LowBoy
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2006
- Messages
- 1,149
- Location
- Southern Vt. on the Mass./NH borders
- Occupation
- Owner, Iron Mountain Iron & Equipment (Transport)
I learn something new every day. I always said, "the day I quit learning, I'd better get out of this arena and do something less dangerous"...
Today was yet another learning experience, for me anyways.
I leave home this morning with a 1989 Peterbilt rear-discharge cement mixer chained down, as I usually do, over-chained. I started out a little higher than normal, at 13'9" tall to the top of the hopper.(Not a life-threatening situation, the hopper's made of thin steel, so even if I did boff something up there, the hopper would just be shaped a little differently afterwards, that's all...)
Upon entering the NYS Thruway to head south to Brooklyn, NY (Wooof...:Banghead ), I noticed I tripped the height detector in the EZ Pass booth. No big deal...I stopped at the very next service plaza, get my wrenches out, and drop my ride height at the leveling valve down low enough to be 13' 6"...All set to go.
I follow the directions given to me over the cellphone by a guy named "Dominic" (go figure,) right to a tee. At the intersection of Flushing Ave. and Rust St., (appropriately named after the dealer that bought these used mixers, I believe,) I have to make a HARD left turn over a bridge with granite curbing about 24" high. I tried 3 times, but my little 53' lowbed just wouldn't cooperate with the front half, so I decided to back up again, and take a RIGHT instead, go find a spot to do an about face, and head over to Dominic's place. I am literally 100 feet from his doorstep at that point, but couldn't make the swing, unless I pulled a JB Hunt or Swift manuver and ran the 2 foot high curbs over, demo'ing whatever was in the way, including the 3 rims and tires. I opted not to go that route today.
I take the right, and 100 yards down the street I see a perfect "island" with a diner in the middle of it, so I'm planning to make a right, a right, and a left and be pointed in the proper direction. WRONG...
As I approach the stoplight to make my first right, there was a guy in a very bright, seemingly flourescent orange jumpsuit, signaling me to come straight to him, up against the curb. My first analysis of this deal is, "geez, what a nice guy for being in Brooklyn...he's helping me out..." Then, reality set in that he's not a nice guy from Brooklyn...he's The Man With The Plan...an official NYS D.O.T. inspector.This ain't good...
Now here I am, 150 yards away from where this mixer is going, and me, "Mr. Lucky", has to walk into a DOT check, in the freakin' city of all places!:Banghead
I did luck out with this guy, though. He was a peach. He asked for ever piece of paperwork I could imagine, including my logbook which wasn't finished from Tuesday's workday yet, but being I left from Troy, NY (so he thought, as it says on the door anyways,) he let me slide on the logbook. We did a level 2 inspection, which is just a walkaround, lights, wipers, horn, etc. without the creeper.
Came out with NO violations...nice. But...he taught me something new today. As of this month, there's a WHOLE new set of securement regulations coming into effect. ANYTHING not secured down to a truck or trailer, including, but not limited to, the very chains and binders that hold stuff in place, MUST be secured themselves. In other words, no more throwing your chains and binders in the well, (which by the way, is a factory standard item on this 2007 Fontaine Specialized trailer I pull,) and even a single 4X4 block must be secured in some fashion, or you're gonna get whacked. He let me go on it, but suggested I build a cover with hinges to keep the chains and binders from "jumping out" of the well.
Now I don't know about anyone else on this forum, but the only time I have ever personally seen any chains and binders fall out of the well of a lowbed, is when the truck was capsized in a ditch somewhere. I carry 3/8" and 1/2" chains and screw binders, and pile them all on top of each other, and in my mind, if you ever hit a bump hard enough to have those things jump up out of the 10" deep well they're riding in, you're gonna have a lot bigger problems with your equipment than just loose chains...probably gonna snap the truck in half once you land, eh?
In any event, the enforcers of the new laws will be writing tickets for "unsecured securement" devices from now on. The weight of the objects are not sufficient securement in itself, according to the inspector.
I left happily from my new lease on life after DOT, and utilized his and a city cop's official authority to get me backed out into the 4 way intersection, and make my right, right, and finally, the left that I had so innocenty planned on making, 45 minutes prior to all this trauma.
I got to Dominic's place, broke the trailer down, drove the mixer off, put it back together and left the fair city of New York I think, just a wee bit wiser than I entered today...:wink2
I just thought I'd share that tidbit of information with you folks, so fire up the mig welders men, get those pieces of diamondplate cut to size, and use those electric glue machines to stick a set of hinges to the plate, and finally to the trailers, because Beufort T. Justice WILL be looking hard at your unsecure securement devices from this point on...
