Comments By Chris M

Looking on the fmcsa regulations the word "direct" is not used.

Brett, I think that needs to be changed on the high road because it is in conflict with the definition of a direct tie-down.

Coil securement

This should give you everything you need to know about coils.

Hey Turtle, in the case of "X" chains on a shotgun coil, they are indirect. In order for them to cross, they would have to each be connected to opposite sides of the trailer. If they didn't cross, they would be horseshoe, which would be direct because both ends would be connected to the same side of the trailer.

I do agree that the wording, if correct on that question, is trying to fool you because the chains couldn't possibly be parallel and still be indirect.

I agree that you should do the high road training, but I haul a lot of steel coils (have one right now as a matter of fact) so I'll help with the questions asked.

First off, the definition of direct tie-down VS indirect tie-down is important.

A direct tie-down is when your chain is connected from the side of the trailer, directly to the coil. A direct tie-down only counts for 50% of its wll, when calculating your aggregate (see q1 below) wll.

An indirect tie-down is when your chain is connected to one side of the trailer, goes through or over the coil, and is connected to the opposite side of the trailer. This counts as 100% of its wll when calculating the aggregate wll.

So answering your questions:

1) The answer would be "B" because the sum of the wll of all of your tie-downs, known as your aggregate working load limit, must equal 50% of the total weight of the item you're securing. So the coil weighs 30,000 lbs, with 3 tie-downs each one would have to be a minimum of 5,000 lbs wll to equal 15,000 lbs of aggragate wll.

2) This would be the same answer as question 1, assuming using 3 tie-downs.

3) Your chains are a G70 rating.

4) A coil with eye lengthwise, commonly known as "shotgun" must have a minimum of 2 indirect tie-downs forming an "X" through the eye of the coil. (Note: that applies to shotgun loaded coils only. Coils loaded with the eye to the side should not have x-crossed chains)

For dry van and reefer swift doesn't have any hiring area limitations. Literally as long as you're within the continental US borders they will hire you lol. Distance from a terminal has no affect. And you will be able to take the truck home with you.

I absolutely hate that TA. It's one that I will actively avoid when at all possible. Always people playing the "make-a-spot" game at 15:00

In my career so far, I pulled reefers and dry vans for a total of 1 year and 3 months, before switching to flatbed. That was 158 loads according to our website. In that time, I had to get reworked by a shipper twice, and I can tell you exactly where those places were. On one other load, I had to keep my fuel below 1/2 tank for the duration, in order to avoid being overweight. This caused me to stop a grand total of 1 extra time for fuel.

Being loaded overweight by shippers is not a common occurrence.

I'm not trying to pile on here, but I'm trying to give you advice. You seem to latch on to the smallest inconveniences or errors, and then think that those are the norm for this industry. But that's not the case. You are constantly referencing your military background, and comparing the trucking industry to that and trucks to airplanes. I think that is one of your biggest downfalls right now. You need to focus on learning the industry rather than comparing the industry. That doesn't mean you won't be transferring your knowledge to help you in this industry, but you can't try to directly compare these things.

Focus on learning the industry before you start trying to fix the industry.

I've never had to chain up and I didn't even know that service existed. That seems like a complete waste of money to me.

I this morning and was given a 4 hour deadhead to the house. I'll be taking the whole week off and back at it Monday morning, new years eve. My hometime usually consists of me getting home on Friday afternoon, and ready to roll out on Monday morning, so asking for a few extra days off was no problem.

Swift makes it a priority to get drivers home for Christmas, if they want it. So as long as you request it with enough notice, they'll do what has to be done to get you home, even if that means you deadhead a couple hundred miles to get there.

I have a seat back organizer like Michael said, but mine is on the back of my driver's seat. The large pocket on the bottom holds my atlas perfectly and I can quickly reach around and grab it if I've stopped and need to reference it quickly.