of flat bed trailers, or trips. You put the milk in totes, and load them up on a flatbed trailer.
ghettoccult_nerd@reddit
me, with a bunch of straps, try to tie down uncompressed compressed co^2
Antique_One7110@reddit
I drive none of those, but I’d assume it’s a weight issue.
Maleficent-Door6461@reddit (OP)
maybe but RGN trailers are designed to haul heavy machinery so idk
Ornery_Ads@reddit
But they are heavy.
An Airbua A380 can safely carry a single passenger, but so could a Cessna 172.
Just because the A380 is designed to carry even more passengers doesn't mean it's the better option when you only want to transport 1 person.
Maleficent-Door6461@reddit (OP)
mb i thought you meant the weight capacity, never though of that
lord_nuker@reddit
That depends on the person😉
sputnikatto@reddit
Like your mom would even fit in the Airbus.
lord_nuker@reddit
Oh she would, me on the other hand might need first class seating or two seats on ordinary class.
Yz-Guy@reddit
They all run overweight permits. And usually that's mostly local work, unless being moved nation wide.
You don't want to have to deal with a headache of getting an overweight permit to cross 10 states. And then also hoping the driver obeys all 10 states stipulations.
Now multiply thay by X drivers doing it in said company. It's a lot of extra money. Both in the permits and inevitable fines.
jgremlin_@reddit
In my experience, a small percentage of coil guys bring a very professional safety conscience approach to how they do their job. The rest cut corners. Its what they do. Give most coil guys a drop deck or RGN, and they won't make it 50 miles before they high center it on something.
JakeJascob@reddit
They do sometimes there's even special made step-decks and flat beds with thick steel guards on the side so you don't have to really strap down the coils.
cCueBasE@reddit
Because it would have to be a 3 axle rgn in most cases to scale a 40k coil.
They do make trailers specifically for hauling coils though.
Questionoid@reddit
What I have learned is that flatbeds and stepdecks can take a focused or concentrated weight much better that a regular RGN, and that is complicated strength of materials math to get to that point. The example is that if you haul a single coil of 35k of whatthefuckever, that 35 tons is concentrated over a span of 2 feet or less on the deck. RGN’s don’t like that, you have to spread the concentrated weight out a bit.
deadpat03@reddit
Have you ever seen some of the places coils go? Thier not necessarily driving on flat land, let alone a gravel road.