I thought I would give a couple "lessons learned" so to speak with these two OD loads I pulled.
The first 2 things were already addressed by "Jumbo", (thanks Jumbo) I needed extendable or portable mirrors as it was extremely difficult to see anything down the sides or behind me because the load was 12' wide. This was something that didn't even occur to me until AFTER the load was on deck.
Although not entirely required, I could have used some heavy duty magnets in which to attach my flags to. This would have allowed me to place the flags at each corner of the load and would have been especially useful on that tank load.
The other dumb a$$ thing that never occurred to me until AFTER I was loaded was fuel.......got to ensure you have fuel BEFORE loading. I realized this when I was sitting at the truck stop on the SW side of San Antonio the other day waiting for the restricted hours to be lifted on the 1604 loop. I had enough fuel with just over a 1/4 a tank and only 95 miles to go to the customers front door but thought how dumb it would have been if I needed fuel. I could have just dropped the trailer, bobtailed to the fuel island and then reconnect the trailer. Not a big deal, just an inconvenience.
The last thing I noticed was not really a lesson but kind of interesting. We all "scan", process, and quickly determine what road signs do and do not apply to us, I found myself really analyzing them ALL more closely then ever.
I am grateful that I learned a couple of new things that will be useful in the future and I am always open to learning more. However, learning on the "go" is not too wise in this case as it could quickly turn into a costly lesson. As I think back, I am a little surprised and somewhat disappointed that no training was offered on OD loads when I went through orientation. I think what L.S. should have done was offered the experience guys a refresher type of training mainly to ensure that the driver follows L.S. policy. For the inexperienced like myself, they should have at least gone over some of the basics. Yeah I know that most if not all this info can be found in the FMCSR but with a carrier that claims to haul 75% oversize loads wouldn't it be in their best interest to at least make sure each driver has a basic grasp of hauling these??? Just my opinion.
I welcome any and all tips, suggestions, or "tricks of the trade" anyone has to share on hauling OD's. I know each load will be unique and therefore hard to offer "blanketed" advise, but I just want to limit how much I will learn on the cuff.