[tracer]

September 1th, 2009

I saw a guy in our yard with a stepdeck today and asked him if I can measure his stake pockets. Turns out he's a new guy and this is his first day at MacKinnon. He was glad to learn that I am getting a step too as that means it might be easier for MacKinnon to find good loads for us stepdeckers. I grabbed a spool of my 4' strap with a flat metal hook to see if I can squeeze the hook through the top of the stake pocket. To my relieve, it went through! So, I don't have to change my straps after all.

I drove to the trailer dealer in Breslau ON around noon and hooked to my RoadBrute for the first time. Bruce, the sales guy, walked around the trailer with me and gave me more tips on how to take care of it, what loads I should protect the floor from ("put something on top of the aluminum if you carry a machine with tracks, eg bulldozer") and so on. We measured the height and at the lower deck it was closer to 35" in the front. I put on the 4-ways and the LED lights look much better than the regular lights on my truck. The rear has 9 lights!

Just like when you buy a car, the dealer had to have a proof of insurance from MacKinnon that the trailer is covered under the fleet policy. Bruce got the fax from MacKinnon with insurance info before I arrived in their yard...

I left Trailers Canada with a bunch of reference materials about the trailer and the original ownership. The trailer in plated in my name and I don't have to pay any annual fees for the license.

I was passing through Cambridge, ON on the way back to our yard and decided to stop by Traction Heavy Truck Parts. Now I have 8 recoilless binders, 3 chains (20' long), 16 steel coil corner protectors, a box of bungee cords (50 bucks). I bought only 3 chains because these were his last ones, still packaged in small boxes. When I walked out the door, my bank account had 500 bucks less in it than when I had walked in These accessories are expensive.

When I came to the yard, I showed the trailer to my Dispatch and she asked me to give her a sheet with the trailer dimensions. Also, she was interested in the empty weight: trailer, fully fueled truck, all accessories. Will do that tomorrow morning, once I fuel. Then the Safety Dept. wanted a copy of the ownership paperwork and the Shop guy "inspected" the 2010 trailer and sent the email to Safety (which is in the same building) saying I had the green light to join the fleet with my own trailer. Safety needed this email so that I can officially be set up for the 82% of gross revenue pay.

After this I parked the truck and trailer, jumped into my 2-door Chevy Cobalt Sport and drove 50 km (30 mi) to a tarp shop in Burlington, ON to pick up the load levelers. The car is a coupe and the rear seats fold down ... I was hoping I could squeeze the 8.5' levelers in. When I came to the shop and took a look at the levelers I knew I had made a mistake: the levelers were massive!

A shop worker helped me to carry them out and when we put them alongside the car, they seemed to be as long as the car!

So, I called a local cab company ... "Do you guys have a van with folding seats that can pick up 2 metal pieces 8.5' long and 5" wide?" I asked the Cab Dispatcher. He said the seats in their vans didn't fold, so "unfortunately we cannot help you". When I asked if he knew who I can call he suggested renting a pickup truck or a van.

Since I already have a truck and trailer that seemed like a bad idea, so I asked the tarp shop to keep the levelers overnight. They open at 7 am tomorrow and I can bring over my truck with a trailer and pick them up. A cab ride would cost a fortune anyway...

So, right now I'm sitting at a Swiss Chalet in Burlington, ON having a Health Check Quarter Chicken and resting from moving the 100 lb levelers

After I pick them up tomorrow, I'll be ready to roll ... except I still need to get at least 5 more chains. The tarp shop that sold me the levelers only had 16' chains and I think those are too short. I never thought that chains would be the most difficult items to find. Actually, there's another item that no one seems to have - mats for steel coil bunks ...

[jagerbomber3.0]

When i was pulling flats,for the mats we used strips of old mudflaps cut length wise. You can probably get three nice strips per flap. ask your shop if they have any old mud flaps they are getting ready to scrap and grab those and cut them up and save yourself some pocket money.They worked great and were easy to stow away and if you left any out on accident they were not something someone would think to steal from you and if someone did then you are not out any money.

[tracer]

Originally Posted by jagerbomber3.0

When i was pulling flats,for the mats we used strips of old mudflaps cut length wise. You can probably get three nice strips per flap. ask your shop if they have any old mud flaps they are getting ready to scrap and grab those and cut them up and save yourself some pocket money.They worked great and were easy to stow away and if you left any out on accident they were not something someone would think to steal from you and if someone did then you are not out any money.

Good tip, thanks. The drawback I can see with using mud flaps however is that they are probably much heavier than mats. So, you win in space, ease of storage, and cost; but lose in weight.

