New gig need some input

[Dozerboy]

Well I got a new job 4 weeks ago after being laid off. I'm mainly a operator, but they want me to be there LB driver too. Its a small outfit so I won't be driving much I hope. I have had my Class a for 8 years, but haven't used it much. I hopped on dump trucks and had a flat deck trailer that I hauled a some smaller iron on everyday for hourly work I was doing. Driving isn't a issue, but could use any tips ya'll have on courtesy types of things drivers do. I am really looking for other info/tips like chaining down rubber tire stuff mainly ADTs. They currently have only 2 turnbuckles and for the rest I use binders which I'm not happy about. Where can I fine DOT regs online? The truck in a Freightliner that is to small for the 50ton Fontain trailer. I nervous since I don't have much training and there current Formen/Driver likes to cut corners. So I don't have any good resources to learn from. If some of this stuff has been covered before you can link it for me. I tried a quick search without much luck.

I hauled a 61 dozer for them and have always seen the blade angled on smaller 6ways, but was told to leave it straight. Is that right?

With the 61 on there I had hardly no traction on lose ground with the steer axle. The 5th wheel plate looks to be all the way back. Shouldn't I move it forward at least center it over the drives? With the truck being to small I wouldn't want to overload the steer. Suggestions?

I hate the truck it has a 10speed its shift pattern is like
R 3/4 7/8
1/2 5/6 9/10 almost like a 5 speed with high low it dives me nuts especially down shifting.

Thanks

[monster truck]

Best advide i can give is not to listen to the guy that likes to cut corners. If somthing doesnt look or feel safe it probably isn't. I have had a couple boss's who liked to cut corners and do things the cheap and easy way and thats why I dont work them anymore. Get good chains and good binders, they are an absolute necesity. Just remember that if something breaks or comes loose going down the road you are not just risking the equipment, you are risking the life of every person you see on the road.

As far as an ADT goes I would never chain one down with snap binders, it would have 4 chains and binders on the front half and 4 on the back half. Any oversize load has to be as legal as you can reasonably make it so an angle blade on a dozer should always be angled. One tip is to chain down with the blade straight so you have room and then angle it, just be carefull not to swing the blade into you chain or binder.

The fith wheel position doesnt sound right on the truck but without knowing what axles it has i cant say for sure. Regardless of the axles the fithwheel should not be behind the centerpoint of the rear axles.

Just be careful and remember that no one has ever been hassled by DOT for putting to many chains on a machine. If the boss tries to rush you and pushes you to do something that you do not feel is safe you can kindly tell him that he is more than welcome to drive it himself if he thinks he can do it better. I'll be the first to tell that i've got alot to learn but if you have any questions dont be afraid to post them as there are alot of guys on here who know what there doing. Good luck and be safe.

[Bob Horrell]

Monster Truck covered the chaining down and safety issues pretty well, so I will respond to the transmission question. It looks like you are describing a super 10 tranny. They shift like you would shift a truck with a two speed rear end. Not my favorite tranny. You can get used to them, but I doubt you will ever like them. I especially don't like them with heavy loads. For LB work, you can't beat a Road Ranger 18 speed. You always have the right gear when you need it, and you skip the ones you don't need when the going is easy. If the truck's gear ratio is on the low side, you can get by with the super 10, but they really suck when the truck is geared on the high side.
Remember when you are driving the rig, you are ultimately responsible for it's operation and safety. Sometimes it is a hard balance doing what is right and keeping the boss happy, but you have to be satisfied you are safe or it is not worth it.
Good luck with this new job. Keep us posted on how it is working out. I have always enjoyed your posts and pictures.

[monster truck]

I'm with ya on the transmission issue, a 10 speed is by far my least favorite tranny. My last heavy haul truck had an 18 speed eaton with a 4 speed brownie and full locking rears, that gave you every gear you could ever need and then some. Be careful with a super 10 as they are notoriously week transmissions and not designed for any heavy work.

[CinOK]

Sounds like somebody bought an old OTR fleet truck Is it Maroon. Those trannies ar crap mostly behind small detroits. Some have an autoshift function between 9/10. It usally doesnt work. I had to road test in one fro a flat bed company almost walked out when I saw that crap. Most of thier trucks had been replaced but this was thier test driver. I am assuming the fifth wheel is ajustable. If you slide it foward will you have clearence problem. You can never have to many chains and boomers but they do need to be done right. Do they have the old style flip overs or the newer ones.

[Kgmz]

Best thing to do for placement of fifth wheel and equipment on trailer, is to go to a weigh station.

First go there with a empty trailer to get baseline weights for all axles. Then go again with something on it and see if the front axle gets lighter because of the fifth wheel being to far back. Alos like mentioned before make sure you have enough clearance to slide it forward. Is it a manual slide or a air slide? and make sure it works, slides and locks. Nothing worse than having a fith wheel come off or damaged because of a broken lock.

Know your legal weights for all axles, and bridge if it is enforced there. I do this with all new trucks and trailers and get the baseline weights, and then weigh it with each piece of our equipment. This way I can move the equipment forward or back to get it in the optimal position on the trailer for the axle weights. Then I put a mark on the trailer for each piece of equipment so I will always know where to exactly park it.

And remember as the driver you are ultimately responsible for having a legal load, as you are the one who is going to get the ticket.

[Deerehauler]

I pull a 53' Muv-All. I like to have the heavier end of whatever I am hauling toward the front of the trailer. With regard to the 5th wheel, the guy that drove the truck before I did had the 5th wheel slid almost all the way back. This was DANGEROUS because the weight of the load would actually take weight off the front end, making steering in muddy or slick situations impossible. The front bumper on the tractor (KW T-800) would actually rise two inches when the truck was loaded. I worked one whole Friday afternoon getting the 5th wheel to slide and now I am getting good weight transfer to the front end and now I can steer in any condition.

