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Highway job coming together


B MACK

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6 hours ago, B MACK said:

Yes it is the new by-pass in Kalispell.         The trailers are belly dumps. We have a couple flow boys, but don't use them much any more.

So where exactly does this bypass go?

The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by the people who vote for a living.

The government can only "give" someone what they first take from another.

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I heard there is an annual contest out west between dump truckers,especially the type where the 2nd  bucket  fits into the 1st after its empty (only 1 hoist) the ones with the really long tongue between the truck and trailer.It was in Overdrive yrs ago.Does it still exist? May have been in the Antelope Valley.

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I heard there is an annual contest out west between dump truckers,especially the type where the 2nd  bucket  fits into the 1st after its empty (only 1 hoist) the ones with the really long tongue between the truck and trailer.It was in Overdrive yrs ago.Does it still exist? May have been in the Antelope Valley.

Transfer dumps. Fun to watch an experienced operator.

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 Thank you underdog! I have seen them many times on the road,didn't know whet they were called.Overdrive showed a sequence of photos showing the whole process.....amazing! Reginald Denny the driver who was beaten In the LA riots was driving one,4200 Transtar.Just watched the tape on my granddaughters kindle!  Even more amazing a black trucker saw it on tv,went to the scene,And risked his life by driving Denny to the hospital in Danny's rig!

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And you will still be learning on the day you either do something else or retire! Sadly for you folks  you just hit upon my favorite subject!! I started hauling cars on a 6car(including the headlamp) single axle tractor,40 ft single axle trailer Ford gas job! My last rig was a Cottrell stinger steered 12car truck and trailer like yours only not as deluxe.Was Leaseway Motorcar out of Dundalk Md.Also owned Nu Car ,Arco,and Anchor Motor Freight. My 1st 12 car load took me 6 hrs to load!! One of my favorite stories involves  an o/o in the late 70's.Back when you were allowed to drop s.t.I. After hrs,he gets to the dealer in the middle of the night with 7 datsons.The gates are locked and he has a good load in the morning! Hmm. What would you do? Had a 7000 gmc with a low headlamp.He pulls up against the cyclone fence,drags his long skids,from the back throws them over the fence climbs up the headlamp,and drops into the dealers lot! Pins his skids climbs up onto the trailer and unloads the top which he had already untied. Throws one skid over the fence climbs up the other,throws it down.Drags the skids to the rear of the trailer,unloads the bottom,loads the top,repeats the deal with the skids,stows them back on the trailer, and leaves! Bet that dealer was scratching his head in the morning he told me.lol those datsons had a very short overhang you wouldn't get away  with that on most cars today. Next time folks...The missing bridge on rt 36 in pa,with no warning signs,and how do you straighten the quarter panel on a Datson you bent from tying it down too tight ! Obviously that's headramp not headlamp freaking spelchek!

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On 8/20/2016 at 2:32 PM, BillyT said:

And you will still be learning on the day you either do something else or retire! Sadly for you folks  you just hit upon my favorite subject!! I started hauling cars on a 6car(including the headlamp) single axle tractor,40 ft single axle trailer Ford gas job! My last rig was a Cottrell stinger steered 12car truck and trailer like yours only not as deluxe.Was Leaseway Motorcar out of Dundalk Md.Also owned Nu Car ,Arco,and Anchor Motor Freight. My 1st 12 car load took me 6 hrs to load!! One of my favorite stories involves  an o/o in the late 70's.Back when you were allowed to drop s.t.I. After hrs,he gets to the dealer in the middle of the night with 7 datsons.The gates are locked and he has a good load in the morning! Hmm. What would you do? Had a 7000 gmc with a low headlamp.He pulls up against the cyclone fence,drags his long skids,from the back throws them over the fence climbs up the headlamp,and drops into the dealers lot! Pins his skids climbs up onto the trailer and unloads the top which he had already untied. Throws one skid over the fence climbs up the other,throws it down.Drags the skids to the rear of the trailer,unloads the bottom,loads the top,repeats the deal with the skids,stows them back on the trailer, and leaves! Bet that dealer was scratching his head in the morning he told me.lol those datsons had a very short overhang you wouldn't get away  with that on most cars today. Next time folks...The missing bridge on rt 36 in pa,with no warning signs,and how do you straighten the quarter panel on a Datson you bent from tying it down too tight ! Obviously that's headramp not headlamp freaking spelchek!

So you car haulers can verify.  As a young supervisor I had a driver who in his prior life worked for NuCar out of the old Ford plant in Mahwah NJ.  He would tell tales about dealers who gave him a hard time and his comment was..."if they gave me shit I promised them a load of camels".  which he then explained were cars that were overly  tied down creating "issues".  I assumed pure bullshit.

