Load Checks evry 150 miles?

[nightcreacher]

1st off,unless you have a seal given by the company you loaded for,with the number on the bills,this is the only way you are exempt from the stopping and checking securement,thats for haz mat also.The new cvsa say 50 miles and then 150 miles,easy way,just ask shipper for one of their seals.All my loads have shipper seals,I carry seals but they are actually worthless when they dont have shipper name on them.I went thru this with a California inspection,he did write me for not haveing signage for the fire extinguisher,and guess what,it was inside my drivers door,only California has that requirement.

 

[jjoerger]

1st off,unless you have a seal given by the company you loaded for,with the number on the bills,this is the only way you are exempt from the stopping and checking securement,thats for haz mat also.The new cvsa say 50 miles and then 150 miles,easy way,just ask shipper for one of their seals.All my loads have shipper seals,I carry seals but they are actually worthless when they dont have shipper name on them.I went thru this with a California inspection,he did write me for not haveing signage for the fire extinguisher,and guess what,it was inside my drivers door,only California has that requirement.

Do you have the reg you were sight under for the fire extinguisher?
I checked the following regs and could find no mention of any requirement to put a sign on the door saying fire extinguisher inside
FMCSA 390.21 Marking of CMV's
FMCSA 393.95 Emergency Equipment on all Power Units and FMCSA 173.309 Fire Extinquishers

 

[greg334]

Do you have the reg you were sight under for the fire extinguisher?
I checked the following regs and could find no mention of any requirement to put a sign on the door saying fire extinguisher inside
FMCSA 390.21 Marking of CMV's
FMCSA 393.95 Emergency Equipment on all Power Units and FMCSA 173.309 Fire Extinquishers

The feds regulations are not the ones that states have to follow, they can and do create their own.

An example is the CARB laws and how ALL interstate trucks have to abide by them. THIS actually has an over reaching effect on how a state can impose other regulations onto an interstate operator that goes beyond the fed's regulations.

One example is if one state starts treating every van as a commercial vehicle, they can because California treats every truck as a domestic truck. Many van owners can jump up and down and get all upset over the issue but the state actually has the power to do so thanks to the supreme court's ruling on EPA issues.

 

[TeamCaffee]

I have been reading through all of the posts on checking the securement of freight and I am scratching my head a little.

As professionals our job is to make sure our freight is delivered as perfect as it was when loaded at the shipper. One rule we were told was secure the freight to make it part of the truck. Since we are responsible for the first few thousand dollars of damage we make it our business to make sure the freight is riding perfect. The law does not make us check our freight our sense of pride as a business owner makes it necessary. We are paid to deliver undamaged freight and that is what we strive to do each and every time we pick up a load. We also have two cameras in our box as an added precaution. We added the cameras for a couple of reasons one being if the box was sealed we could still watch to make sure everything is riding as it was when loaded.

When I look back at some of loaded trailers Bob pulled for USX I am amazed anything ever arrived with no damage. When there is a sign on the back of the trailer to watch when opening doors for falling freight they mean it. We very seldom had a trailer that had the freight secured in any fashion. I am also amazed that some of those paper rolls never rolled and came out the side or back of the trailer. As far as I am concerned picking up a sealed trailer is like rolling the dice on how the freight is or is not secured.

We much prefer our box to not be sealed and only have our padlocks on the doors. We are then in control of what happens in the box and can verify everything is traveling in a secure manner. The roads are rough out here and when we have to stop quicker then expected usually due to a car cutting us off we want the ability to make sure our freight is right were it is supposed to be.

We do not want a surprise when we open up our doors with a customer standing there.

 

[moose]

Tough choice,hey Linda.
do you stay safe,
or do you stay in compliance...

