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What would you do "Safety Discussion 11"


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Silverhawk tubeyellow.gif said:

Truck and bed are probably rated lighter than what is being hauled.  Looks like a 10,000 bed and a 5500 Dodge Ram?  Might be a 4500?

Those buses weight around 12-13,000 pounds.  A 26,000 gvw truck, with a 12,000 bed would be my idea of the minimum equipment needed to handle the job.  There are some other "ifs" to consider also.

Wheel lift needs to be extended and chained in place to provide under-ride protection from trailing vehicles.  Might be a few inches over 13'6", but not critical in some areas?  Also, the climate (snow) would give me pause in hauling at maximum capacity.

Just my opinion. 

I have hauled some Fedex Sprinter Vans on my F650, and the height was 13'10".  Just got to be careful on your routing.   

 

towing texas tubeyellow.gif said:

Definitely not worth the risk with that flatbed.

 

In Memory NationalAutow tubegreen.gif said:

Here is a good example of why you have to be very careful when purchasing used equipment.

You NEVER know what some idiot might have been doing with it previously.

There are ratings on everything involved here FOR GOOD REASON!!!!!!!!!!!

Another example of "if it fits, it rides" NOT

You are putting stresses on a lot of parts that are not rated for that. The chance for catastrophic failure is out of this world. This is only adds to the possibility/probability of death or serious injury.

 

occupant272 said:

Two recent tows I saw illustrate this nicely.

Former company posts a picture of a long bed, crew cab, diesel, dually Ford on the bed of the 18 foot rollback I used to drive. Captioned it, "if it fits, it ships". Within a few weeks, the truck was out of service. Killed the clutch with only 20K on it, the transmission with less than that. Since then, they have hauled other overweight, oversize things after fixing it, only to blow the engine. How the heck do you kill an IDI diesel? Abuse it, over-rev it, and don't check the oil. They did all three of those things and now the truck is back on the road, 284K showing, rods knocking away, a ticking time bomb. I took good care of that truck when I had it, and it was well on its way to half a million miles. Now it won't see 300K.

Another company in town has a slightly newer F550 rollback with the 7.3 and automatic. I saw them pick up one of these shuttle buses from on the side of the road. It was fully loaded on the bed, in the locks, the bed bent in a crescent shape with the back end sunk down so low you couldn't hardly see the red glow of the taillights on the rollback. The front tires were MAYBE touching the ground, and the fool of a driver was crawled up underneath in the front. I don't now what he was doing, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was shoving rocks in the front bumper to bring it closer to the ground. Guess whose truck is now out of service?

Both companies are lucky they haven't killed somebody yet. I'd love to see some additional regulation for towing in my state and a TRAO membership is around the corner. If it means I can't tow anymore because it gets too expensive to meet the new regs, so be it. I'll find something else to do, but we have simply GOT to get unsafe drivers, unsafe trucks, and unsafe practices off the road.
Alan Moore - Westerville, OH
TOAD Towing & Roadside Assistance
 
towgod46 said:
One quick thing that overhang is gonna decapitate someone not being marked. You know they are gonna try to tow that at night so they don't get caught. The bus being black it's gonna be hard to judge anytime. That's a lawsuit just waiting to happen.
 
In Memory NationalAutow tubegreen.gifsaid:
Rant: ON
Unfortunately, this business we call towing and recovery is a lawsuit waiting to happen and the idiots that do things like this make lawyers rich and good tow operators pay the price in increased rates etc.
Rant: OFF
 
ShumanServices said:
Sorry, that's just wrong in my opinion
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