Hawk has Reached Rock Bottom..

[matcat]

I don;t understand why shippers can't fathom this (and they likely CAN - but just don't give a rats patoot). X Pallet has y numbers of cases at z lbs per case X x Y x Z + weight of wooden pallet = weight per pallet loaded (W). Truck can handle a gross load of - T, so T/W= number of loaded pallets. Like they DON'T KNOW how many you can handle? I suspect palletized cases of bottled water are single stacked only. I mean - unless you've got a ton or so of "powdered contraband" in a false floor - it's NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.

Based on the original load numbers - IF you could have slid the 5th wheel to put another 1,500 lbs on the steers (and that's a BIG IF - depending on the dynamics of the load) that would give you another 2,570 you could have shifted onto the drives by sliding the tandems BACK. With 36,380 on the original weight - that's about 8-10 holes you would have had to slide - probably maxing your slides and giving you a rig that would likely run over EVERY OTHER CURB you came across today.

You probably could have gotten your axle gross's close to "in the ballpark" by sliding your rears all the way back - but the few hundred lbs afforded by a sliding 5th, would probably had allowed you to shift enough to get drive/trailers within spec.

Ever wight your tractor to see what it's gross is - along with an unloaded trailer? Probably worth a scale ticket out of pocket, so you can tell at at glance by looking at the BOL, whether or not you're going to need a trip back to the shipper after scaling - or not.

Thanks again, for the LEARNING EXPERIENCE. That's just ONE MORE THING I'll be cognizant of - BEFORE I even graduate school and it the road myself...

Rick

Every driver should know his empty weight, regardless of what they pull.

[LightsChromeHorsepower]

I think Mike3fan's original advice was the best.

A couple of weeks ago I tried to help a Swift driver in an almost identical situation at the Miller brewery in Irwindale. I think what is really needed is a law requiring all shippers with certified scales to provide axle weights to trucks loading at their facility and further requiring them to adjust any loads that are not legal.

The amount of fuel wasted each day in the U.S. by truckers dealing with this same BS must be huge- I'd push that angle to get the enviro's on board.

I'm sure we will see this soon, along with safe parking sites for all of us.

I cam assure you that the BS doesn't go away at a smaller co. I work for a 15 truck regional carrier & would quite often trade my chromed out Pete for a chance to be anonymous. In a small company you have not just your BS to deal with, but other drivers that want to involve you in theirs.

Good luck & hang in there.

[Uturn2001]

In order to possible legal out on weight at any rate, you would have had to be able to slide your tandems 8-10 holes and then slide a 5th wheel at least 3 to 6 spaces forward depending on the exact type of slide the truck would have had.

Of course this is just weight legal and does not take into account any bridge or king pin laws that might be involved.

Most of the trucks I have driven had sliding 5th wheels. In something like 8 years I only had to slide them 3 or 4 times, and two of those times for certain it was to set it when I was assigned the truck because some idiot (either the last driver or the shop) decided to move it either all the way forward or all the way back. (and no the all the way back was not on a Volvo)

[GMAN]

It has been years since I have had to move my fifth wheel. Most loads can be made legal by moving the trailer tandems if the loader has done their job. If a load is very heavy it is usually best to not load it past the 48' mark on the trailer. If the shipper loads it all the way back to the rear of a 53' trailer it is sometimes difficult to make it legal on the axles.

[jonp]

Thanks for you guys opinions so far.. let me answer some of your questions



I lost my cool because i just started driving again and started my day, to come up here and found out that i would have to wait six hours before anyone could do anything about it i was very upset, i didn't go off or snap on the people inside or anything but i was clearly upset and mad, i was planning to leave and just go with since they weren't going to do nothing but thats when the "Curb" incident happen and i basically couldn't go anywhere...

And the thing about waiting for a plan, that was basically the person i talk to plan was take it back up here and let them move or take pallets off. i was told it was either that or run with it..



That wasn't the case, albeit i only come on to this position to pull "WAL MART Frieght" but in a way i was up for the challenge to run up 95 and the Turnpike, actually i can say i was having some type of fun until this happen.. but i am upset on how i got it.. you will quickly found out jonp (in the message you sent me i think you have) how Green Bay handle us on Wal Mart Loads, I think you even found out, but its a whole another store in its self I'll PM you and tell you how i ended up with this...