Thanx.
Today was yet another learning experience, for me anyways.
I leave home this morning with a 1989 Peterbilt rear-discharge cement mixer chained down, as I usually do, over-chained. I started out a little higher than normal, at 13'9" tall to the top of the hopper.(Not a life-threatening situation, the hopper's made of thin steel, so even if I did boff something up there, the hopper would just be shaped a little differently afterwards, that's all...)
Upon entering the NYS Thruway to head south to Brooklyn, NY (Wooof...:Banghead ), I noticed I tripped the height detector in the EZ Pass booth. No big deal...I stopped at the very next service plaza, get my wrenches out, and drop my ride height at the leveling valve down low enough to be 13' 6"...All set to go.
I follow the directions given to me over the cellphone by a guy named "Dominic" (go figure,) right to a tee. At the intersection of Flushing Ave. and Rust St., (appropriately named after the dealer that bought these used mixers, I believe,) I have to make a HARD left turn over a bridge with granite curbing about 24" high. I tried 3 times, but my little 53' lowbed just wouldn't cooperate with the front half, so I decided to back up again, and take a RIGHT instead, go find a spot to do an about face, and head over to Dominic's place. I am literally 100 feet from his doorstep at that point, but couldn't make the swing, unless I pulled a JB Hunt or Swift manuver and ran the 2 foot high curbs over, demo'ing whatever was in the way, including the 3 rims and tires. I opted not to go that route today.
I take the right, and 100 yards down the street I see a perfect "island" with a diner in the middle of it, so I'm planning to make a right, a right, and a left and be pointed in the proper direction. WRONG...
As I approach the stoplight to make my first right, there was a guy in a very bright, seemingly flourescent orange jumpsuit, signaling me to come straight to him, up against the curb. My first analysis of this deal is, "geez, what a nice guy for being in Brooklyn...he's helping me out..." Then, reality set in that he's not a nice guy from Brooklyn...he's The Man With The Plan...an official NYS D.O.T. inspector.This ain't good...
Now here I am, 150 yards away from where this mixer is going, and me, "Mr. Lucky", has to walk into a DOT check, in the freakin' city of all places!:Banghead
I did luck out with this guy, though. He was a peach. He asked for ever piece of paperwork I could imagine, including my logbook which wasn't finished from Tuesday's workday yet, but being I left from Troy, NY (so he thought, as it says on the door anyways,) he let me slide on the logbook. We did a level 2 inspection, which is just a walkaround, lights, wipers, horn, etc. without the creeper.
Came out with NO violations...nice. But...he taught me something new today. As of this month, there's a WHOLE new set of securement regulations coming into effect. ANYTHING not secured down to a truck or trailer, including, but not limited to, the very chains and binders that hold stuff in place, MUST be secured themselves. In other words, no more throwing your chains and binders in the well, (which by the way, is a factory standard item on this 2007 Fontaine Specialized trailer I pull,) and even a single 4X4 block must be secured in some fashion, or you're gonna get whacked. He let me go on it, but suggested I build a cover with hinges to keep the chains and binders from "jumping out" of the well.
Now I don't know about anyone else on this forum, but the only time I have ever personally seen any chains and binders fall out of the well of a lowbed, is when the truck was capsized in a ditch somewhere. I carry 3/8" and 1/2" chains and screw binders, and pile them all on top of each other, and in my mind, if you ever hit a bump hard enough to have those things jump up out of the 10" deep well they're riding in, you're gonna have a lot bigger problems with your equipment than just loose chains...probably gonna snap the truck in half once you land, eh?
In any event, the enforcers of the new laws will be writing tickets for "unsecured securement" devices from now on. The weight of the objects are not sufficient securement in itself, according to the inspector.
I left happily from my new lease on life after DOT, and utilized his and a city cop's official authority to get me backed out into the 4 way intersection, and make my right, right, and finally, the left that I had so innocenty planned on making, 45 minutes prior to all this trauma.
I got to Dominic's place, broke the trailer down, drove the mixer off, put it back together and left the fair city of New York I think, just a wee bit wiser than I entered today...:wink2
I just thought I'd share that tidbit of information with you folks, so fire up the mig welders men, get those pieces of diamondplate cut to size, and use those electric glue machines to stick a set of hinges to the plate, and finally to the trailers, because Beufort T. Justice WILL be looking hard at your unsecure securement devices from this point on...
Thanx.