[tracer]

I drove to AeroKit with the trailer this morning to pick up the load levelers. They fit the stake pockets in the front of the lower deck, where Wilson wants you to keep their own levelers. I put a ratchet strap around them and they seem to sit pretty steady. I asked the sales guy if they could cut me some chains, and they said ok. I waited half an hour and now I have the full set of 20 ft chains. After I fueled I got on the scale and the total empty weight (truck with me inside, the 48' trailer with all accessories, incl. tarps, chains, binders, straps, etc.) came up to 31,180 lbs. Which means I can carry the maximum of 48,820 lbs in the US or 49,000 lbs if I keep one of the tanks half full. The final measurements for the height showed that my upper deck sits at 59 inches, and the lower deck is at 36 inches. If I replace my drive axle steel rims with aluminum ones later on, I should be able to take up to 49,000 lbs with both tanks full. I typed all these numbers, including GVWR, and concentrated load weights (43k lbs for 4 ft; 45k lbs for 10 ft; and 48k lbs for 20 ft) and faxed the Spec Sheet to Dispatch.

I emailed Recruiting and then Payroll to make sure they have switched me to percentage pay of 82% of the gross. Payroll was the hardest to crack The electronic dialog went something like this:

ME: "Morning, Teresa. Have you switched me to 82% pay? I have my own trailer now, Unit B3395. -Sergey"
PAYROLL: "I received the notice." ???
ME (irritated): "Am I on 82% pay now?"
PAYROLL (irritated): "All loads after today date of change will b paid at 82%"
ME: "Thanks."

I wanted to write something like "Communication received" instead of "thanks" but decided not to take chances. Joking with Payroll can be costly

[tracer]

Looks like my first stepdeck load is going to be an oversize. Just heard from dispatch (after sitting at a petro-pass in hamiilton, on for 4 hours) that tomorrow (Wednesday) morning i'm loading at a small town some 20 miles from here and the load is going to Baltimore, MD for Friday delivery. The message from Dispatch was laconic: "You load tomorrow early am at .... Permits have been ordered." I'm nervous: I never did an oversize before. The distance is 470 miles. Anyone knows how much a good oversize load should pay per mile?

[jagerbomber3.0]

Make sure you get your over sizebanners for the front and back and orange markers for the corners. those are easy to forget about if you have not messed with oversize before.

[Jumbo]

Read your permits carefully. Delivery in Maryland on the Friday before a federal holiday? There are going to be travel restrictions depending on the size.

[Jumbo]

I will give you a quick oversize lesson.

1) Read everything twice. Then read it again.
2) If the permit has your plate #'s for tractor and trailer (Maryland does) make sure they match the plate #'s ON the tractor and trailer.
3) Make sure the demensions of the load match the permit. If the permit says "load width 10 feet" you better not be 10'2".
4) The flags go on the widest point of the load.
5) People will honk the horn and give you the finger. It isn't because you are Canadian.
6) If you have Prepass and get a green light and the scale is open you still need to pull in.
7) If the sign says "Bridge Clearence 12 feet" and you are 13 feet tall even if you convert it to metric it still isnt going to fit.
8) If they tell you it is 470 miles it probably wont be. I just took one to Kansas. Qualcom stated "Loaded miles 678". 1534 miles later we got to Kansas.
9) Unlike a dryvan, when you get to the jobsite people will actually be glad to see you.
10) Cranes cost money, Be on time.

[klleetrucking]

Originally Posted by Jumbo

I will give you a quick oversize lesson.

1) Read everything twice. Then read it again.
2) If the permit has your plate #'s for tractor and trailer (Maryland does) make sure they match the plate #'s ON the tractor and trailer.
3) Make sure the demensions of the load match the permit. If the permit says "load width 10 feet" you better not be 10'2".
4) The flags go on the widest point of the load.
5) People will honk the horn and give you the finger. It isn't because you are Canadian.
6) If you have Prepass and get a green light and the scale is open you still need to pull in.
7) If the sign says "Bridge Clearence 12 feet" and you are 13 feet tall even if you convert it to metric it still isnt going to fit.
8) If they tell you it is 470 miles it probably wont be. I just took one to Kansas. Qualcom stated "Loaded miles 678". 1534 miles later we got to Kansas.
9) Unlike a dryvan, when you get to the jobsite people will actually be glad to see you.
10) Cranes cost money, Be on time.

ALL super good advice!!!!!!!!!!!

[tracer]

Originally Posted by Jumbo

I will give you a quick oversize lesson.

1) Read everything twice. Then read it again.
2) If the permit has your plate #'s for tractor and trailer (Maryland does) make sure they match the plate #'s ON the tractor and trailer.
3) Make sure the demensions of the load match the permit. If the permit says "load width 10 feet" you better not be 10'2".
4) The flags go on the widest point of the load.
5) People will honk the horn and give you the finger. It isn't because you are Canadian.
6) If you have Prepass and get a green light and the scale is open you still need to pull in.
7) If the sign says "Bridge Clearence 12 feet" and you are 13 feet tall even if you convert it to metric it still isnt going to fit.
8) If they tell you it is 470 miles it probably wont be. I just took one to Kansas. Qualcom stated "Loaded miles 678". 1534 miles later we got to Kansas.
9) Unlike a dryvan, when you get to the jobsite people will actually be glad to see you.
10) Cranes cost money, Be on time.

Good tips, thanks very much! What about rotating lights? Do you use them when carrying an OD load? I was looking and looking but couldn't find the battery operated type