[GMAN]

It is my understanding that most of the coils that have been dropped on the roads in Birmingham have come from locals moving from plant to plant. If a coil is properly secured it should stay on the trailer, even if the trailer is on it's side. Some drivers who take these coils a short distance simply don't want to take the time to properly secure them. If one of these coils comes loose and hits someone, it will kill them. Most of these single coils will weigh in excess of 40,000 pounds.

[Ian Williams]

Originally Posted by GMAN

We hear a lot about the flatbedders not properly securing loads, but some of the vans have been hauling unsecured coils. Covenant is one company who has been hauling palletized coils without any securement. I saw a few coils being picked up out of a van that had turned over a few months ago. I don't know if the coils had anything to do with the accident, but they evidently went through the side of the trailer. These coils should be secured just as they are on a flatbed or covered wagon. Those walls are thin on a van.

On occasion I see stuff like this or large excavator buckets or caterpillar tracks in LTL land. The mines here in Nevada have all manner or big machinery comming and going.

Whats the applicable regs for how they should be secured?

I usually just surround it with pallets, load decks on their side and other freight so it can't move.

[xroofer]

maverick might need to do some more load securement classes. was in Ohio at the pilot on 71 exit 204 and maverick LOST a 20 ft. stainless steel rod off of his trailer. fully tarped came out the back end and probably wasn't belly strap. the driver was making a left hand turn off the on ramp going to the loves truck stop. load securement shouldn't be taking lightly. take your time and secure it right the first time. and yes I'm a flat bedder myself.

[arky]

It is true that maverick sent out the message on the Qualcom, I don't remember the exact words, but I'll check later. If that's what there telling the guys in securement training, I would say it's true. Maverick doesn't play around.

I can promise you that Maverick has very good securement training. The only thing i wonder about is whether these drivers are drivers that came to Maverick as students or already had experience. If you already have flatbed experience, you don't have to go through Maverick's securement training. I see changes coming in the near future. You can bet that those LOST loads were not secured to Maverick standards.

Arky

[DaveP]

I run flatbed for PGT put of B'ham and yes, the DOT is really cracking down because they had no other choice evidently.

If the companies that keep losing coils in the road (they know who they are...) had done what they should have about cracking down ON THEIR OWN drivers...there wouldn't be a problem.

When a PGT driver loads a coil in B'ham they then head DIRECTLY to the terminal in Midfield where the securement is double-checked by Safety before they are even allowed to leave town....NO EXCEPTIONS!

They've been doing this for months now and you won't read about a PGT driver losing an improperly secured coil.

A couple weeks, or so, ago the DOT even set up shop AT US Steel to check ALL outbound coil loads...

MANDATORY jail time??? That's news to me. (Although it may be a good idea since some people don't seem to have the "safety" thing down yet...)

5 Maverick drivers in jail??? That's news to me also.

-Dave

[Windwalker]

Originally Posted by GMAN

We hear a lot about the flatbedders not properly securing loads, but some of the vans have been hauling unsecured coils. Covenant is one company who has been hauling palletized coils without any securement. I saw a few coils being picked up out of a van that had turned over a few months ago. I don't know if the coils had anything to do with the accident, but they evidently went through the side of the trailer. These coils should be secured just as they are on a flatbed or covered wagon. Those walls are thin on a van.

The problem with hauling coils in a dryvan is that many of the older trailers do not have any means of securing them other than using load-locks, and with that, you may as well not use anything at all. Nailing blocking to the floor does help, but generally, the coils are on pallets, and the blocks do not hold the coils, only the pallets. And I question how well the banding holds the coils to the pallets. However, dryvans are more likely to get away with it because DOT must open the doors to see the load.

[stevedb28]

Originally Posted by arky

It is true that maverick sent out the message on the Qualcom, I don't remember the exact words, but I'll check later. If that's what there telling the guys in securement training, I would say it's true. Maverick doesn't play around.

