Secure those loads!

[Slim140]

My brother and sister in law came up from Alabama for thanksgiving and my wife, mother in-law, and I took our two kids and their two kids to the movies today. We were headed home and this toolbox blew off a trailer that was loaded with other stuff. I saw it fall off and there was nothing my wife could do to avoid it. I thank God it didn’t hit the windshield and only damaged the bumper.

The bad thing is the driver of the truck it fail off of didn’t stop and neither did any of the witnesses who were following him. This is the only new vehicle I’ve ever bought and it has 5,542 miles on it. Luckily nobody got hurt.

We called the cops just to have a report for the insurance company.

Make sure your loads are secured so this doesn’t happen to anyone else!

 

[Dale Finch]

Bummer! I think I will stop apologizing when it takes me 3 times the time to tie down my loads, whether they are tractors or brush. People look at me as though I think things will spread wings and fly!! I also use twice the "required" straps.

Sorry about your new car, but very thankful there were no injuries.

 

[Don McCombs]

Fortunately, it looks like the box was empty. Did the trailer have Tennessee plates on it?

 

[Slim140]

Fortunately, it looks like the box was empty. Did the trailer have Tennessee plates on it?

I wish I knew!

 

[Cecil]

Be nice Don

 

[Jim Reid]

Shane will have pictures in a few days of what he has made out of the toolbox.

 

[Lt.Mike]

I ride a motorcycle pretty much everywhere and while this can be true for anyone I make it a point not to follow directly behind trailers. Particularly open landscape type trailers.
I had watched a large flat square washer fall off one to fly back at me spinning like a ninja star and damaged my bikes mirror. It would have hit my chest if I hadn’t swerved. People tend to leave objects large and small laying on them that they don’t care if they blow off (?). Bluestone rocks blow off construction trailers too. (We always clear the stones off our trailers so we don’t take out someone’s windshield)
It just pays to be aware and expect those hazards. Stay back from them and off to the side if you can.
Mike
Ps- when I’m trailering commercial AC units (or anything else) I always throw that extra strap across. I’ve had straps snap that looked perfectly fine. Another tip, put twists in your straps. Straps that are laid down looking neat and flat will vibrate violently in the wind. It’ll sing to you and chafe, eventually snap. A couple twists will prevent that.

 

[Jim Becker]

Fortunately, it looks like the box was empty. Did the trailer have Tennessee plates on it?

With all the damage it caused, it would have been nice if it had some decent tools in it. The guy that lost it probably doesn't own any decent tools.

. . .
I had watched a large flat square washer fall off one to fly back at me spinning like a ninja star and damaged my bikes mirror. . . .

Reminds me of the day I was directly behind a ready-mix concrete truck, fairly heavy traffic, no choice except to follow. A dried splatter of concrete fell off the truck. It hit the pavement on edge and began to cartwheel and bounce along the lane in front of me. It finally took a big bounce and landed on my hood, still on edge. The next bounce was my windshield, then another on my roof. It left small gouges in both the hood and windshield, both smaller than I expected. The contact point on the roof was harder to spot. It was a lot like the "seeing an accident happening across the street" situation.

. . . I make it a point not to follow directly behind trailers. Particularly open landscape type trailers. . . .

As you might guess by the above, I particularly try to avoid being behind concrete trucks but dump trucks may actually be worse.

 

[Indy4570]

so many comments that warrent responses, to Dale, I also take a ton of extra time and use far more straps/chains than needed. I have had a strap cut before but never lost anything from a load. Double straps paid off that day. As for following, in spite of how I strap my loads down I am always leery when somebody follows me close. They do not seem to know anything can happen at anytime no matter how good you secure a load. Just good sense to leave a buffer zone.

I may have told this story before once in here, not sure, but it is one major reason I began strapping things down more than needed. Some guy bought a new clothes dryer I think it was. He didn't tie it down enough or at all. He lost it and it hit a young mothers car. She didn't survive it. He never stopped. The serial number was traced to the store that sold it and he was found. The impact of reading that news story was never lost on me. It could mean someones LIFE if I was negligent in the way I towed my trailers. Not to mention being responsible for something like that would ruin my life as well.

Dale you take as long as you need tying down to feel secure!

Shane I am glad nobody was hurt.

I will add this but I am sure 98% of those here know this already. I always stop a short way into my journey to recheck straps/chains to make sure nothing settled in the load or nothing loosened up. The quality of your straps, chains, and binders makes a huge difference as well. I have found a lot of the straps sold today are pure garbage. There is a reason we have something called a "truckers chain" that commercial carriers are required by law to use to secure loads. I always use at least one on each end of tractors or trucks I haul. Grade 70 trucker chains are your friend when hauling heavy equipment. If you dont know for sure look at the welds in each individual link. grade 70 will have a large area larger than the link diameter and a 1/4 to 1/2 inch long. Cheapo chains will have a single ridge, thin and sticking up a little where the chain links were welded together. My favorite binders have coil springs on one end, they came from my fathers estate when he passed. The is no substitute for the right equipment for the job. We have all seen pics or had personal experience with somebody's load or even our own falling off a trailer or truck. Dale there is no such thing as "too many tie downs"

I guess I add most of this info for the new guys that have recently bought their first tractor maybe. Those fellows that haven't been hauling trucks or trailers or farm equipment most of their lives like some of the old codgers here have, ( yes, I feel like an old codger ) We all had to learn. Broken chains, stitching giving way in less than great ratchet straps.... And yes, poor choices in placing a strap over that part that over 100 miles cut it right in two!

good luck and keep your stick on the ice

 

[Lt.Mike]

. . . I make it a point not to follow directly behind trailers. Particularly open landscape type trailers. . . .

As you might guess by the above, I particularly try to avoid being behind concrete trucks but dump trucks may actually be worse.

Around my way dump trucks when leaving construction sites are required to drive over pads of 4” bluestone just before returning to the road to shake off mud from the tires. Sometimes those dual tires pickup a stone between them to be released at speed on the road.
Another reason to stay back and to the side when possible.

 

[Slim140]

. . . I make it a point not to follow directly behind trailers. Particularly open landscape type trailers. . . .

As you might guess by the above, I particularly try to avoid being behind concrete trucks but dump trucks may actually be worse.

Around my way dump trucks when leaving construction sites are required to drive over pads of 4” bluestone just before returning to the road to shake off mud from the tires. Sometimes those dual tires pickup a stone between them to be released at speed on the road.
Another reason to stay back and to the side when possible.

My wife’s other suburban we sold before buying this one, she left in it one day and got 300 yards from our house and passed a dump truck going the opposite direction and it threw a rock and busted the windshield. I forgot about that, oh well.

 

[Slim140]

I forgot to put in my original post, this toolbox fell off a trailer stacked up on some other stuff that we were meeting on a 2 lane road. We weren’t behind it.

 

[Barnyard]

Fortunately, it looks like the box was empty. Did the trailer have Tennessee plates on it?