Imagine, backing into an iced up dock, sliding, and wrecking your truck AND the dock. I would LOVE to see how they figure out the liability on that one.
Shippers that don't clear snow ice
- Thread starter redytrk
- Start date
zero3nine
Veteran Expediter
Sounds to me like you've never actually driven with chains on.
To answer your question about insurance, I have in fact consulted my agent about this very subject. As long as the road isn't closed, I am fully covered. If someone else wrecks into me, if they aren't using chains or snow tires then they're not using the proper safety equipment.
Nobody is telling you to put yourself in harm's way... of course when is it exactly that you consider driving to be a safe profession?
We, as professional drivers, are generally head and shoulders above the masses when it comes to safety and overall skills behind the wheel... so how does it look to a shipper when one of these so called professionals pulls up to the edge of their parking lot and refuses to go the last 60 feet because of a little white stuff on the ground? That guy could have called hours ago for a plow to clear his lot but the plow is still busy across town and hasn't made it here yet... and there sits the truck with his 2 pallets of Widgets onboard and a bad attitude.... "I'm not going in there, its too dangerous ".
Not me, not ever. That customer puts food on my table and I will be ****ed if anything is going to keep me from that load. I still have 3 out of 5 kids living at home and they aren't going to stop eating just because I wouldn't cross a little patch of ice.
To each his own is right. My own is right over there on the dock, and I will get the freight on board every time.
fired at you from my Droideka
To answer your question about insurance, I have in fact consulted my agent about this very subject. As long as the road isn't closed, I am fully covered. If someone else wrecks into me, if they aren't using chains or snow tires then they're not using the proper safety equipment.
Nobody is telling you to put yourself in harm's way... of course when is it exactly that you consider driving to be a safe profession?
We, as professional drivers, are generally head and shoulders above the masses when it comes to safety and overall skills behind the wheel... so how does it look to a shipper when one of these so called professionals pulls up to the edge of their parking lot and refuses to go the last 60 feet because of a little white stuff on the ground? That guy could have called hours ago for a plow to clear his lot but the plow is still busy across town and hasn't made it here yet... and there sits the truck with his 2 pallets of Widgets onboard and a bad attitude.... "I'm not going in there, its too dangerous ".
Not me, not ever. That customer puts food on my table and I will be ****ed if anything is going to keep me from that load. I still have 3 out of 5 kids living at home and they aren't going to stop eating just because I wouldn't cross a little patch of ice.
To each his own is right. My own is right over there on the dock, and I will get the freight on board every time.
fired at you from my Droideka
YEEEHAW!!! GO for it!! I am just a wimp, not "macho" enough I guess. Just a former firefighter and EMT. I know nothing about "getting it done". You go ahead and "Push the envelope". I will do the "SAFE" thing, error on the safe side> I am far more likely to wreck less, live longer and earn more than the "cowboys" will.
zero3nine
Veteran Expediter
I don't understand what envelope you think it is that I'm pushing. Are you somehow assuming that when I chain up I am out there racing around like a lunatic?
Assuming that crossing ice with chains on is somehow inherently unsafe is just plain ignorant. God bless you for serving your fellow man as an EMT or firefighter, but it certainly seems counterintuitive that someone who purposefully went into harm's way while being underpaid would be cowed by something far less hazardous for better compensation ...
As for living longer and wrecking less, in 24 years behind the wheel, 28 years riding motorcycles and 18 years of those at the track I have never even so much as scraped one of my vehicles.
Yeah I know what you're thinking.... but dirt bikes don't count. If you don't bend those up once in a while you're not really having fun.
I did get rear ended once while I was parked at a rest area. I was sitting in the driver seat when I felt the whole rig gently rock forward a bit.... I looked in my mirror and about 60 feet behind me I saw what looked like smoke rising up behind trailer. So I took a walk and found an F250 pulling a 5th wheel travel trailer wadded up into the back of the rented reefer. No damage to me other than a mangled dock bumper and a cracked running light. The old man and his wife were fine so I bid them good day.
I come from a long family line of sailors and fishermen... the islands where my family comes from are battered by every hurricane every year. There is only one decent cove for shelter in a stretch of 5 islands and limited space. The men get in their boats and ride out the storms or they lose their boats to the sea. It's that simple.
