Maybe I'm Jumping The Gun.....but I Have This Fascination With Heavy-haul Equipment.
Topic 23607 | Page 1
I've been browsing Google lately
Todd, that's your biggest hindrance to any progress toward your trucking career. Your a dreamer. Trucking requires accomplishing something. Heavy haul requires a lot of experience and accomplishment. Quit dreaming and start doing something. Get a flatbed job and do some work. You're seriously wasting your time.
I would avoid intermodal like the plague but that is just me. Too many tight dark dangerous yards. Poorly maintained equipment and long waits. I've never been to one personally but it is what I have observed in the Chicago area as we have the largest intermodal terminal in the nation. Drive any highway around Chicago and you will see a ton of duct taped Volvos running containers. Plus their runs tend to be short since they try to get it as close as possible to the final destination as possible by train.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
I've been browsing Google lately
Todd, that's your biggest hindrance to any progress toward your trucking career. Your a dreamer. Trucking requires accomplishing something. Heavy haul requires a lot of experience and accomplishment. Quit dreaming and start doing something. Get a flatbed job and do some work. You're seriously wasting your time.
Old School, I'm not committed to any trucking career. I'm just curious about it from a technological standpoint. Many people are fascinated by space exploration but will never be astronauts.
Old School, I'm not committed to any trucking career.
News flash!
You never had to admit that. We figured it out long ago.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Yes you are jumping the gun
News flash!
You never had to admit that. We figured it out long ago.
Just day dreaming
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
1) I've been browsing Google lately
2) Speaking of intermodal , does anybody here drive in the intermodal division of this industry? What do you think of hauling intermodal loads?
Responses: 1) Stop that! 
2) Yes, I drive intermodal and dry van. It depends on the day and the mission. I/M is just like every other part of trucking, only different. If you are considering I/M, my recommendation is get with an outfit that is paying you hourly. If you want more information, I will try to answer your questions about it. I've been doing I/M for about 4 years, in the Chicago metro area and find it a challenge some days, other days easy-breezy...
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.
Todd, let me directly answer one of your questions:
This stuff all sounds space-age to me. Will any of this stuff be touched upon in CDL school classrooms or are there special schools with textbooks on this jargon?
Heavy haul is a specialized area, which is not really taught in school. There is very little of the art/science of hauling oversized/super heavy loads available in any driving textbook since the field is so small compared to flatbed, dry van , etc. The best place to learn more is that fount of all knowledge (these days), YouTube.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.
My cousin is co-owner of an outfit that relocates aircraft, military relics and modern commercial units. Most of their loads while not O/W, are definitely O/S. They dissemble the aircraft into their major components and secure them on trailers. It's a skill that each of their drivers develops over time, with extensive and rigorous one on one training. "Incidents" are not an acceptable outcome, so it has to be done right the first time, every time. When Errol says it's specialized, he is absolutely correct. I spent a day behind the flight line at WPAFB in Columbus, watching them secure a Cold-war era supersonic nuke dropper onto a trailer for a move to a California. It was an informative, and oh-so-very cool experience. And one that confirmed, for me, that Specialized is a cool way to go.
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I've been browsing Google lately to try to learn more about the heavy-haul trade. and have come up with some interesting terms: jeeps, dollies, superloads, drop decks, boosters and bridges. Up until then I thought a JEEP was an army vehicle or maybe a Wagoneer.
This stuff all sounds space-age to me. Will any of this stuff be touched upon in CDL school classrooms or are there special schools with textbooks on this jargon? I would call trailers made up of the components above as "articulated trailers" but the industry might call them something else. They remind me of those articulated rail cars used for double-stacked intermodal containers.
I have even seen some superload trucking units with more than one tractor coupled in the mix on video sites!
Modern heavy-haul trucks are seeming to look more and more like freight trains without rails these days!!
There was also a scene with two semi trucks side by side on the highway with a huge mining dump truck "wearing" each semi like a pair of water skis.
Speaking of intermodal, does anybody here drive in the intermodal division of this industry? What do you think of hauling intermodal loads?
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
Intermodal:
Transporting freight using two or more transportation modes. An example would be freight that is moved by truck from the shipper's dock to the rail yard, then placed on a train to the next rail yard, and finally returned to a truck for delivery to the receiving customer.
In trucking when you hear someone refer to an intermodal job they're normally talking about hauling shipping containers to and from the shipyards and railyards.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.