Massive oversight I made

Posted by synsolo86@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 50 comments

So today my laziness caught up with me today. I've been running some of these U-Box/storage pod boxes for a while. I've never strapped them down or put a load bar in front of them. Even all the shippers I talked to say most guys don't secure them. But I always secure any other type of load, whether it be with a strap or a bar. Well today I learned the hard way, how stupid that is.

Got pulled into the weigh station on the 90, just west of rapid city. Got a level 2 inspection, and everything was going perfectly. My logs looked solid, equipment was perfect, and then the instructor said he wants to look into the trailer.

All this time, everything I've heard about load securement, I thought mostly applied to flatbeds. So when he asked to look into the trailer, it caught me off guard. I thought to myself "is he looking for contraband"? When the doors opened, he immediately asked "what's missing here"? Then I immediately knew I screwed up. I owned up to it and asked if I could fix it. He said I could, then I would have to go back in the scale house afterwards to finish up. Just ended up with a warning with failure to secure load.

So in short, today I learned the load securement portion also applies to dry van. Happy inspection week, folks.

Picture was taken after I strapped it down.

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NWdabest@reddit

I do foodservice and because of what I’ve seen regarding this blitz week I’ve been strapping my pallet jack to the wall at the end of the day.

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edsavage404@reddit

Even if its a electric pallet jack?

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flatdecktrucker92@reddit

Is that not something you always did? That thing hitting the trailer wall at full speed would be terrible for it, and fucking annoying to listen to

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NWdabest@reddit

It’s an electric pallet jack. Has a brake. In my 5 years of working here I’ve had it slide forward like 5 feet one single time on a hard brake.

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CarPatient@reddit

You know howany times I seen an LTL rig lose their pallet jack because it wasnt secured and they left the door rolled up? Bruh.

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NWdabest@reddit

Or pallet jacks are electric so they have a brake and we have lift gates. Even if my roll up is open the lift gate is closed, blocking the door.

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Emergency_Ad1152@reddit

Yeah, they got a friend of mine for failing to secure his dolly. Good catch.

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TruckerTimmah@reddit

S*** once those pallets get to about knee-high....

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Emergency_Ad1152@reddit

Bro, they got one of our drivers at our Wylie yard for an unsecured chock block last year.

Driver was pulling out of our yard and got immediately pulled over. He couldn't find anything wrong and was about to let him go, when the driver said "fuck you, thank you for wasting my time." 🤣 Cop saw the chock block wedge in between the def cap and frame. He said, "now I'm going to waste more of your time."

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TruckerTimmah@reddit

I'm just finding this thought more. Comical. Imagine getting a ticket for having a pallet with a single case of chicken on it. How the f*** are you going to secure a single case of chicken? Would they complain about the pallet stacks in the nose of the trailer?

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ghostedbydefault@reddit

Plastic wrap or duct tape, I prefer the latter. It works great

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DathBlah@reddit

We just have the concave rubber stop for pallet jacks. DOT seems to like them

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Mobius438@reddit

Most LTL trailers I’ve seen have both for their jacks. A strap around the handle and a chock for the wheel. Even if I’m parking it under a pallet, I’ll usually still strap the handle to the wall.

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DathBlah@reddit

Ok, but strapping the handle to an e-track? If you have the pad (Uline) no need. We just use the pad. I’ve had 2 Level ones and 2 Level twos in the past 50 days cus I’ve been driving a 10 wheel box doing lab pack hazmat placarded. They love to inspect. Not worried about pallet jack, but I make damn sure my counterweighted drum dolly is strapped and all drum and containers are locked down and have 4’ separation from incompatible wastesteams.

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AndrewG34@reddit

What is blitz week?

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Nero-Danteson@reddit

It's when DOT increases enforcement. There's 2 weeks they do blitz. The first one is usually something kinda random (this year is logs and load securement.

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Numerous_Anybody181@reddit

Verkehr Blitzkrieg

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EnolaNek@reddit

Dumb question from a new reefer driver — what do I do if the trailer is preloaded and sealed? I’ve seen this particular load open before and it is completely packed in there front to back, to the point where I can’t even see if there is a load bar or not when looking in the viewing door with a light, and everything appears to be thoroughly shrink wrapped, but still…load bar status unknown, and it’s a sealed trailer.