I can promise you that Maverick has very good securement training. The only thing i wonder about is whether these drivers are drivers that came to Maverick as students or already had experience. If you already have flatbed experience, you don't have to go through Maverick's securement training. I see changes coming in the near future. You can bet that those LOST loads were not secured to Maverick standards.

Arky

Hey arky, they are sending the previous drivers to fort smith for extended training with Terry. Its like a 4 day training to teach them Maverick standards. And yes guys, Maverick is very strict about load securement and they even have a book in every truck to give us diagrams of how to secure on our most common load types. They take that very seriously, but drivers arent watched 100% of the time so they take shortcuts to Maverick standards and get burned.

I heard of a driver we had stop by a terminal and our main safety guy was admiring the tarp job saying how good it was. Then he caught that every chain was still in his headache rack and he had a coil. So, he wanted to see how it was secured and asked him to remove the tarp. Not one securement. He had been with Mav. for a while, but he was fired on the spot. Its not all in the training, it has a lot to do with self initiative

[arky]

Sorry Steve, but I have to disagree to some extent. Yes, experienced drivers with NO flatbed experience go to Ft. Smith for securement training. Experienced flatbed drivers get a truck straight out of orientation. I know there was 2 in my orientation group, one from TMC and the other guy had been laid off from a private carrier (Bush Hog Corp.). Neither of these guys went to Ft. Smith, orientation ended on Wed., they hit the road on thursday. I'm pretty sure there was a couple more, but I remember these two. I talked to the ex-TMC driver last week at Ft. Smith. He's pulling a covered wagon at Maverick.

I just have to wonder if these guys have been properly trained where they came from. I'm sure the TMC drivers have been, but not so sure about the rest.

What Steve says about personal initiative is true. Once your out on the road, we all know that you can take shortcuts and many do. It's no different than the log books. It's up to the driver to operate in a safe and legal manner, no company can watch over you 24/7. If laziness is what happened to these guys, then they deserve the punishment. If they don't have the proper training...it's Maverick's fault.

On a side note: I watched 2 different guys secure loads in Chicago last week. I was amazed at how careless people can be. It was obvious that they knew nothing of how to build a bulkhead or belly-wrap a load...or secure a load for that matter. I wouldn't have taken either load around the block much less down the interstate. Training IS needed and ALL companies need to step to the plate. I can promise you that if either of the drivers I just mentioned were involved in a hard braking situation, they had serious problems shortly afterwards.

Arky

[GMAN]

I have been loading at a shipper and had drivers and even the shipper ask me to move my truck before having any securement on a coil. I refuse to move until the coil is secure. If they need to wait a few more minutes, then so be it. I asked one guy if he was going to take responsibility for the coil if I moved and it came off the truck. Of course, he didn't want to accept responsibility. I told him that I would move when I had my load secured. I didn't mind moving to tarp, but the truck doesn't move until I have some chains on the coil. Once a coil starts to move, there is little that will stop a 45,000 pound roll of steel. Some of these shippers want to take their time loading you but then expect you to move before you secure your load. If they are in that big of a hurry, they should have hurried to load me. If they want to insist that I move before I secure my load and don't want to wait, then they can take the coil off my truck. It might be all right to move without securement, but I am not comfortable moving my truck without the load being properly secured. I would prefer to be safe than take a chance.

[rvrjr7]

Me I dont like pulling coils but I have in the past. i used 2 chains and 4 straps on on each coil, 20,000 lbs coils with coil racks. steel piping i always belly wrap, a couple of chains and quite a few straps. right now i have a load of lumber 3 stacks and 3 straps per stack. spending 30 days in jail sounds to me like a truckers story. I could see that happening if someone loses a coil. if dot is setting up shop at the steel mills checking coil loads and they are on private properity if the loads are not secured good enough I think they should educate the drivers on proper securement and give them a chance to correct it before getting on the road