Nope, i said "Hello", "How you doing Yada Yada", and before i can even finish saying that she rudely interrupted with "Where's your scale ticket"



I know your giving advice but that's funny!! TRUST ME, it will help!! Now if i leave Schneider I'm Clearly not going to no other McMega, so yeah i think it will Alleviate Future Frustrations..

And you guys say a few hundred pounds over, is 500 to 700 pounds acceptable?? Last week i was pulling a meat load back from Gwaltney in Portsmouth and i was 700 Over on my Trailer Axles and told me i had to move them or else..

I've already run into a little of what your talking about with Green Bay although Henderson may be run a little differently than Gordonsville. They can pull us off of loads and switch us around from Henderson and do it all of the time. 2 days ago Green Bay scheduled me for my last stop apt. on my 14th hour. ie: started at 1030am and my 3rd stop was scheduled for 1230am. Hell No!!! Went in and said no-way and they pulled me and put me on a different one. We run groceries in NC, VA Beach, Johnson City TN and Bedford, Pa once in a while only so I have no worries about ending up in Maine. Heck, I moved from there so I didnt have to drive the Pike and NYC.

As for the "attitude" we have all been there and thats what I was getting at. It's easy to have stuff go on and walk into a customer without our gameface, it's one big happy world look and get off on the wrong foot from the get-go. I'm sure you didnt do that but we all slip on it and then when we are leaving with something messed up our mind is not totally on driving and we cut a corner and run a curb or something.

No disrespect intended, Hawk!

[jonp]

First thing first, i appreciate all the sound advice..

But things ended up getting better as the day went on i guess but unbelievably after the pallets got re worked/re arranged the truck was still over weight, now it was over weight on both the drives and the trailer..Hell even the poor fella from Western Express his truck was Over Gross by 500 pounds!! so finally someone came to their senses at Schneider and told me go ahead and run with it and if i get popped they will pay the ticket.. Luckly i took the long way, 78 to 81, down to 522 (to dodge the va scale) and jumped on 66 and got on 17.. Very luckily the scale in PA was closed and i trucked on by..

Even tho i have lost money this week i'm just going to chill out i guess, i'm going to end up getting 3 nights at home coming up and i guess to relax...

Also let me ask someone this, do u think this truck not having a sliding 5th wheel had anything to do with this load?? i know if i had a sliding 5th wheel i could of moved the weight to my steers and everything would of been good i guess...but the so smart dispatcher guess i had a condo or truck with an sliding 5th wheel...

Also anyone been to the Loves at Exit 23 on 78?? what a cluster F(%# that is!!

I ran with a fixed 5th wheel for 3 yrs and, much to my surprise, never had a problem with shifting weight. I was leery of this but found I didnt need it. Still feel better with one, though.

[Kevin0915]

Well as some or most might know i'm a dedicated driver for Schneider for Wal Mart Freight.. Apparently we have these New Hampshire/Maine System Runs, which consit of deadheading 163 miles to Suffolk VA, Picking up an Loaded Orange Box, Go 600 + miles north to Raymond New Hampshire, Drop and Hook, Leave Into Maine go pick up a load of water in either Hollis Center ME or Poland Springs ME and deliver to various Points then a load back to VA.. Sounds all great right.. 1700 miles or more in four or less days...

Every thing was going pretty well i guess i can say, got to go thru NYC (even tho it was night) Various point's in CT, so on and on.. Then comes the last leg of the load, I pick up a load of Water in Breinigsville PA at the Nestle Plant, pick up every thing looks decent, but when i closed the doors i notice there was two more pallets than the last load of water i picked up in Maine, the load from Maine was close enough over weight but just barely and these were basically the same two loads (from the looks of it seem like the same 16 oz bottles).. so the nearest scale is 25 miles away, i got scale the load to find out that its 10,500 on the Steers, 32,930 on the Drive's and you ready for this one.. 36,380 on the Trailer!! The gross was 79900 now once i find this out and i come to the conclusion that even if i do slide the trailer axles foward it will be 600-800 pounds over weight on each axle except for the steers.. now if your asking why don't i move the fifth wheel, well this truck doesn't have a sliding fifth wheel..

