The company I work for has about 60 trucks. The newest trucks are 2004's (mine is a 2002). Most of our trailers are 2000-2004's. That bit me in the a$$ today...

I delivered yesterday in Kissimmee, FL and had a preplanned load of rolls of paper to pick up at the port in Jacksonville. I get there today to check in and got right into my dock 1.5hrs early. After I swept the trailer they came in to inspect the trailer it was promptly rejected. The floor of the trailer is literally covered with cracks (you can see daylight) and they refuse to take the large lift + large rolls of paper into it. I understand their point.

So, I call dispatch. He told me to get a roll of duct tape and tape up the floor. Ya - right. It's almost the entire floor. There are also probably 6 "patches" that have already been done to this trailer.

So, now I'm sitting in Kingsland, GA at a truckstop waiting for a load. Dispatch leaves in 2 hours for the weekend and I am about 750 miles from home. They pay a whopping $20/day for layover. YAY!!!

Even though I prefer running for smaller companies, they do have their downsides. Equipment is a major one. I think my truck has been in the shop on a weekly basis for the past 3 months or so.

Yep! This is the old Yin-Yang of Trucking... what one situation gives, the other situation takes.. you still end up more or less where you would regardless of the company.

Well, just to show how stupid dispatchers can be, they definitely did it today.

Started with the rejected trailer this morning (9:45am) because of cracks in the floor and the shipper wouldn't load paper on it.

So, at 3:30 this afternoon they finally found me a load.

A load of paper (rolls again) picking up in GA and going to Long Island.

Now, not only am I taking a chance of getting the trailer rejected a 2nd time, but dispatch wanted to argue with me that the town I'm going to is on Long Island (for the hazard pay). Hell, the broker told that it was on the island as soon as I gave him my load number. Dispatch swore that the town was just outside of Buffalo. So, I told him to type in the zip code that the broker has for the consignee and see where it is on Google maps. All he said after I heard the typing was "Your LI pay will be on your next check."

ARGHHHHHH

i think i would rather get kicked in the balls repeadedly than go to the island.

LOL - I agree

At least I can go in Sunday night and sleep on their lot. I have a preplan that picks up about 15 miles away (still on the island) on Monday to get me back home. I just hope I have enough hours to do it, otherwise the load I'm picking up Monday morning with a Monday evening delivery won't be delivered until Wednesday...

Just to play devil's advocate a bit, it is not unheard of for there to be more than one city/town of the same name in a state. I have ran into that more than once, and every time it was somewhere on the east coast/New England area.

Every time I have hauled paper rolls the factory/warehouse I was loading in always inspected the trailer looking for holes, and if there was a piece of tape on the floor I had to scrape it up to prove it was not some redneck patch job.

Some paper plants require the cracks to be filled with caulk or something like that. Not even nailed down metal will get it. Forget having nails in the floor. Another no-no. The big paper plant in Palatka, FL has you back into a special dock to sweep out the trailer and then "THEY" inspect it. They also keep a caulk gun handy so you can fill cracks in the floor 8)

I hated the loads with the really tall rolls.....even though they would put down "skid mats"....it was hard to brace the load. I worried about a roll falling over and then rolling around..... at the wrong time and place. :shock:

This trailer has too many cracks in the floor. They wasn't worried about getting wet - they was worried that the lift would go through the floor...

You're not kidding about the large rolls. The worst paper load I had was 4 rolls, totalling 46,000#. They loaded them in the center of the trailer with a couple of 2x4's nailed down to keep them from sliding. However there was nothing to keep them from tumbling if there was a sudden stop.

...and so duct tape is supposed to keep the forklift from going through the floor? :shock:

Holy mother of God! I can't imagine what kind of rolls weigh almost 12000# each. I've loaded rolls many times, but typically they're 5000# to 7000# rolls, with 7 or 8 rolls per load. I assume we're talking about drywall paper on a flatbed trailer, no?

I've carried loads with only four rolls in a 53' van..... they are huge and about 11,500 lbs a piece. They are nearly as tall as the inside of the van. Usually took them to a printing plant that did newspaper advertising inserts.

The thought of one of them flopping over in a curve or on a ramp scared the ##@#%%$$#@ out of me. Took turns, sharp curves, and ramps nice and easy....usually all the way from Jax, FL to Chicago, IL. :shock: