BillyT

57, Some of the gated communities down here won't let you leave your garage door open, tell you what color to paint it,they really get wrapped up in their own perceived importance! I actually had a broken fairlane in my backyard, but it is so wooded you couldn't see it!

Used to be a place called Washington Steel( you guessed it in Washington PA!) You had to back down a tunnel and around a blind turn if you loaded your coils conventional or "shot gun" but if you loaded " suicide" like Ods single coil the forklift would unload you outside...tough call😧

Might also grab the wrong shift knob!😁

I pulled an aluminum 50 ft drop deck but it was a hotshot with 12000 rated axles pulled buy a mh mack s/a tractor. When I used chains I went on the rounds as aluminum Isnt as strong in shear as steel,and the hooks could slice thru the stake pockets,but I was running much lighter than OD! When I hauled steel on a steel trailer before deregulation up to 73000 I put the chain around the stake pocket and hooked It on itself therefore spreading out the strain on the pocket! I've seen guys put the chain around the pocket and hook it on the top of the pocket,never liked that approach, but if the freight is light I guess it's ok! The way OD looped the chain around the big spindle is standard procedure on they kind of load! Before deregulation any single coil over 40000was a "permit load" no matter what you're gross was! There were a lot of coil haulers in the steel valley before and after deregulation running s/a gas jobs and three axle spread trailers to save weight the rates were really high!

Probably closed because they put so little meat on the sandwiches! Lol where was it located?

I welded barges next to the Mon river in Floreffe Pa when it was -27degrees in 77 If it goes down to 40 degrees in Florida we all stay indoors and shiver!😁 It had to "really snow" before they closed the schools in the fifties and sixties! As kids we used to listen to WJPA in Washington pa and pray our school would be closed! I can remember waking up at dawn and if you heard the sound of tire chains on the cars and trucks you knew it snowed all night and the school " might" be closed! Happy and safe new year everyone!

There have been several " investigative reports" on panhandling ,One dude panhandled in a wealthy area,raggedy clothes,pretended to be homeless,his wife picked him up every afternoon in their Mercedes! The one reporter interviewed several people(anonymously of course) said he took home 60000 tax free!

41, Anyone who has delivered in "the city" could go on for hours with true stories that are stranger than fiction!(and I might)! I used to deliver conversion vans to Patamkin Chevrolet in Manhattan.You have to go thru Harlem to get there and cross the GW early to miss the traffic (sorta) So there was a red light where you stopped and all these yuppies in their BMWs stuck there! So this dude runs up with a filthy rag and offers to clean their windshield😁 The more experienced drivers pay him to NOT clean the windshield ! I already know the drill so I'm waiting... Sure nuff some "first timer" let's him "clean" The windshield!! So he SPITS on the window and smears it around with the filthy rag 😁 Won't do THAT again pal! I figured I'd seen it all but I'm at that same light and there is a neat clean dude with an Izod polo shirt, clean shorts and he has a five gallon bucket of solvent! He has a new sqeegee and paper towels! He is actually cleaning the windshields and getting 5bucks a pop minimum! Works really fast, up to two windshields per light! So we've got two approaches to the same gig! They don't approach truckers because the windshields are too high,and possibly our reputation for violence😁 I love entrepreneurs! Both of these are using psychology, in a different way! I saw the clean dude several mornings and the raggedy dude as well! Maybe they have "regulars" and work different lights at different times in the morning! Think about it...this is all cash money minus some potential "kickbacks" follow me? They are carrying obvious cash money in a dangerous area! The yuppies are educated people,maybe they admire entrepreneurs as well! NYC! I love it and I hate it!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery Super dog!

Mower man,autospel or spelchek absolutely drives me nuts!, it tried to change this sentence twice!😁

We can all understand the reason for codes,As without them some people in decent areas would live like the Beverly Hillbillies! But the rest of us don't need them! Harry S,thanks for the flowers! I overbuild everything, I can't help myself! My shed survived tropical storm Debbie in 2012, but I discovered some of my trim mouldings were pressed paper not wood,they curled up from the moisture,must be replaced! Won't make that mistake again! But the insides dry as a bone!

41,While I was unloading in the Bronx and waiting for my friend (so we could switch pallets) he showed up a few minutes late, he was a couple blocks away sitting at a light and a lady with two shopping bags full of beer was crossing the street,an Eldorado pimpmobile blows the light and hits the lady, she goes straight up in the air and over the top of the Caddy and falls dead in the middle of the street! Beer cans go flying everywhere and people are chasing them down! So a couple minutes later two disgusted looking cops show up and one of them sees a construction sawhorse with the blinking light and puts it over the lady! The cops get a radio call in the middle of all this chaos, they grab shotguns and run into an alley! My friend hears two shotgun reports, and the cops calmly walk out of the alley, go back on the radio and direct him and other motorists around the lady! Just another morning in the S. Bronx! When you mentioned the guys unloading your trailers as you're driving I was reminded of the only load of produce I ever hauled. Was a load of melons,July 6 1976, Lyons ga to the Acme whse in Philadelphia! As I'm waiting to back in a driver is backing in a load of tomatoes in crates, one guy jumps into the trailer and throws a crate to a guy on the ground they go running off with the security guard running after them! My lumper and I are unloading in the whse and I see a guy thru my nose vents unbolting my antennas ! The security guard ran him off and I had to unbolt my antennas and lock them in the cab! I was pulling an old dry van the melons were a backhaul,no more produce for me!

