Question About Poor Balanced Loaded Cargo.

I am not in the trucking industry yet. Studying manual handbook. and it said the balance of the cargo is very important.

I have experience of working in the grocery market. So I know sometimes grocery worker loads the products in by their work or they let the driver do. But it hasn't always seemed to be balanced in the cargo.

So the question is, do the truck driver have to WATCH OUT while customer company's worker is loading goods in the cargo, with MY OWN TIME?

And pretty obvious the driver can't be the boss on them to instruct them how to load.

Just in case the goods are poorly balanced not by the driver but them and had trouble.. then WHO IS RESPONSIBLE for anything like accident or ticket??

How to avoid and prevent those things before, if you don't have power to tell them don't make the cargo imbalance imbalanced before you start a trip?

+ what if they overloads me?

I have run reefer/van and flatbed now. Usually the customer ask how you want the trailer loaded. And if they don't ask then I just tell them how to load it. If you don't like the way something is being loaded speak up. The driver is always responsible for the load on there trailer. If it's not right you have them make it right. Sometimes you get preloaded trailers already sealed if you can scale it correctly, and everything looks good then I take it. Sometimes I have them break the seal so I can put load locks on. If they won't and I am worried about the load shifting I have them write it on the bills and I send a message to the FM. As for watching on your time that's up to you and the company. Sometimes if it's required you can get paid other times not. Sometimes you are not allowed on the dock. Remember you are responsible for the load no one else.

If over weight then they will take product off.

As reefer , I only really worry about being on the dock with produce. We can tell them "single double single" which means one pallet in the nose, then two side by side, then one pallet. All the rest can be two by two. If not done this way, the drive axles can scale way overweight.yes I have rejected freight. I have instructed them how to load it....I have told them I'm overweight and not pulling from the door until they fix it.

Other than that, it is mostly sliding the tandems. In my year of being solo I have had only two loads that needed to be reworked and the company did not charge for that cause it was their fault.

As for the ticket...if you leave the customer without a rework and legal weights, it is your fault.

As for it being on "your time"... Well..in this industry you do a heck of a lot more work off duty than most realize. Some companies have you log " on duty" status for that entire time and pay by the hour for that time. The truth is that doing so will eat into you drive time. I can make more money driving than sitting on the dock. So why would I decide to get paid less per hour by staying on duty?

The first thing you need to do is research the hourly pay vs CPM aspect. Some "normal" workers can't wrap their heads around this being a productivity industry. Its like commission. If doing something is going to eat into your commission are you going to do that on purpose?

MooKeuk asked:

I am not in the trucking industry yet. Studying manual handbook. and it said the balance of the cargo is very important.

I have experience of working in the grocery market. So I know sometimes grocery worker loads the products in by their work or they let the driver do. But it hasn't always seemed to be balanced in the cargo.

So the question is, do the truck driver have to WATCH OUT while customer company's worker is loading goods in the cargo, with MY OWN TIME?

And pretty obvious the driver can't be the boss on them to instruct them how to load.

Just in case the goods are poorly balanced not by the driver but them and had trouble.. then WHO IS RESPONSIBLE for anything like accident or ticket??

How to avoid and prevent those things before, if you don't have power to tell them don't make the cargo imbalance imbalanced before you start a trip?

These are good questions MooKeuk. Many times our trailers are pre-loaded and sealed so not always possible to "see" how things are put together.

My job is on a Dedicated Account for Walmart, delivering grocery products to their stores and SAM's Club. Having been on the grocery "dockside" of this, I think you have an idea of how this all works. Usually there are multiple store stops on each loaded trailer (up to 5 stops) and the freight is consolidated based on the sequential order of the delivery stops. Point being; the trailer could be light in the nose with disposable paper products and heavy in the tail with non-perishable liquids like bottled water causing a weight in-balance of several thousand pounds. This varies for every load, depends on what was ordered by each store and how the puzzle was put together when it was loaded at the DC. So, the subject of load balance is rather important to me. My advantage in dealing with this is twofold. Experience has taught me what to expect and how to adjust, including seasonal type products and the shift that loaded the trailer. Holiday teams tend to be less careful, so the Monday morning loads after a holiday weekend can be a bit messy. Second, I know from the trailer load map the relative weight of each pallet and where it's located in the trailer. It's about 85% accurate making the numbers "close enough for government work". I can think of only one occasion in 4+ years that I outright rejected a load before I got under it. Based on the load map, I was able to determine the trailer was loaded totally unbalanced from one side to the other. As the driver I made the decision not to take the trailer out "as-is" based purely on safety reasons. The DM agreed and informed dispatch of the issue. I was asked to move the trailer form the ready-load lot to the dry-side dock for unloading and proper reloading. I was fortunately to be re-dispatched on another load so I didn't need to waste hours waiting for this process to be completed.

The aforementioned situation prompted a review of this very topic at the following week's driver safety meeting. If I am not mistaking, one of your other posts questioned trucking companies treatment of drivers;...here a perfect example of how the system of driver and driver management works as a team in a cooperative, safe and proactive way. A problem was identified, it was then discussed and a solution was developed going forward on awareness and procedure. The driver's actively participated in the process. Happens several times per month at the DC where I work, formal meetings between drivers and driver management to discuss safety and logistical issues at the stores (aka problems). On a side note, please be careful what you hear, read, believe and then say about trucking...lot's of false and misleading information on the internet and when a disgruntled driver runs-their-mouth at a truck stop or shipper.

Overall any load at or above 32,000 pounds should be scaled to determine total weight and axle weight. In short I scale everything because we typically run heavy at 77,000lbs gross and above. To achieve proper and safe weight balance the trailer tandems are either moved toward the cab or towards the tail of the trailer. Having said that, if overweight and you elect to move, the driver is totally responsible for any tickets received along the route. Several drivers on this forum have received citations for weight issues on DOT scales.

For store delivery of consolidated perishable grocery loads, many times a pallet or pallets need to be taken off by a store in order to get to their designated product. In turn, what they removed that didn't belong to them is then reloaded back onto the reefer. As the driver I must oversee this process and then decide how it's done. So yes, to use your words I "watch out" while they reload.

Keep the questions coming, we'll try to answer as best we can and when time permits.