steel coil question

[bean head]

Question for all of you steel haulers. If you properly secure your coils what are the chances of a load shift or even worse losing your load?

[terrylamar]

Question for all of you steel haulers. If you properly secure your coils what are the chances of a load shift or even worse losing your load?

As long as your equipment is in good shape and you secure your load properly, I don't think there is much chance of the load shifting or of losing it.

[GMAN]

If a coil is properly secured it should stay on the trailer even if the trailer was on it's side. Not that I am recommending anyone lay their truck on it's side. :wink: The reason coils don't stay on the trailer is because the driver didn't use enough securement. He took shortcuts.

[Uturn2001]

Even with a properly secured coil a driver should drive like the coil is unsecured.

[DaveP]

Even with a properly secured coil a driver should drive like the coil is unsecured.

Had an old-timer tell me to haul a coil like it was a loose raw egg sitting on your trailer...and you were going to starve if you lost it.

[GMAN]

I have hauled coils for years and usually add at least one more strap or chain than is necessary to properly secure the load. I am still not completely comfortable hauling them. Perhaps that is a good thing.

[DaveP]

I have hauled coils for years and usually add at least one more strap or chain than is necessary to properly secure the load. I am still not completely comfortable hauling them. Perhaps that is a good thing.

I'm not 100% comfortable hauling coils either...but I AM 100% confident in my securement before I go down the road.

I also use Gman's method...

Example:

34,500 lb coil = FIVE 10,000lb rated chains.

When loaded "shotgun" I also add a "trip" block in front at the base of the coil...

I saw a small car that was crushed (with a teenage girl driver) in Tennessee several years ago.

Gman, you may remember that. I'm thinking it was that stretch between Lawrenceburg and Pulaski.

If I ever "lost" a coil due to negligence and killed someone they may as well put me down as I would be pretty much useless after...

[GMAN]

I am familiar with that area, DaveP. I have seen too many accidents and trucks hauling 45,000 pound coils with only 2 chains on them. That is a scary thought. I remember when I leased to CRST Malone there was a coil on the yard. One of their trucks turned over and the coil went into the woods. That night they got the truck up but waited until the next day to get the coil. When they got the coil up there was a woman and child underneath. They were taking a walk in the woods when they were killed. A coil doesn't just come loose if it is properly secured. There are way too many who are willing to take short cuts when securing these type of loads. One or two chains are not sufficient to hold a coil, even in a coil rack. If one chain snaps or breaks the other one isn't going to hold it. I have seen coils that have fallen off of the truck and rolled down the highway. I have also seen trucks that have had coils run over the cab. These don't happen unless the driver failed to take the time to secure his load. If you have a load secured with 5 chains, all of them are not going to break at the same time.

[Chris M]

How much longer does it take to properly secure a coil as aposed to just a few chains? I can't imagine someone cutting corners on something that dangerous but apparently it happens. The thought of one of those coming loose is pretty scary.

[Uturn2001]

How much longer does it take to properly secure a coil as aposed to just a few chains? I can't imagine someone cutting corners on something that dangerous but apparently it happens. The thought of one of those coming loose is pretty scary.

Happens all the time. If you are ever in Chicago take a good look at the day cabs hauling coils. It is not uncommon at all to see them with only 2 or 3 chains.

[steelhauler2007]

I was hauling coils out of Houston,Tx the other day and was pulled over by the Harris County DOT.They were inspecting every coil loads securement.Officer said they found one of the local trucks hauling a 48,000 lb.coil had it secured with rope.Couldn't even imagine that.Doesn't take any longer to secure any load properly.I always drive a flatbed like it is a tanker full of liquid and no baffles.Have not had any problems.One thing to remember ALWAYS RESPECT COILS.

[GMAN]

I can't imagine someone securing a coil with a rope. :shock: Apparently there are a lot of trucks losing coils. I would not be surprised if more cities and states started checking how they are secured more often. While is may be a little bit of a hassle I would much prefer that to someone losing one going down the highway. Alabama has made it a criminal offense for a driver to lose a coil. They have had several of them dropped on the interstate in Birmingham. I know of a couple of carriers that actually had someone in their safety departments on site at one of the steel plants in Birmingham to make sure their drivers had their loads properly secured. It seems to be more of a problem with local or short run drivers. They don't want to take the extra time to throw a couple more chains on the coil. I suppose they are paid by the load so they want to get as many as possible.

