Another reefer question: swinging beef
 

:D About 23 or so years ago a driver pulling a reefer load of swinging beef from a packing house in Kansas to a processor in Booneville, Arkansas lost control of his rig going down a mountain west of Booneville, and went off the side of the two-lane highway and was killed. The state police speculated he lost control of his rig when the hanging beef shifted while he was going down the mountain. Is it still legal for beef to be hung from the ceiling of reefers or is the load now required to by laying down? 8)

I dont think the haul swinging beef any more. Its all in boxes and stuff. If they do i dont see a big deal about swinging beef. Kinda like a tanker take it slow

I've never hauled swinging beef , always boxed.

It is not against the law to haul swing beef,there are only a few companys that really haul it.

I was talking to a driver that used to do swinging meat many years ago. he said him and another driver would wrap a stainless steel chain around the load in a few segments, then secure it to the edge of walls of the trailer. Said it was illegal as hell, but kept from losing control of the rig. Said he'd take the chains off before getting to the reciever.

I hauled a couple loads of swinging beef FUN Stuff yeah right would rather have a Tabassco Sauce Enenema than haul that crap. Think of it this way take a tanker put it up in the air 8 feet and fill it half full and sling the sucker at the same time. When you take the corners you have to go way slower than it says or risk a rollover.

From what I've gathered-- Moore Trucking, Omaha is one of the last carriers that still haul swinging meat- You actually get paid extra to help "unhook" the meat- and collect/count the hooks.

Yes, they used to also make special sets of chain nets- sets of stabilizer chains to do just what the above poster called illegal-- which was never illegal- just part of proper securing of a swinging meat load. that no one enjoyed taking the "time" to rig up. Then have to "wash" before reuse.

I've hauled swinging meat.. but it was sheep critters.. not beef critters. No matter what was hanging, it's not going to make you lose control on a mountain anymore than anything else will.

I did make a lane change on Hwy99 and discovered two things..

The crown of the road is a lot steeper than it looks

AND

It is very hard to remove anal vacuum lock from a Eldorado seat

My instructor at SAGE driving school said she used to haul hanging meat. She said it was the most challenging thing she ever hauled. She has over 40 years tractor/trailer experience.

I was docked next to a guy from Canada that had a reefer with the overhead rails. I asked him if he hauled much swinging beef and he said that he never had but the company still has quite a few trailers left in the fleet.