[Darin Younce]

Well I am still out on my first trip . It has been an experience . I am using
a computer at the hotel I am staying at near Fruitland MD. On Mon I picked up 4 cars at Copart in Lawrenceburg KY I spent a great deal of time writing
up all the damages that were already on the car to find out that Copart will not sign off because they are salvage cars . I guess I was just trying to cover myself . Anyway I had to stop several times to tie down a hood that was already damaged, finally after wasting a lot of time I took it off. I also had some problems with the magnetic lights on the tow car which led to my doom at a weigh station. I got a level 1 inspection . The officer put me out of service . He said everything else checked out good and would have ok,d
me if it were not for the lights . I thought I had them fixed bit there was a short somewhere . HE even went inside to talk to the captian to see if I could still pass but I got a ticket for 60.00 . Anyway I fixed the lights and went on my way. I delivered the cars 15 miles from the weigh station
in Jessup MD . I waited all day to get another load ( this women aint
doing what she had said) She called at 4.30 and sent me to Manhiem
I ran out of hours before I could get there and got there this am. I was suppose to pickup two cars, but only got one . Long story but they could not find it and when they did they drove it with a flat tire . I was suppose to drive it out to the truck so I asked for someone to fix it , long story short I waited and no fix so I told them to keep it. I spent three hours on this car and was pizzed so I left with one . I had to go back to MD to get a car
and on the way I went thru another WS and guess what, got pulled for another inspection , this time he said one of my chains was loose , . I had three chains , one strap and a winch on this thing , it was not going anywhere . Heck I see tow trucks all the time with only one chain on the back and the winch cable on the front . Guess I will have a very crappy
safety record , I will probably lose my authority before I even get started good. Oh well . Darin

[BanditsCousin]

Its gotta get worse before it can get any better. I think you'll be fine, nothing a few budwiesers can't wash away. Tomorrow is another day.

Ain't nobody said it was gonna be easy!

[rank]

There is a term for what you've just experienced. It's called trucking. A common variation of that term is "That's trucking" You'll hear it often.

As you've noticed, shippers and brokers will "occasionally" give you incorrect info. This is why we talk about detention and TONU etc.

The DOT may have been giving you a hard time because you are brand new. Or they may have been giving you a hard time because your paperwork was unorganized or your equipment looked suspect or you were dressed like a slob. You will have to have all your ducks in a row now that you have 2 bad inspections.

There is a number on the Safer site that indicates if you should be inspected or not. When you first start out it's real high which means inspect. It takes 3 inspections before you get a safety rating. Right now, your's is not there. Once you get a safety rating and lets say it's good, that other number will rise as time goes by and when it gets high enough they will inspect you even though your safety rating is good. You can have an excellent safety rating and be driving a piece of junk, just means you've been lucky so they put this number in place to say it's been a while so you need an inspection.

Your probably going to get inspected again real soon and if you pass you will have your 3 inspections so your safety rating will show up.

[happyhookin]

I haven't been following your posts but good luck with your new venture! It sounds like you are using a 4 car rollback hauling salvage? You will find that you can not keep enough rope, bungie cords, 1" ratchet straps, duct tape or tools on the truck. Assuming the car has front end damage a 1" ratchet strap from fender to fender over the hood will keep most hoods in place. Things like mirrors or marker lights hanging by the wires are best to take off and throw in the car. Some states will nail you if you don't have 2 safety chains attatched to the car on the tow bar. Even thogh you see rollbacks with just a winch cable and 1 chain attatched, don't get lazy. It only takes a few more minutes to do is right. AW Direct has a great supply of towing equipment.

[Bandit102]

Hang in there, Darin. DOT loves car haulers. I've been inspected as high as 5 times in 1 day. (400 mile day). Just make sure everything is strapped, chained, taped, siliconed, whatever, so it won't go anywhere. Regs say you only need 2 tiedowns, 1 to prevent lateral and 1 to prevent longitudinal movement, but good luck educating the DOT.

Also, the auctions arent going to do anything for you. Its hell to get a jump start out of them. I always carried one of those little booster boxes. You might get a half gallon of gas if you get the right person. All those auction cars are out of gas. Very few will air up a tire for you. They deal with thousands of vehicles in and out every week and usually arent thrilled to help out the transporters.