My friend the agent in Warren Oh,owned a single axle Road Commode ,ex bakery truck 2500bucks! Ran good,looked decent! And a three axle hotshot loboy with electric brakes! Used to run the loads his drivers didn't want.So he's dropping a load of sheet foam off exit 9 on the Jersey pike,by that glass factory and UPS, local cop gets him for a brake light out He has no drivers license ( I never asked) the tractor has a plate from when he used to do driveaways(temp) also the trailer no registrations for anything! Plus he has the airlines bungee corded to the trailer to look like they're hooked up! While the cop is writing him up he gets a serious call (201 in progress type of call) so he has to leave so my friend leaves too!! For some unknown reason he makes it back to Ohio!! I swear on my kids I'm not making this up! So he gives me another Bronx load and he takes a Bronx load and two pallets to the place off exit 9 where he got stopped before! So we go to the Bronx and unload and we slide his pallets onto my trailer! He has a tube type steering tire going flat so he pays some oriental guy 10 bucks to air him up with a little homeowners compressor.The tire is still leaking but I have to take off for Jersey ,we plan to meet at the TA at exit four in Jersey.I unload and we meet at the TA. So what did you do about the tire man? He finds this little wooden framed parts store in the S.Bronx and buys a CASE of those tire inflaters for less than ten bucks lol makes it to the TA and they put a new tube in his tire! Never a dull moment on the east coast!

My friend the agent in Warren Oh,owned a single axle Road Commode ,ex bakery truck 2500bucks! Ran good,looked decent! And a three axle hotshot loboy with electric brakes! Used to run the loads his drivers didn't want.So he's dropping a load of sheet foam off exit 9 on the Jersey pike,by that glass factory and UPS, local cop gets him for a brake light out He has no drivers license ( I never asked) the tractor has a plate from when he used to do driveaways(temp) also the trailer no registrations for anything! Plus he has the airlines bungee corded to the trailer to look like they're hooked up! While the cop is writing him up he gets a serious call (201 in progress type of call) so he has to leave so my friend leaves too!! For some unknown reason he makes it back to Ohio!! I swear on my kids I'm not making this up! So he gives me another Bronx load and he takes a Bronx load and two pallets to the place off exit 9 where he got stopped before! So we go to the Bronx and unload and we slide his pallets onto my trailer! He has a tube type steering tire going flat so he pays some oriental guy 10 bucks to air him up with a little homeowners compressor.The tire is still leaking but I have to take off for Jersey ,we plan to meet at the TA at exit four in Jersey.I unload and we meet at the TA. So what did you do about the tire man? He finds this little wooden framed parts store in the S.Bronx and buys a CASE of those tire inflaters for less than ten bucks lol makes it to the TA and they put a new tube in his tire! Never a dull moment on the east coast!

41, the guy that told me the tanker story ( he switched from tank to reefer) said the cops in Hunts point used to tell the drivers to NEVER stop for a red light in the point ,just slow down,lay on the horn and go thru! When I owned the "big shot" flatbed I told my best friend ,also my agent "don't you ever load me for NYC.!" So I pull into the terminal whatta you got?" You're loaded for the Bronx!😁 You ( unprintable) I'll get you for this! So I go thru Washington Hgts 5am see all the gang members in the shadows, ( please God don't let me break down) and get to my address Park st or park ave I forget! Storefront insulation contractor. The boss looks like Kojak bald head dressed all in black leather gets out the PRFL " Puerto Rican fork lift" Dawns just breaking ,hooker in the next storefront, garbage five ft high in the street junk cars everywhere, like a scene from " sleepers"! Also the best paying freight on the board! Went back there a dozen times, never had a problem.my friend told me later he just wanted to show me how to make some real money!

It is a "pisser" OD, I was driving a single axle F750 gas burner and a single axle bankhead trl 5 big cars and pickups and a pinto on the headramp ! Blew a brake diaphragm on the trailer, no maxis! Skipped three whole gears on a 5 and a deuce let out the clutch and the tach went around twice! 10000 rpm on a 391, redlined at 5! Wasn't slowing enough so I "put it up on the hillside" all the wheels on the right side left the ground, and my wallet on the dash went out the drivers window and ended up on the pavement! It went back down in slow motion and a pine tree branch came in the passenger window and was against my cheek! Didn't put a scratch on a car or on the rig! A B model wrecker came up from Cumberland and towed me to a garage in Cumberland ! They replaced the diaphragm and I took a motel. The next day I did my drop in Cumberland and went 20 or so miles and " swallowed a valve! No surprise! They brought me another tractor and towed the 750 back to Pittsburgh. So a couple of years later Nu Car Carriers bought AT I and we all got brand new Louisville tractors and 10 car Ronald McDonald Cotrell trailers. Five axle rigs with maxis, 290 Cummins 10sp r.r. I get a load going to Cumberland, only three pintos left on the trl for Cumberland, no problem right? Wrong! I've got 8500 lbs on the trl, and by the time I get down by rte 36 my brakes are smoking! It's been a long time but I don't think I ever got to the high side! On the plus side I can't think of a prettier place to die! I found out later that several drivers have died on that road!