[DaveP]

ROPE? Holy crap!

That's no less dangerous than someone loading 1 bullet in a revolver and spinning around in a crowd of people pulling the trigger...

That driver should've went straight to jail.

Gman, a lot of drivers complain but PGT requires ALL drivers (company, lease ops, and owner ops) loading coils at U S Steel to come straight to the terminal (just over the hill in Midfield) for inspection before hitting the road.

[heavyhaulerss]

after hauling almost exclusively haevy single coils. i have never lost one or had one shift. b-ham al has been hit vard by d.o.t. cause of careless drivers. the short haul drivers 50-100 mi runs need min loads to make a decant pay for that day. they run like gangbusters & lost loads are a result. after searching the archives on the b-ham paper & the decatur daily typing in lost coils, i've read lots of stories one was a coil lost on a straight stretch of hyway. no cures or ramps. how this person lost it the paper never said, but mentioned the driver was not givin any kind of fine or citation. the coil lost was on hyw 31 between athesn al & decatur near calhoun college. there havee been some lost on the hyw 31-alt 20 decatur bridge also. looking at the are .. you wonder how can a driver lose a load here? it is really kinda hard to. unless going rrally fast making the turn to beat the light or having less than enough chains on load.

[bean head]

A few weeks ago in the area I work in a truck hauling one of the bigger coils rearended another 18 wheeler trying to turn off of hwy 72. The coil broke loose and took the cab of the truck off. The only thing left was the driver seat. Nobody was seriously hurt, I dont even think anybody went to the hospital. The local paper had a picture of it and boy was it something to see. If this load was properly secured would this have happened?

[special k]

I hauled steel for ten years and the only time I had coils move is when they were loaded shotgun with paper wrap and paper under them. Some steel mills require that when you load there. I had a couple move forward a foot or so until I started making sure the chains rested against the front and back of the coil instead of being on a angle. Some of the mills don't like any part of the chain touching the coil but I'd rather have the chain hitting the end of the coil than having the coil move forward in a hard stop.

[heavyhaulerss]

al state law requires peices of rubber be placed between any coil & the coil timbers to reduce sliding

[nrvsreck]

When I was with TMC I remember loading at some big mill in East Chicago, IN. Most of the guys were locals with beat-up old Freightshakers and rusty steel trailers. They'd load up 40,000#+ coils, throw maybe two or three chains and leave within 15 minutes. So I back in, load up a ~45,000# coil, throw six chains and start doing the TMC "tent tarp". I'd already been in there about an hour or so and the locals, plus the crane operator were getting pissed. About the same time another TMC boy pulls in and gets the same load going to the same place. He comes over and asks how to go about securing the bastard. I tell him use at least five chains, no kinks, make sure the chains are straight, and tighten them down with everything you got. Next day I get to the customer, get unloaded, and here comes this same guy backing in next to me and undoing his tarp. I guess he let the pressure of the locals get to him back in E. Chicago because he only had four chains on that d&mned coil! For a 45,000# coil, that doesn't even meet federal law much less TMC's policy of 1.5 times securement. TMC's policy is basically if the fed says five chains, use six.

I've always hated hauling those big coils. They just plain make me nervous. As far as I'm concerned, the more securement, the better. And if the mill wants me out before I'm done, I don't care. I'll secure it outside. I prefer fresh air anyway!

[rvrjr7]

wont being nervous about hauling coils just make you double and triple check the load and throw more chains just to be safe? always better to have too many chains on coils than not enough too many will just take a lil longer to put away and alot easier than explaining to the dot, and your company and everyone why you lost a coil

[heavyhaulerss]

i used to go to burns harbor indiana off cline ave a lot. mittel steel also known as isg steel. those local haulers run like gangbusters & will run over your @ss. i put one chain on & weather permitting i do the rest outside. when i'm done & going down the road, i dont have this nervous feeling if my coil will stay on. i have peace of mind cause i know it's not going anywhere. be safe. everyplace all the time.