 

[nightcreacher]

jj the calif scale at banning put a sticker on both the trailer and truck.there wasnt a reg on the report.and I didnt notice he wrote me up for that till I faxed the copy of the report to Colonial.If I had noticed,I would have mentioned it ti the officer.He tried to write me for logs,but he admitted he made a mistake.Colonial did send me a letter telling me of the v iolation.As far as I can tell.There is nothing in the reg book that says a sign has to be on the drivers door

 

[jjoerger]

jj the calif scale at banning put a sticker on both the trailer and truck.there wasnt a reg on the report.and I didnt notice he wrote me up for that till I faxed the copy of the report to Colonial.If I had noticed,I would have mentioned it ti the officer.He tried to write me for logs,but he admitted he made a mistake.Colonial did send me a letter telling me of the v iolation.As far as I can tell.There is nothing in the reg book that says a sign has to be on the drivers door

The reason I asked was the Banning scale was going to put that violation on our inspection too. When I asked for the reg he said he didn't have it handy so he would let it slide this time. He did put us OOS for 15 minutes while I changed out a turn signal bulb. Isn't California a wonderful state?

 

[JohnMueller]

Drivers;

It is not just your logbook, it is not just securing freight and doing a check of the securement every 150 miles, it is ALL the regulations contained in that little green Safety Regulations pocketbook that you really need to become familar with to protect yourself, and your company under CSA.

Please, take the time to read, and become familiar with the regulations. Doing so will save you much headache and grief down the road.

Stay safe,

HotFr8Recruiter
John

 

[TeamCaffee]

Drivers;

It is not just your logbook, it is not just securing freight and doing a check of the securement every 150 miles, it is ALL the regulations contained in that little green Safety Regulations pocketbook that you really need to become familar with to protect yourself, and your company under CSA.

Please, take the time to read, and become familiar with the regulations. Doing so will save you much headache and grief down the road.

Stay safe,

HotFr8Recruiter
John

I see that every one of us when we put the freight on the truck we are driving become owners of that freight. We as the owners and ultimately the ones responsible for the freight being delivered safely.

The idea of putting a seal on a truck so a DOT officer cannot see how we secured the freight seems more like something a truck load carrier might pull not an expediter.

I am assuming that all owners would consider the driver responsible for any freight damage?

 

[paullud]

I see that every one of us when we put the freight on the truck we are driving become owners of that freight. We as the owners and ultimately the ones responsible for the freight being delivered safely.

The idea of putting a seal on a truck so a DOT officer cannot see how we secured the freight seems more like something a truck load carrier might pull not an expediter.

I am assuming that all owners would consider the driver responsible for any freight damage?

It is not done to prevent the DOT officer from seeing how it is secured, adding a seal is being done for security and to prevent ridiculous violations from power tripping LEO's. In no way does having a seal on the load keep you from being responsible for the security and safety of that freight.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

 

[TeamCaffee]

I prefer that we not be sealed so we can check our freight and if something is wrong we can fix it.

We have a very good lock on our truck and we prefer this method to a seal. A seal advertises that we are loaded while many trucks have a lock loaded or not.

 

[jjoerger]

I was unsealed and had a DOT officer at an Indiana weigh station ask me to open my back doors. He then climbed in the box and started walking around between the skids.
I had a load of Lladro figurines. Very expensive and fragile. If one had come up broken with a boot print on the box I would have been blamed and had no proof that a DOT officer was inside stomping about.
With a seal he would have had to break it and replace it and give me his name and badge number.
I prefer to run sealed for the security of the freight.

 

[cheri1122]

Drivers;

It is not just your logbook, it is not just securing freight and doing a check of the securement every 150 miles, it is ALL the regulations contained in that little green Safety Regulations pocketbook that you really need to become familar with to protect yourself, and your company under CSA.

Please, take the time to read, and become familiar with the regulations. Doing so will save you much headache and grief down the road.

Stay safe,

HotFr8Recruiter
John

John, your last statement is true, to a point: many of the regs are vague, and others were written for t/t, and were never applied to a s/t [ie: reflective tape on mudflaps], but could be if the LEO is determined to find a violation.
Ohio Trooper told me a few days ago that "no violations makes the boss unhappy", so they ARE going over things with a microscope outlook [it's about justifying their jobs, of course, NOT safety].
It's difficult to avoid violations when the rules aren't spelled out clearly, and many are not.