Now i'm 25 miles away and when i got to the truck stop (some Dump in Coopersburg PA) my 14 hr clock was over and couldnt go no where, so i called my so called office, and told them of the issue.. Since this was a system load and not a wal mart load they couldn't do nothing much about it, so my home office called the dispatcher of this load and told him of the issue, i told the person i spoke to at my home office to call me back regardless to inform me of what was going on.. i go to my truck go to sleep and wake up in 4 hours and no miss calls?? WTF? so i call my home office back and talk to the guy i talk to, he claims "TJ" said he was going to take care of it and never called him back.. So he says hes going to call him again, he says he calls and didn't get no answer, so again i'm like WTF?? so i say bump it once my 10 is over with i'll go back up there, so i go inside blah blah blah, i tell them what this deal is all and that and show him the Scale Ticket, some woman in a smart ass way says, "he's not even over loaded" so some guy in a safety vest comes to the window and tell's me there's nothing they can do until 7 AM in the morning because being over weight is not are problem and since I'm not over gross weight it's still not there problem... so i pull out the gate mad and frustrated and like a complete dumb ass which might cost me my job didn't swing out wide enough and bent the wheel on the rim of the Trailer Tire on a curb..

You know how many drivers would KILL for a Wal-Mart dedicated run? myself included??? I've turned down roads that really got me nervous, i've been to shippers/drops where people inside have this 'god' complex, and really irks me. i've NEVER forgot how big an azz i'm pullin' behind me where i bend a wheel by hitting a curb. You must have been going pretty good clip to bend a trailer rim.....why take it out on your equipment?? If a buddy lets you borrow his car, and you get mad and break the windshield, who do you think he is going to ask to fix it? Be lucky the company dont take the rim out of your paycheck.

As far as your weights, the lady inside was right....you are not over weight, you were 79,900. You said your steers wernt even 11,000. I had a load at Nestle in Texas, i was 660 overgross (80,660) and lucky for me the scale was a couple miles away from their gate. Why would i not go back to the shipper? one poster said they'd not even take the laod back on the road again, maybe that was because the scale you stopped at was 25 mi away.

either way, i may be a dumb swift driver (according to some of you) but atleast i know you slide your tandems toward the 'problem'. It isnt rocket science to scale your truck so you're leagal. I knew how to do that before i left the driving school.

[Hawkjr]

You know how many drivers would KILL for a Wal-Mart dedicated run? myself included???

Not many!! Esp. on Schneider End.. Different Load release times and very inconsistent sleep patterns.. Not many drivers want this account.. All wal-mart warehouses are different.. Maybe in your area maybe so, it might be gravy, who knows

I've turned down roads that really got me nervous, i've been to shippers/drops where people inside have this 'god' complex, and really irks me

What does this have to do with anything, i guess you was nervous when you pulled them cones and barriers ah??

You must have been going pretty good clip to bend a trailer rim.....why take it out on your equipment?? If a buddy lets you borrow his car, and you get mad and break the windshield, who do you think he is going to ask to fix it? Be lucky the company dont take the rim out of your paycheck.

Where in my post does i say i did this intentionally?? i was mad and frustrated.. it was an accident i didn't swing out wide enough... jackass, and if the company does take it out of my check i completely understand and won't say a word about it.. and if i did do that to my friend windshield which odds are i would never do something that stupid i would be a man and pay and fix it!!

As far as your weights, the lady inside was right....you are not over weight

I clearly told the lady and office i was overweight on my drives and trailer axle.. i knew i wasn't, but let me know rocket scientist, even if was to adjust the trailer pin settings and then be 34,600 over both axles (which it was when i left with the load after scaling it for the 2nd time after getting re loaded) is legal good buddy?? huh?? is that not being overweight on YOUR AXLES??

either way, i may be a dumb swift driver (according to some of you) but atleast i know you slide your tandems toward the 'problem, It isnt rocket science to scale your truck so you're leagal

you not a dumb swift driver... your a stupid (insert three letter word here) swift driver... No disrespect to you D and Cdswans..

and i clearly said i made a mistake while typing i re wrote what i meant, so your self proclaim you know how to slide da da da.. is useless.. i slide my trailer axles all the time at the scale gate leaving the warehouse... i have done this over 20 to 30 times in the past 6 months

I knew how to do that before i left the driving school

Also moving barriers and cones in a Road Closed Construction Zone... damn that Swift School is a special place you went to.. went to Memphis..