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JOliverScott@reddit

I had a non-collision load shift incident last year and the saving grace was photographs. If you have a photograph of the sealed trailer at pickup or in my case the van interior was accessible but the freight was too bulky to access to secure after the fact so the shipper took responsibility for securement as they loaded it then tried to claim we should be responsible for climbing on top of wriggling between the freight to add securement after the fact. Engines mounted on janky wooden skids nailed to the floor isn't the securement AND they were kind enough to space them apart for legal weight distribution but that means when one broke loose it got up some momentum and caused an avalanche of engines that came right through the trailer nose and into the cab sleeper! I haven't been back to that shipper but I'm guessing they let the drivers on the dock now to secure each engine!

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ghostedbydefault@reddit

I too would like to know the answer to this. Some customer don't allow us drivers to inspect much less secure the load before the trailer is sealed. Are we still getting a ticket if the shipper didn't properly secure the load?

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Here in the UK we typically have a bar across for rigid wall trailers, for curtain side trailers we typically use internal strap systems or through straps on like a flatbed truck would

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SashaDabinsky@reddit

I've always wondered how they handle USPS trailers when they want to lookin them. Since it's federal property, and they're sealed, I don't think they can do much. There's been many times in the past where I've picked up a USPS trailer in one of the USPS yards, and as soon as I hit the road I know shit is loose because I can hear it banging around in the trailer. Nothing I could do since it was sealed, and I couldn't look at it before hooking up to it.

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AngelicDroid@reddit

That's weird im hauling a lot of USPS mail like 80% of my load are USPS. Those guy are really strict about load securement. Some place will make you go in their facility and strap it yourself, some place like the one in Boston it's drop and hook they will tell you to put 12 straps in the trailer before you drop it.

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SashaDabinsky@reddit

I worked for 10 Roads, EVO Transportation, North Cedar Trucking, and JCMR, all USPS contractors, and USPS is all I ever hauled for them. At the Des Moines, IA NDC you dropped a trailer, and hooked another trailer. You never opened a trailer, and you never stepped foot inside the facility.

At the Des Moines P&DC a few miles away you always went inside while they loaded and unloaded the trailer.

DSM NDC: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6341748,-93.7725157,382m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUxMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

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nicerakk@reddit

That sucks because you can't fight a warning. It still goes on the company's CSA and your PSP. No way to fight it in court

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synsolo86@reddit (OP)

I know, it's been on my mind all day. Worried about any future employment. My mindset is "who's going to hire this kid, who can't even simply throw a strap down on a load"?

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nicerakk@reddit

Did you report it to your company? You should immediately

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synsolo86@reddit (OP)

Yeah right after. The boss was pretty cool about it. But this is kind of embarrassing because it's so simple.

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adidaman@reddit

Companies don't care dumb warnings like this. Don't listen to these people. I helped hire drivers at a mega and something like this would be looked over

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nicerakk@reddit

Live and learn. Reporting it to your company immediately shows you have integrity and own your mistakes. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Just remember, once those trailer doors close, that load is your responsibility. Don't listen to any shipper. Cover your own ass. You can't have too much securement in a dry box. If in doubt, secure it.

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Tricky_Big_8774@reddit

Lemme just throw that 1500 lb strap on my 3 ton paper rolls real quick...

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ArtDecoModerne@reddit

If something happens to make those fuckers move, you're probably asking questions like "why am I upside down" or "I wonder if I'll ever walk again"

But Mr. DOT don't care.

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synsolo86@reddit (OP)

Haha, it's the thought that counts lol

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usec47@reddit

I call them "police straps" it is mostly there for them since we haul veri fragile loads. Even tightening strap little too much will break something lol

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RevolutionaryDebt365@reddit

What would they say about a bulk load of potatoes in a reefer?

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synsolo86@reddit (OP)

Shoot, I wouldn't even know. I personally think they would let it slide. How do you even secure a load of potatoes? Lol

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dstrezzd@reddit

Lots and lots of duct tape

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BeenThruIt@reddit

The same way as fixing stupid. Ironic...

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Odd_Lime_3925@reddit

Bacon weave cargo net

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IBringTheHeat2@reddit

A retaining bar that’s solid

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Kindly_Region@reddit

You have to strap each potato

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CrispyLuggage@reddit

I hauled frozen fries for a decade. Never once secured the load. I always assumed since the trailer was packed full, and the last skids were basically touching the doors, that there was no point. If the load shifts, it's moving 1 inch at most in any direction.

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synsolo86@reddit (OP)

Yeah when he said that to me, that was such a facepalm moment to me. Like "no shit"? Such a stupidly simple thing, and I let it go over my head.

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TerribleDraft1988@reddit

Thanks for the explanation I was scratching my head trying to figure out what was wrong.