Sorry I don't know how to do that please explain thanks

Think I saw that blue B model pickup on u tube real cute! The first "big truck pickup " I ever saw was a late model Ford dually with an early KW cab and front end,stock Ford bed and fenders,looked stock! Late eighties at truck show in California.

Think I saw that blue B model pickup on u tube real cute! The first "big truck pickup " I ever saw was a late model Ford dually with an early KW cab and front end,stock Ford bed and fenders,looked stock! Late eighties at truck show in California.

The reason I know so much about sheds is I decided to build one after we built the house we live in.Being retired and having lots of time plus not seeing anything under 2500.that met my standards of quality,that's not delivered by the way! I decided to build my own! So I bought a book on sheds at Lowe's. Then I looked at the ones Lowe's and home depot sell. The most common brand of shed is Heartland.mfg! What a pos.!! Been eight years they started at about 1800! Undelivered thin osb floor pos piano hinges and on an on! Everything stapled together! This is ten by sixteen,I said fifteen but I forget they always use standard size materials. They spend more money on their glossy yuppified brochures than they do on materials or labor! OD,you have to stop at Home Depot or Lowe's and get a brochure in your travels! So then I find out Florida requires a 300 dollar permit to put a shed on your property. I had already designed a shed that meets code for living quarters. If I buy the permit I'm required to build a lower quality structure that only meets code for a shed plus pay 300 bucks! Hope they aren't holding their breath! So I pay 1400 bucks for materials. My shed has 5/8 plywood floors,7/16 roof sheeting, two by ten treated floors, all the components are screwed and glued, and all the floor joists,wall studs, and roof supports are on 16" centers.The barn doors are half inch plywood with exterior textured siding that matches the walls. The roof is miami/dade coded shingles with tarpaper under it.The doors have big galvanized hinges like a barn! The only thing I haven't got around to are the tie downs. The code requires tie downs like a mobile home. The fine for not having a permit is less than the permit!😁 I checked! Like the fine in some states for not having a log book is less than having one that's behind or falsified! I built the walls in sections and raised them like the Amish build a barn,had my wife hold them while I fastened them. It's simple carpentry,but time consuming if you're working alone like me! By the way if you don't like the sawmill shed I have another idea, but the sawmill shed is probably The best deal!

Nothing surprising here! They've been doing it for years! I wouldn't be surprised if the non union truckload and LTL carriers have an actual manual,part and parcel on reorganizing under a different name to break the union! I've said it before one of the few good things about growing old is you remember the past and can watch it repeat itself!KSB,keep us informed on this one although I see nothing unusual here! Anyone remember the union busting seminars of the 70s and 80s? Anyone remember when "Cornflake" went out of business over a holiday weekend and the employees returned to locked doors? Before anyone gets the idea I'm a " knee jerk unionist" forget it! I just support fair play and wages! Interesting how corporate America always engineers in a loophole! So unless you have 100 workers you don't have to give your employees 60 days notice that they're losing their jobs! Are you afraid they will quit before you can get the last hour of ( unpaid) labor out of them? Could they have tightened their belts ad maybe cut back their Christmas expenses? It's pretty damn obvious this was planned for a long time,forgive my naivete, but couldn't they have at least established a pre closing fund to pay their employees wages? I had an employer who drove seventy miles to give me my pay because he knew I had a mortgage payment! This dude only owned five trucks and he gave me a 500 dollar Christmas bonus drove seventy miles to surprise me with that! Corporate ethics my favorite oxymoron! There is an old method of dealing with pricks like lME it's called boycott! Since they have some free time being unemployed, boycott the customers of finish line buy a Husgvarna tractor instead of a John Deere,and tell them why, don't patronize the grocers who use Finish line,and tell them why ! Social media is a powerful thing use it to make the public aware of what's going on! (Personal note,I refuse to own a smart phone or go on Facebook,but I'm in the minority) No pun intended!😁 p.s. For what a good smart phone sells for I bought an American made AC DC welder cash that I can build stuff with! On the minus side I don't have 300 " friends" I've never met!😁

Have a funny story on the subject of guns in trucks and truck security! Met a freight jockey who used to pull tanker he was pulling the tank into the old Hunts Pt market...had a reefer behind him. The guy in the tank stopped at a red light! The reefer guy says on the radio "tanker you ain't gonna believe this, an ( insert ethnic slur) just jumped on the back of your tank with a hammer and a can of refrigerant !" Most of you road drivers know how a thief can spray refrigerant on a lock(to make the loop brittle) and break it with a hammer!! Well this dude must have been on his first rodeo! The tanker guy says " let's have some fun" so they call the cops on the cb and the reefer guy stays close enough that the thief is afraid to jump off thru a couple red lights til the cops come an take him away! I wonder if the guy ever figured out you can't break into a tanker? And if you could what would you do with 5000 gal of whatever if you could?😁 lol