Also for Future References.. if i'm posting something and asking for advice, you keep it moving.. you and you only!!

[Hawkjr]

I've already run into a little of what your talking about with Green Bay although Henderson may be run a little differently than Gordonsville. They can pull us off of loads and switch us around from Henderson and do it all of the time. 2 days ago Green Bay scheduled me for my last stop apt. on my 14th hour. ie: started at 1030am and my 3rd stop was scheduled for 1230am. Hell No!!! Went in and said no-way and they pulled me and put me on a different one. We run groceries in NC, VA Beach, Johnson City TN and Bedford, Pa once in a while only so I have no worries about ending up in Maine. Heck, I moved from there so I didnt have to drive the Pike and NYC.

As for the "attitude" we have all been there and thats what I was getting at. It's easy to have stuff go on and walk into a customer without our gameface, it's one big happy world look and get off on the wrong foot from the get-go. I'm sure you didnt do that but we all slip on it and then when we are leaving with something messed up our mind is not totally on driving and we cut a corner and run a curb or something.

No disrespect intended, Hawk!

Naw, i didn't take offense to your comment.. every comment been cool except for that Kev punk, i don't like him, something he did to some young black j b hunt drivers back in the day didn't like that very much.. but naw we cool man and i understand where you was coming from..

and i don't know if Schneider is going to do it with you guys in Henderson but we also have a run that runs us up to Symrna Delware Wal Mart warehouse and have us drop an orange box, pick up and wal mart box and take it to Palmyra PA to pick up an load of cereal, and bring it back to Gordonsville.. I love this run!!! its usually easy and painless..

Didn't know yall run all the way out to Johnson City, thats a good little ride.. but again man no hard feelings, i'm sorry if i came off that way

[Jumbo]

I don;t understand why shippers can't fathom this (and they likely CAN - but just don't give a rats patoot). X Pallet has y numbers of cases at z lbs per case X x Y x Z + weight of wooden pallet = weight per pallet loaded (W). Truck can handle a gross load of - T, so T/W= number of loaded pallets. Like they DON'T KNOW how many you can handle? I suspect palletized cases of bottled water are single stacked only. I mean - unless you've got a ton or so of "powdered contraband" in a false floor - it's NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.

Based on the original load numbers - IF you could have slid the 5th wheel to put another 1,500 lbs on the steers (and that's a BIG IF - depending on the dynamics of the load) that would give you another 2,570 you could have shifted onto the drives by sliding the tandems BACK. With 36,380 on the original weight - that's about 8-10 holes you would have had to slide - probably maxing your slides and giving you a rig that would likely run over EVERY OTHER CURB you came across today.

You probably could have gotten your axle gross's close to "in the ballpark" by sliding your rears all the way back - but the few hundred lbs afforded by a sliding 5th, would probably had allowed you to shift enough to get drive/trailers within spec.

Ever wight your tractor to see what it's gross is - along with an unloaded trailer? Probably worth a scale ticket out of pocket, so you can tell at at glance by looking at the BOL, whether or not you're going to need a trip back to the shipper after scaling - or not.

Thanks again, for the LEARNING EXPERIENCE. That's just ONE MORE THING I'll be cognizant of - BEFORE I even graduate school and it the road myself...

Rick

Shippers can do the math and know what the load weighs. The problem is driver #1 shows up with a day cab Freightliner pulling a new lightweight van with super singles all the way around and driver #2 shows up with a long hood Pete and a spread axle reefer. The loads are the same but the trucks are the variable in the equation. In an ideal world you get to a shipper, they weigh you, figure how many pallets you can haul, load you and make sure you are legal before you leave. Some places have this set up most dont. Now, If Hawk had a spread axle trailer, or a slider with 50 holes in it there would have been no problem. He can only run the equipment they give him.