In anycase, everytime I see a guy in a dealer lot climbing up to offload I can't think of anything else as dangerous that OSHA has not stuck its nose into. And boy has that industry changed. I remember the big fleets-NuCar, Automobile Transport, M & G, Anchor, Boutell etc.  Today it seems they are all small O/O type operators.

 

I

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The first company I drove for was Automobile Transport  out of the Pittsburgh Railhead,was bought out by Nu Car Carriers.I promised to reveal how to straighten the quarter panels on a Datson that you chained down too tight. You back it off the top of the rack way faster than anyone but a complete idiot would do!!,when it hits the pavement it bottoms out and the bumper or rear frame hits the pavement and straightens out the quarters!Lol They were built really light and easy to bend(and straighten) I also promised to tell you guys about the "missing bridge" I was running across rte 36 in central PA. One night and suddenly my headlights were shining into a 200 ft long and 100 ft deep empty chasm!! They had completely removed the bridge and either failed to put up a barrier,or more likely some teenagers had removed the barrier and were lurking in the bushes waiting for some idiot (me) to go over the edge!! Oh S..T! Somehow I managed to screech to a stop! I then had to back what  seemed like a mile to find a cross street to turn around! Next  increment in "Adventures in car hauling" We will discuss why we don't pull over on an asphalt shoulder with a fully loaded " parking lot"  to look at our map when it is 90degrees out!!

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When the major car carriers hold a " loading class" for new drivers the "wash out rate" is 70 percent!

You old timers probably know my boss, Don Carney originally with Nu Car out of Lackawanna, NY Ford plant, and his brother Garry worked for Allied for a long time. Hence the name Brothers Auto Transport. Boss says he hires 10 new drivers to get 2 that will work out.

The last 2 big teamster operations are Jack Cooper and Cassens who pretty much cleaned up all the old names. Love the old car hauler stories, keep em coming!

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9 hours ago, Red Horse said:

Ah- M & G, a K car, and cast spokes on the C-900! talk about nostalgia.  Only thing missing is Lee Iacocca in the background.

The legendary Lee Iacocca was a proud son of Allentown, Pennsylvania, "The Truck Capital of the World".

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"If you can find a better car buy it" lol And many did! Ok underdog you asked for it! Ok I'm in a brand new New Car rig .Most of you remember the "Cottrell Ronald McDonald"trailer two arches,very distinctive,full trailer not a stinger.45000lbs mt. It's late August on I 64 near white sulphur springs wva.It's 90degrees,and I pull over on the asphalt shoulder to check my atlas. Get ready to leave the truck stalls.Start the truck,let out the clutch,stalls again! I get out and the tires are sunk about 4" in the pavement! I was fully loaded near 80000for sure! It took two tandem wreckers to yank me out! What a dumb move on my part! Good thing I was union, the company paid the bill! Next increment of "Adventures in car. Hauling" The half rate backhaul. I didn't know anyone at our Buffalo terminal seldom went there.

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Underdog, is Ft Kent Me. On your load board? When I was pulling out of Dundalk M.D. for Leaseway Motorcar,We would get Ft Kent loads,and you couldn't touch one without 20 yrs seniority! 811 pay mi.  Not bad mi,but upper new England wasn't popular with senior drivers takes too long to deliver no t.s., especially in the winter! So I asked an older driver one day, he just chuckled, said they have twice as many  women in Ft Kent as men! You go in a bar you get attacked ( literally)! Ideal situation really,you're running a day cab so the company pays for your motel,most motels have a bar so no dui's Just wondered if that was true or if he was exaggerating! They do have a fishing contest annually and a dogsled race in the winter sounds like a party town lol

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Hardly any auto moves that long anymore, the rail distribution network is really built up in the past 20 years. Some of the lower volume cars may go that far, but most moves over 500 miles go by rail. 300 miles is a long trip for me. From Dundalk our longest trips are Albany NY and Buffalo. Other carriers go south. My boss likes to focus on NY, NJ and PA, but we will get into new England out of Mechanicville and Selkirk NY railheads.

Day cab is good for motel nights, but I'd rather have a sleeper with E-LOGS I can be more efficient.

What happens at the hotel, stays at the hotel!!!

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Thanks for the comeback carlotpilot! I hated all the b.s. looking for a motel myself much preferred a sleeper.Never got into any shenanigans on the road,but many did! There used to be a motel in New Jersey,same exit as Perth Amboy,called the Swan handed you the room key and a beer! Ya readin' my mind?lol the reason I remembered the exit one night I went the wrong way,ended up in Perth Amboy! 11pm,7 shiny new Mercedes on the rack! Talk about your life hanging by a thin thread!Got directions from two drunken Portuguese seaman! Invited me for a drink! Politely declined! Whew!

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