Everything I haul is rubber-tired. I chain all four corners and have had NO issues with equipment moving around. I use snap binders and wire the handles to the chains after the boomer is tight. I haul farm equipment locally for a VERY busy Deere dealership, averaging six pieces of equipment per day, mainly combines, tractors, and sprayers. I have not used racheting binders personally, although they look pretty strong. I would bet I can snap and wire my boomers while someone else is getting their rachet binder unthreaded to prepare to hook up the chain.

[Wolf]

Well I got a new job 4 weeks ago after being laid off. I'm mainly a operator, but they want me to be there LB driver too. Its a small outfit so I won't be driving much I hope. I have had my Class a for 8 years, but haven't used it much. I hopped on dump trucks and had a flat deck trailer that I hauled a some smaller iron on everyday for hourly work I was doing. Driving isn't a issue, but could use any tips ya'll have on courtesy types of things drivers do. I am really looking for other info/tips like chaining down rubber tire stuff mainly ADTs. They currently have only 2 turnbuckles and for the rest I use binders which I'm not happy about. Where can I fine DOT regs online? The truck in a Freightliner that is to small for the 50ton Fontain trailer. I nervous since I don't have much training and there current Formen/Driver likes to cut corners. So I don't have any good resources to learn from. If some of this stuff has been covered before you can link it for me. I tried a quick search without much luck.

I hauled a 61 dozer for them and have always seen the blade angled on smaller 6ways, but was told to leave it straight. Is that right?

With the 61 on there I had hardly no traction on lose ground with the steer axle. The 5th wheel plate looks to be all the way back. Shouldn't I move it forward at least center it over the drives? With the truck being to small I wouldn't want to overload the steer. Suggestions?

I hate the truck it has a 10speed its shift pattern is like
R 3/4 7/8
1/2 5/6 9/10 almost like a 5 speed with high low it dives me nuts especially down shifting.

Thanks

Congratulations on your new gig, John, and lots of good luck with it. Enjoy the holidays.

[Dozerboy]

Thanks for the input guys. If anyone has anything else to add please do so. I've been keeping an eye on this thread but haven't had to move anything else so.

Is there a certain distance I should leave between the truck and trailer or a procedure I should preform to know how far I can move the 5th forward? Besides the obvious things like don't overload the axles and don't hit the trailer while turning.

It has a air slide. I'm almost nervous to mess with it since I don't know if/how it even really works.

Ya one last thing how do I know how often to grease the 5th?

[EZ TRBO]

If you are going long distances its a good thing(and required in some if not all states) to check your binders every so often. Whenever possible I try to X my chains, mostly on the ADT and loaders(any machine that pivots), and use the pivot lock bars if they have them.

If your machines are hanging out over the trailer sides at all...and pressure is put on the outrigger boards use them(we have a few pieces that do hang out but do not touch the out rigger boards so don't use them).

Take the time each time to go around and check you binders, make sure all flags and signs are good and tight and visable, and make sure your lights are all working(head and strobes, etc) Cover your exhaust openings and make sure all dirt and rocks are cleared off the trailer and machine.

Just a few tips i keep in my head everytime i move. hope it helped some.

Trbo

[Dozerboy]

Thanks for reminding me about outrigger boards. I forgot to ask, but I don't think we haul anything big enough to need/use them.

Things have been going ok the owner is kind of special and has his own way for things to be. Been working on some intermittent problems with the trailer lights, but I think I got that solved... Still hate that super 10 whoever came up with that is a tard. I missed a shift suck in traffic going slow up a big over pass loaded. I hit the brakes surprised no one hit me I think...

[Arabhacks]

Hello.

Your wish is my command.
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/rules-regulations.htm

[Corona Kid]

Hello.

Your wish is my command.
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/rules-regulations.htm
Isn't that something, Our Goverment can wright out how to do it but can't show us how:duh

[Dozerboy]

Few more things came up

How is the heck do you keep flags on ADTs wheels? Man I lose 1 every time I haul them. I use a 21" bungee diagonally across the wheel. I press the hook between the tire and the wheel hard and that seem to do good but our terex doesn't have much of a lip and I lost 2 the other day. Well 3 but I was stopping to check my chains on the 3rd. Maybe I should "hammer" them on some. I tried angling the bungees so the the wind/flag pulls on the the hook "setting" it more, but to no avail. We had our flags mounted to magnets the last place I work and that worked good it seemed. I have never seen that before so there must be a trick to bungees. I've got my eye out for some magnets but haven't got any yet.

Hitting curbs. I mangled a sidewall good the other day. Is there a trick like going really slow over a curb that will save a sidewall(loaded)? Some of the places I haul there just isn't enough room. Would hopping the curb with the drives be much better then the trailer? I have to have a blow out on a truck thats already on the small side.

Trailer brakes lock up easy unloaded. Is that the way it is or can/should they be adjusted out some? I think I can keep them from locking up if I do "stab" braking, but I have been told that in a nono.

Thanks

[Corona Kid]

Magnets
Run over the curb don't "scrape" it
Try a 1/2 turn back out instead of a 1/4 on the axle that's locking up

[monster truck]

As far as out riggers go, I dont use them unless I absolutely have to. If I can get enough of the tire or track on the trailer for it to be stable then the out riggers dont get used. There is a 16 G around here that I haul fairly often on an 8'6" wide cozad and I have never used the out riggers for it.

If you cant avoid hitting a curb the best thing to do is cut the corner even tighter and hit it as square as possible so that the tread of the tire takes more of the load than the sidewall.

[Dualie]

On the trailer brakes locking up issue i have been known to stick a quarter in the service brake glad hand

[Dozerboy]

Thanks for the info I found some magnets so the flags should stick around from now on.