[Jumbo]

And Hawk. You havent reached rock bottom yet. That is 3 flights down, Door is marked England. And look on the brightside, you have a shiny clean truc............eh, a almost new truc..........eh.....a job.

[VitoCorleone99]

Shippers can do the math and know what the load weighs. The problem is driver #1 shows up with a day cab Freightliner pulling a new lightweight van with super singles all the way around and driver #2 shows up with a long hood Pete and a spread axle reefer. The loads are the same but the trucks are the variable in the equation. In an ideal world you get to a shipper, they weigh you, figure how many pallets you can haul, load you and make sure you are legal before you leave. Some places have this set up most dont. Now, If Hawk had a spread axle trailer, or a slider with 50 holes in it there would have been no problem. He can only run the equipment they give him.

That Nestle plant loads 22 pallets and the weight is 46,659 pounds. That's just the way it is. They tell the carriers this in advance. The carriers know this before they send the driver over there. My load instructions, every time I head to that place, make it very clear that we must be able to scale 47,000 pounds or we need to refuse the load. For me, it's not even close to being an issue. For people with a different setup, they'll never get it legal.

Re-working the load isn't really a solution, since the pallets are jammed into the front of the trailer anyway and his weight issue was more on the rear. The bottom line is that Schneider shouldn't have booked the load. I feel bad for the driver involved here, but this one is on Schneider, not the shipper. Like you said, he can only run with the equipment that they give him. He can't, apparently, haul 47,000 pounds of water like the shipper requires.

[Hawkjr]

Shippers can do the math and know what the load weighs. The problem is driver #1 shows up with a day cab Freightliner pulling a new lightweight van with super singles all the way around and driver #2 shows up with a long hood Pete and a spread axle reefer. The loads are the same but the trucks are the variable in the equation. In an ideal world you get to a shipper, they weigh you, figure how many pallets you can haul, load you and make sure you are legal before you leave. Some places have this set up most dont. Now, If Hawk had a spread axle trailer, or a slider with 50 holes in it there would have been no problem. He can only run the equipment they give him.

Thanks Jumbo, that's what i've somewhat been saying about the 5th wheel, they sent me a message over the QC asking what was the pin setting of the 5th wheel.. Which i didn't have a fifth wheel!!

And Hawk. You havent reached rock bottom yet. That is 3 flights down, Door is marked England. And look on the brightside, you have a shiny clean truc............eh, a almost new truc..........eh.....a job

I'm about to jump off of Hobo's personal club and jump onto yours... Great Stuff.. but yeah i kind of feel you on that one.. England or Carolina Cargo Ouch!!

That Nestle plant loads 22 pallets and the weight is 46,659 pounds. That's just the way it is. They tell the carriers this in advance. The carriers know this before they send the driver over there. My load instructions, every time I head to that place, make it very clear that we must be able to scale 47,000 pounds or we need to refuse the load. For me, it's not even close to being an issue. For people with a different setup, they'll never get it legal.

Re-working the load isn't really a solution, since the pallets are jammed into the front of the trailer anyway and his weight issue was more on the rear. The bottom line is that Schneider shouldn't have booked the load. I feel bad for the driver involved here, but this one is on Schneider, not the shipper. Like you said, he can only run with the equipment that they give him. He can't, apparently, haul 47,000 pounds of water like the shipper requires.

According to the BOL, the weight was 47,175 and it was 27 pallets.. and i think this load was double brokered or something, because it says CH Robinson on the bills and the man handling the paper work said it was some type of transfer..

[Jumbo]

Cheap
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[VitoCorleone99]

According to the BOL, the weight was 47,175 and it was 27 pallets.. and i think this load was double brokered or something, because it says CH Robinson on the bills and the man handling the paper work said it was some type of transfer..

In that case, CH Robinson was told what they needed to be able to haul and either told Schneider or neglected to do so. I know that we get a similar message whenever we pick up one of those CHR loads at a paper mill and such. (Must be able to scale 46,000#, etc.) My point was simply that the shipper has a given amount of product to ship. Some trucks can haul it and some can't, so it's not really the shipper's task to figure out. In the case of 27 pallets and 47K+, it sure sounds to me like a spread axle was in order. The load must have come just about all the way to the tailgate.

[matcat]

CH Robinson is a broker, just means it was a broker load.

[jonp]

Thanks Jumbo, that's what i've somewhat been saying about the 5th wheel, they sent me a message over the QC asking what was the pin setting of the 5th wheel.. Which i didn't have a fifth wheel!!



I'm about to jump off of Hobo's personal club and jump onto yours... Great Stuff.. but yeah i kind of feel you on that one.. England or Carolina Cargo Ouch!!



According to the BOL, the weight was 47,175 and it was 27 pallets.. and i think this load was double brokered or something, because it says CH Robinson on the bills and the man handling the paper work said it was some type of transfer..

No problem, Hawk. Hey, all of our trucks here in Henderson have a sliding 5th so some of the fleet does and some dosnt. They must have booked the loads assuming that your truck did and you could move it.

I dont think we are going to have the same problems that you guys do. We only haul frozen/dairy and meat/produce so unless they broker loads going elsewhere for some reason then we are ok here.

I bent a rim when I first started. drove a flatbed for Swift and pulled into the Sapp Bros in Denver. Went to the gate and got real close to get my ticket and hit the concrete barrier with the trailer tandems. Did I stop and back up? HELL NO. Dropped it into 1st and put it to the floor. Dragged the barrier about 10ft and bent my rim. That was fun! I was having a bad day and was not in a good mood so did just what you did with that curb. Called the company and told them I hit a concrete block on the road that must have fallen off of someones truck. hehehehe

[Kevin0915]

and i can still drive circles around you.

you did take it out on your equipment. Would you have forgot to swing wide had you not been all worked up, and close to popping a blood vessel? yeah it was an accident, but it was an accident that was directly related to the condition you were in at the time.

you can poke fun at me all you want about me moving a barrier, i could really care less. I made an error in judgement, i took the directions I received from the company literally, and it cost me a ticket. So what. I'm willing to bet half the driver on this site have a ticket of some sort, and most within their first 6 mo. of driving.

if you are going to lose your cool because someone disagrees with you, even though you think you are right, and going to forget about 100% focus on driving the truck, then you need to hang it up. I wouldnt want to be driving next to you, when you leave a shipper all butt-hurt, and you fail to see that yield sign and run over me.

do you need a Coke?

[Kevin0915]

every comment been cool except for that Kev punk, i don't like him, something he did to some young black j b hunt drivers back in the day didn't like that very much

what did i do....besides not helping them blindside back, when they could have easily went down 100 yards and flipped around and sight-sided like normal truck drivers?? please clue me in.....

actually, i was driving thru Ohio this afternoon, and came up on a JB hunt driver, he was a cracka, and he obviously was running 56-58mph. and i was running at 60. i had a run on him coming down a hill, so i passed him. No big deal, right? well aparently he got all butt-hurt being passed by a Swift driver, and within a mile, he was driving 65 and just HAD to repass me. we went back and forth a couple more times passing back and forth, then he finally just kept the hammer down. Obviously i wasnt going to catch him....but i did. about 10 miles later he was pulled over by an Ohio trooper.....HAHAHAHAHAH. I got on the CB and asked him if he wanted me to pull into the next rest area to wait for him to pass me again. HAHHAHAHAHAH what a sucka

[matcat]

what did i do....besides not helping them blindside back, when they could have easily went down 100 yards and flipped around and sight-sided like normal truck drivers?? please clue me in.....

actually, i was driving thru Ohio this afternoon, and came up on a JB hunt driver, he was a cracka, and he obviously was running 56-58mph. and i was running at 60. i had a run on him coming down a hill, so i passed him. No big deal, right? well aparently he got all butt-hurt being passed by a Swift driver, and within a mile, he was driving 65 and just HAD to repass me. we went back and forth a couple more times passing back and forth, then he finally just kept the hammer down. Obviously i wasnt going to catch him....but i did. about 10 miles later he was pulled over by an Ohio trooper.....HAHAHAHAHAH. I got on the CB and asked him if he wanted me to pull into the next rest area to wait for him to pass me again. HAHHAHAHAHAH what a sucka

You are truly on the Billy Big Rigger career track.