 

[paullud]

I was unsealed and had a DOT officer at an Indiana weigh station ask me to open my back doors. He then climbed in the box and started walking around between the skids.
I had a load of Lladro figurines. Very expensive and fragile. If one had come up broken with a boot print on the box I would have been blamed and had no proof that a DOT officer was inside stomping about.
With a seal he would have had to break it and replace it and give me his name and badge number.
I prefer to run sealed for the security of the freight.

Exactly a seal will show you have protected the freight and that no one has been inside including yourself. When I was running loads of beer I used my padlock and Budweiser's seal, this was to protect me and protect the load from sticky fingers since it seems beer is stolen a lot.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

 

[cheri1122]

I was unsealed and had a DOT officer at an Indiana weigh station ask me to open my back doors. He then climbed in the box and started walking around between the skids.
I had a load of Lladro figurines. Very expensive and fragile. If one had come up broken with a boot print on the box I would have been blamed and had no proof that a DOT officer was inside stomping about.
With a seal he would have had to break it and replace it and give me his name and badge number.
I prefer to run sealed for the security of the freight.

If you have a camera [even on your phone], you can have proof.
Regarding Linda C's comment: yes, the driver [not the owner] is responsible for the security of the load.

 

[TeamCaffee]

I believe before an officer got into our box I would make a note on our BOL that he got inside the box.

Your logs would indicate you were stopped at a scale and the notation on your paperwork would need to include his name and badge number. I would ask him to initial the paperwork and if he would not I would call into FCC and let them know what all happened.

Another way to cover yourself is to take a picture of the load with your watch visible showing the time, take a picture of him inside the box with your watch as well.

We were at a scale in California and the officer was curious about our load of poison. He actually wanted to see the poison ... He was perfectly happy to look at our load using our camera system. Who in their right mind would want anyone to open a door to see a poison load?

 

[AMonger]

I see that every one of us when we put the freight on the truck we are driving become owners of that freight. We as the owners and ultimately the ones responsible for the freight being delivered safely.

The idea of putting a seal on a truck so a DOT officer cannot see how we secured the freight seems more like something a truck load carrier might pull not an expediter.

I am assuming that all owners would consider the driver responsible for any freight damage?

Consider the seal a "no-pest strip." Not that it absolutely prevents the DOT from looking, but not having a seal lowers the bar on looking. They may not really have much of a reason to look inside, but if it's not sealed, what the heck, why not?

But if there's a seal and it means their actions will be documented on the BOL, name, badge number, etc., they might just figure it's not worth it.

So Forrest Gump said about not having to worry about money any more, "That's one less thing."

 

[nightcreacher]

Every load I haul has a shipperes seal,of course they are all food stuffs,from meat to icecream.I stop 50 miles and every couple hours to make sure reefer temps are right,that way if a problem I can make that dreaded phone call.Those stops are all flagged,takes less than 7 mins,although are safety department says anything under 15 mins only needs flagged.To me under 7 = 0,8 rounds off to 15 min,just the way its been for the 30 plus years Ive been driving.
JJ,I'm seeing more trucks with fire extinguisher signage on drivers doors,they all must have been stopped at banning.I dont plan on going back out there,so my door is without,or untill someone shows me the regulation.
On way to Ft Erie to pick up some more frozen foods for the Rich company,we do alot for Rich,all drop and hook.
THis week delivered out of West Palm Beach to West Seneca Ny,Dropped trailer,dead head is to Ft Erie ON.Load in AM to Murfreesboro tn,Drop and hook there and return back to West Seneca NY.Be back here Thursday,and probably head back to Murfreesboro,for Friday.Im getting home alot,not use to this
As far as dot officer getting truck,if I was stopped long enough to have this happen,it would be in my comments line on log book,just as if he had broken a seal.Also,When I'm ready to leave a customer,before I would put a seal on my load,I am satisfied load will travel without a problem.
The loads I pic up now are already sealed,and takes away alot of my responsibilty,as they dont want us to brake the seals.Whats difficult,you dont know if load was loaded propely for axle weights,so you have to do that scale thing and weigh every load,so far only one was off,and it was from the same place I'm loading in AM.Was alittle difficult hauling 43+000 lbs of freight when my empty weight is 37000 lbs,wont happen again.