Oh My Gosh What Else Can Go Wrong??

Arrived at the Miller Coors plant in Denver tonight with 44000 pounds of beer and less than 20 minutes left on my 70, exhausted and ready to go home for a few days. I open the back to find beer scattered everywhere. My two load locks had fallen down and the two rear pallets had tipped.

Now I have to wait til morning since they didn't have the manpower to unload it tonight. What I don't get is how this happened. I tightened those loads locks quite a bit.

I really hope this streak ends soon cause I'm about to call it quits.

Has anyone had anything like this happen? The trailer inspector thought Swift was going to take the cost of the damaged beer out of my paycheck. I'm thinking service failure??

Not sure about the paycheck thing. I always put a strap diagonally across my load locks. Extra insurance. After hearing your story im glad i do. Sorry about your misfortune Paul. Don't give up this easily

What a mess, Paul. I know every can of beer must be accounted for. I started using straps instead if load lock poles. The straps hook into the walls and are a positive lock down.

(Get them at Harbor Freight - half the price of truck stops.)

Hang in there. Learning in Hard Knock University ain't easy, but it's worth it.

Gosh darn it. You bet I'm gonna start using those straps.

Yeah it's not easy! If I make it past this first year I'll be a wise driver indeed!! (And probably bald too)

Paul, the stuff you're learning now is the most valuable. You're learning from experience, not books or lectures. That's one reason companies tolerate a few fender bender crunches from new drivers - they become experts in the errors they've made.

Just don't become the kind of "expert" that can crash any truck on any road!

Sorry to hear this. Hang in there Paul. Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

I agree with Errol, straps have always held for me. They are easier to stow as well.

Has anyone had anything like this happen? The trailer inspector thought Swift was going to take the cost of the damaged beer out of my paycheck. I'm thinking service failure??

Recently a load of spaghetti sauce shifted during a hard stop (4-wheeler cut in front of me). It took 6 hours for the lumpers to unload the trailer & restack. I didn't have to buy any of the broken jars.

You probably won't be stuck buying all that beer, either.

Praying for you Paul.

Uggla, I hauled a load of kegs from ft Collins last week, I have to go back after this load to get another load of beer. No idea if it's kegs again or cans. Since I'm running reefer trailer, I can't use straps, don't have the strap slots, so I have to use locks. Hope I can get them tight enough.