scoobert
Has Left the Room - Banned from VTCOA!
this load deserves its own thread.
when i left the house monday night i thought i was going to be chasing a big
load.
i ended up leading it. might sound ok, until i got this handed to me...
so i was responsible for the most expensive shipment i ever have done.
(actually i don't know what a wheel loader cost, so maybe not)
16' high, 250,000 lbs, 11' wide, 135' long
this was huge.
started the first day with a 4 hour pre-trip DOT inspection. they go over
everything with a "fine tooth comb" until they know its 100%.
police escorted us the entire way.
going is slow, when you need to keep unhooking and steering around turns,
but i was paid by the day, not the mile so i don't care.
i have to say these were the two coolest canadian guys i have ever ran into.
the driver and steerman were both uber good at what they do.
the first day went off without a hitch. turns were great, only two telephone
wires down, thats typical. next load will have a bucket truck with us.
lots of tight turns as we made our way around buffalo, and down to PA.
second day was a bit more difficult, a few tighter turns, and a state line crossing, down to a PA DOT check.
third day was the worst, as you get closer to the delivery site you have to go WAAY off the typical routes. so things got way worse, small two lane roads with no shoulders, lower wires, tighter turns. everyone was tensing up.
there was no way to know what would be around the next turn. started out with bad routes, after 30 min of looking at it, i had it drawn up as to how to go. streets had wrong names with wrong direction of travel. just an all around bad start to a bad, long day. first thing was a RR crossing. due to a 40ton (not 80ton) bridge we had to go 25 miles thru a mountain range in PA.
see video 1
various times we had traffic tied up for an hour.
few fiber opp and other thick wires were low, requiring very precise driving and lifting of wires. all was going good until our big hill.
when you weigh 250K its hard to pull, and the truck can and does lose traction even on a dry road. so this 15% grade stopped us in our tracks.
see video 2
after solving that problem we went up and then down the mountain range. until we came to a impasse. as they slithered down they came to a 15' wire, and it started to skid over then got cough.
see photos:
after that long night we got too within 2 miles of the job site. and that was it. another 15% hill, and out of time for the week. two cars will be finishing them off monday.
they have 3 more units coming and i have been asked to do them all.
* photos and videos are uploading now, will be done in a few hours, will post when they finish.
when i left the house monday night i thought i was going to be chasing a big
load.
i ended up leading it. might sound ok, until i got this handed to me...
so i was responsible for the most expensive shipment i ever have done.
(actually i don't know what a wheel loader cost, so maybe not)
16' high, 250,000 lbs, 11' wide, 135' long
this was huge.
started the first day with a 4 hour pre-trip DOT inspection. they go over
everything with a "fine tooth comb" until they know its 100%.
police escorted us the entire way.
going is slow, when you need to keep unhooking and steering around turns,
but i was paid by the day, not the mile so i don't care.
i have to say these were the two coolest canadian guys i have ever ran into.
the driver and steerman were both uber good at what they do.
the first day went off without a hitch. turns were great, only two telephone
wires down, thats typical. next load will have a bucket truck with us.
lots of tight turns as we made our way around buffalo, and down to PA.
second day was a bit more difficult, a few tighter turns, and a state line crossing, down to a PA DOT check.
third day was the worst, as you get closer to the delivery site you have to go WAAY off the typical routes. so things got way worse, small two lane roads with no shoulders, lower wires, tighter turns. everyone was tensing up.
there was no way to know what would be around the next turn. started out with bad routes, after 30 min of looking at it, i had it drawn up as to how to go. streets had wrong names with wrong direction of travel. just an all around bad start to a bad, long day. first thing was a RR crossing. due to a 40ton (not 80ton) bridge we had to go 25 miles thru a mountain range in PA.
see video 1
various times we had traffic tied up for an hour.
few fiber opp and other thick wires were low, requiring very precise driving and lifting of wires. all was going good until our big hill.
when you weigh 250K its hard to pull, and the truck can and does lose traction even on a dry road. so this 15% grade stopped us in our tracks.
see video 2
after solving that problem we went up and then down the mountain range. until we came to a impasse. as they slithered down they came to a 15' wire, and it started to skid over then got cough.
see photos:
after that long night we got too within 2 miles of the job site. and that was it. another 15% hill, and out of time for the week. two cars will be finishing them off monday.
they have 3 more units coming and i have been asked to do them all.
* photos and videos are uploading now, will be done in a few hours, will post when they finish.
Last edited:
