No, not another thread on "how do I hotshot and get rich"

Last night one of our regular hotshots was bringing some equipment back to the shop from being heat treated.

He lost a piece (17" outside diameter, probably 300 pound block of steel). The highway patrol that showed up said the part left over three miles of damage where teh part bounced along the highway. Fortunately, no one was injured and no vehicles were damaged.

Remember boys and gurls, make sure your load is well secured.

 

Speeking of unsecured loads,
I saw an old farmer the other day in a newer ford with probably 40 square bales in the road with a small civic in the middle of it all. Evidently he lost the bales in the corner and an oncoming civic plowed right into them. Nobody injured thankfully.
Just thought I had to share that one with everybody!
Wheelo

 

That reminds me of the time one of my Atlas stones left the trailer.
It weighed in at 380. Hit this odd bounce and dip in the road...enough to get the stone to snap the mesh [1" wide strapping stiched in squares every 4" and rated for 10K. yeah sure it was]. Anyway, it bounced, broke loose and flew off the trailer. Rolling fast enough to pass us almost directly down the center line like a giant bowling ball. Then it slowed down some and worked its way off in our lane in front of the truck to the shoulder.
The police stopped to see what we were doing and here we are lifting the stone up onto the trailer deck.
All they said was; "That explains the big round crater in the middle of the highway."
I now surround the stones with everything else we take to shows and run 2" ratcheting straps over them to D hooks in a criss cross.
The mesh/net was shredded at several spots but not completely torn. Just enough give for the stone to escape. It was probably looking for SpeedoFiverBob.

We did not know what to do but I thought about ramming the stone to get it off the road.
Luckily, nobody was around because that would have wiped out a car.

Scotty

 

that almost sounds comical...

 

that is very true SECURE YOUR LOADS
i cant stand how people do it up here in maine!
every time they put somethin on a truck its "ah that'll be fine ya johst goin down dah road a piece" and its like no i'm goin down 95 an hour. ah its fine though!
one time when our church had a cook out two of the guys lost thier grills comin to the church 'cause they thought it would be fine to "just go down the road without tying them" or you see guys carying trash and they dont even tarp the darn thing!!!
another thing we have a problem with in maine is there is no law to have gravel covered in a dump truck le'me tell yah after you lose a windshield to that you get kind of ******.

 

Arkansas charges $25 to enter the dump in your bed isn't covered with a tarp. Its free otherwise.

 

This reminded me of two stories. My dad qwned his own trucking company. He hauled machenerie on a Lowby flaot. Well one night he was making a short move and him and the opperator decided that they didn't need to sucure the bulldozer. Well going down the road doing the speed limit (maybe a little more ) The bulldozer slipped off and slid side ways on the road. Pavent and sparks flew. Well they loaded it back on and put one chain on it and took off before anyone seen.

The other story isn't so much of a load coming off but a hazard on the highway. One one of our longer trips me and dad were on the way back from Nova Scotia when doing 130 kmph when the drive shaft flew out, shot up through the steel grading near the air lines connected the truck and trailler and went between the hydrallic hoses for the wet line kit. It shot about ten feet up and cleared the 60 foot float. It landed in the middle of the 4 lane and almost landed on the hood of a car behind us. The driver of the car was a nice guy and considered himself helpful when he informed us "we lost something back there." Suprisingly the onlt damage to the truck was one broken air line and of course the drive shaft.

 

This doesn't really have much to do with "securing" a load but I snapped this picture a while back and thought it was funny (sad really).



It's amazing what some people will try to do.

Britt

 

wonder how far they made it before it gave out and they had to block the trailer tires to keep it from rolling..

 

Not enough toys in the back of that toyhauler to balance it out.

 

haha i think i see the light.... under those front tires.

 

The really sad part is the dealer told him, "Sure you can pull it, I've towed one twice that size."