Whew. Damn glad to be in the reefer business now. I hate cars.

[GMAN]

When I hauled cars I kept an air hose on the truck. It is up to the carrier to get the cars out of the auction and on the truck. Some can be helpful, but most will not do much to assist you. You might also keep a couple cans of tire repair in the truck. It could be enough to get the car to your truck. Once on the truck you can stop at any gas station and air up the tires.

I always check my chains every time I stop. They sometimes have a tendency to work loose. I had a DOT officer tell me that they loved hotshots and wedge trailers. He told me that they can usually find more wrong with them than a class 8 truck. I would make sure to check everything before starting your day. I have made a habit of walking around my trailer every time I fuel or stop. It helps me find anything that is wrong, such as a light that is out. Anytime you cross a scale and they spot anything they can pull you in for an inspection. Lights being out are a good reason for them to pull you into the weigh station.

[Darin Younce]

Ok I am finally home . I have not been near a computer since I posted two days ago . Thanks for all the replies and encourgement. Over all I had a terrible week but I will chalk this one up to a paid education . I ended up only bringing one car back to KY. This is due to the fact that I left the one at manhiem . here is what happened at Manhiem about that car. I went to the office to get both cars . They told me where the one was but said there was no paper work on the other one ( vw Jetta) . They sent me to the Headquarters which is a 5 mintue ride on a shuttle , head quarters sent me to the VW office, VW sent me to the lease office, the lease office sent me to the internet bid office, internet sent me to the guard office , guard office sent me to a parking lot where the car was suppose to be . BTW the guard office is right next to the first office that I went to. Anyway it took them 3 hours to find the car. The problem with the flat tire is that they drove it on the rim , they offered to fix it but after
another 30 min wait , still no fix , so after 3.5 hours waiting ( which btw
made me too late to get to MD and pick up the other car) I said forget it.

[Darin Younce]

Anyway I got to Friutland MD about 6 . It takes forever to drive around Baltimore and over to Fruitland. I spent the night and went to Copart to get the car . The car was a tall suv
I more or less chickened out. I was terrified that it was too tall and was worried about the weight on my front axle . Now this where I have yet to get a correct answer . My front axel weight limit is 12000,or 13,000
( I cant remember but the truck is 33,000 but has a air axle or tag axle whatever you call it ) I WEIGHED THE TRUCK AT A SCALE AND IT READ 22900 ( or something around that) . Sorry to sound so dumb but my brain is fried and I will get to that later. Anyway if I set a car up there
with a full load will that counter the front weight because the back is so heavy.? If I set a car up there with one on the back will my front axle be over weight? I know I should have found out alll of this prior but I am
so scared now that I want to be certain. I have heard 100 different answers but I trust you guys . The Dot man that gave me the warning
about the chain said he goes by tire rating . I asked him if they go by
the tag or the gvw of the vehicle he said , he just checks the tires on each axle ( hope I understood him correctly) . I still do not understand
. I assume if a vehicle has a gross rating , that is all you can weigh .
Does a tractor have an 80000 gvw or is it the combination of both tractor and trailer . I suspect the later. If this is so then would my gvw be increased because of the tag axel and because I could tow another vehicle ?
Dang I feel stupid. BTW , part of the reason my brain is fried is I got three more notices from Kentucky( IFTA) and according to them I owe around
$20,000.00 . I did call about ther other notices and was told that they
had no record and I should not have recieved them . These new notices were sent out the next day so I suspect the wheels were already in motion . Im not worried about it because it will be a cold day in H##l
before I pay this. more later Oh the car was 59" tall and my upper platform is 8'9"

[Darin Younce]

OH , the truck did great overall but I do have a problem. I got low on fuel wiating in a traffic jam so I went to the nearest conv store and got 30 gals,about 30 or so miles down the road it started missing, ( bad fuel?)I got a new fuel filter and put it on and it seemed to get better then it started back soI got some fuel conditioner and it stopped skipping for the next 10 hours of running but started again . Finally I thought of the water seperator, I took it off and it is clogged pretty bad. I tried to get one but no luck . I will get one monday when I go down to Copart . I do not have the exact figures but I estimated my per mile fuel cost was 37ct.