I'm not losing a load because of snow. It's that simple.
fired at you from my Droideka
No problem. I don't drive for an owner, only myself. I, and ONLY I, decide what is safe. I would NEVER drive for an owner that does not allow me that privilege. Drive on ice? ME? NEVER!! I MIGHT make it with chains. I was raised up north and can handle more than many. Those around me are not likely to be able to handle that kind of weather. Not WORTH IT to me. You can do what ever you like. I bet those who "push it" make no more each year than us "wimps" do. NO load it worth the chance for a few bucks today. Not for MY company.
By the way, I have "handled" boats on some of the most dangerous waters on this earth. Like the North Sea in England and the "Western Basin" of Lake Erie. Think Erie is not dangerous? Think again. I once brought in a 65 footer on the North Sea, a boat named the "Moby Dick" ( I did NOT name her) It was blowing a "force 8" and freshing. I "serfed" her in to harbor on a low tide. Bottomed her out on the mud, NO one hurt. Just a little "bend" on the rudder.
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in situations like this should we really criticize anothers choices based on our own ideas of what is safe or not....we all are mature individuals and are responsible for ourselves and our family first. Obviously 039 needs to slug it out on them roads to support his family and that is his choice....it works for him.....just because I think it is unsafe should I extend that to his choices? I think not....
Good Luck 039
Good Luck 039
You are correct, to each his own. My concern is newbies reading this. Safety should always be our first concern, the load is always secondary to safety.
zero3nine
Veteran Expediter
there was a time with 3 children to feed..I had to drive in miserable conditions...not unsafe, just conditions that now I would not even consider...*l*
you are correct tho..I 've met up with some that they think the load is end all...it HAS to be there.....NO it does not!......Don't let the load take you out of your comfort zone...Being a professional also means knowing when you are over your "comfort zone" and should be heading for the resting place....A real PRO knows his/her limitations....
Good points. As to having kids to feed, there is another thought on that. Who is going to feed them if you get killed? Being safe is never out of style. Knowing your limitations and the limitations of your equipment is part of safety. Knowing when roads are too bad to be on is part of safety. That is not to say that one should ever just shut down when the first flakes fly, just know when it is time to shut down. It is possible to have unsafe conditions at a dock. I have seen docks that were never cleared for weeks. The snow had been packed down to lumpy, very slick ice. Not good and there is no excuse. That is just an accident waiting to happen.
and 039's choice is to get off his butt...chain up..and get the job done.....
Yep, sure is. I hope it does not bite him one day. I find I take fewer "chances" as I get older. I am no sure if that is just a function of age or knowing more. I made a lot of dumb moves when I was younger, I hope I learned from those mistakes.
because of my $$ situation...I find myself heading to the sidelines a little quicker myself...*lol*
I have no problems with 039 running my load....heck i'll even give him the pick up number...*l*
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
I had a driver fall on the ice ,crack his head,and lay up in the hospital for 2 weeks,just because the custome needed him to chain up so he could back into their dock.Customers insurance didnt pay fo anything,as he wasnt at the dock,health acident took care of hospital and doctor,but the 2 weeks my truck sat in WIsconsin was on me.If I'm on a highway that requires you to chain up,and there isn't anyway around it,that would be the only time you will get me to chain up.I dont run the North West after November,or any states that have a chain law.I've been driving for 34 years,I've got nothing to prove to anyone else.My not chaining up has nothing to do with being lazy,and if had an employer that felt that way,I'd be working somewhere else
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a company I drove for many years ago...a driver slipped while unhooking..cracked his head....unconscious...body rolled under trailer and he froze to death by the time they found him....
This is a very dangerous business. Care must be taken all the time. Mrs. Layoutshooter carries ice fishing spikes for her shoes in the winter. They help. Shippers seem to be less and less responsible with each passing year. They seem to have no regard for peoples safety. The way I look at it is that moving their freight cannot be all that important to THEM if they are not willing to make the dock area safe. Cleaning up ice and snow is part of being safe.
How many time have we held onto the railing an icey railing at that for dear life just climbing the stairs to a customer because of ice? Too many....
Far too many times. It always amazes me just how little attention is paid to safety. It does not matter where you go, snow and ice removal just seems that it is no longer something that is normally done any more.