The Ten Commandments Of Dump Trucking

[Lmackattack]

The Ten Commandments of Dump Trucking

1.Thou shalt not dump while on un level ground, for surely one day the load will hang up on the low side and the trailer will fall down beside thee. Great oaths and sworn statements as to how many times thou has dumped in worse places will be to no purpose for thy insurance company will forsake thee and thy future employment prospects will be much in doubt.

2.Thou shalt line up thy tractor with thy trailer before dumping lest thou be branded as an idiot who tries to dump while jack-knifed and condemned to an eternity of changing tires.

3.Thou shalt be sure that thy PTO and pump are not engaged while traveling upon the highways. The view of twelve miles of power and telephone cable draped gracefully around thy hoist is not pleasing to the responsible authorities and the sight of thy trailer body resting ever so gently against the top of a bridge can stir them to such great anger that thou are compelled to dwell in their municipal hotel for many days and nights and to be deprived of feminine companionship, strong drink and Monday night football all during that time.

4.Thou shalt not permit another rig to dump while alongside thine, to the left nor to the right, lest the operator be lacking in skill and upset his trailer on top of thine. The humor of such an occurrence may elicit smiles and boisterous laughter from thy companions but will not be apparent to thy employer and should only be reported to him after determining that in neither hand does he hold a tire billy or other blunt instrument.

5.Thou shalt be certain that hydraulic hoses are in good condition at all times lest a worn hose blow out when thou tryest to dump a 60,000 lb. Load, 30 miles from town in 15 degree weather and thou findest it necessary to unload it with a shovel 10lbs at a time.

6.Thou shalt replace broken or weak springs in matched pairs. To upset a loose load because of one bad spring while dumping on a level concrete pad is an embarrassment which will follow thee all the days of thy life.

7.Thou shalt not allow rocks or any other commodity to spill from the vehicle lest they bash in the windshield of the Smokey following behind thee. A calamity of that nature may cause thee to be considered a hazard to the motoring public and unfit to wear double clutching boots, chain drive wallets or other emblems of the professions.

8.Thou shalt not permit bulldozers or loaders to make any contact with thy vehicle, neither from the front not from the rear, nor from either side, for the appearance of thy vehicle will be much worse after such contact and the rascal at the repair shop will demand cash in large quality to correct the damage.

9.Thy tires shall be checked for adequate pressure daily and whacked with a tire billy every time thou stoppest, lest thy first knowledge of a flat is when thy C.B. comes to life with "Break, Break for Dum Dum Dump, Thou Art On Fire."

10.Thou shalt become wise in the nature of the commodities thou haulest. Such as: that if a load of lime is allowed to get wet it becomes as gummy gelatin and will stay in thy trailer forever, although a wet load of coal will present thee no problems, except when it is very cold, when it freezes solid as a rock. In that way, thou shalt prevent many unpleasant surprises.

Blessed are the careful and wise for they generally remain employed.

[Mack Doctor Jr.]

I always loved those 10 commandments. My grandfather had them pinned on the wall at work. I told him he should have put them in the appication at the company.

[GearheadGrrrl]

Back in '78 I spent a day driving a RS685LST pulling a 32 foot end dump hauling sludge from the sewage treatment plant to a farm field. They gave us about 5 minutes training for the job, consisting pretty much of how to engage the PTO and make the dump box go up. Sure enough, first trip I had the load stick. Not knowing any better I tried some creative slamming on of brakes, etc. out in the field to try to loosen the load, having no idea how close I was to laying the whole rig on it's side. Fortunately some dump truckers guardian angel was watching over me and the load came lose and the rig stayed rubber side down.

[AutomaticMack]

I read these 10 commandments last night, and today I had quite the show today! One of those huge Michigan semi dump trains fell over while dumping near me, no one was hurt. No truck was pulled up next to it "per #4 of the commandments". The ten commandments maybe funny, but it is the truth. Drive safe ya'all

[fuzzy buzzard]

Trent,

Might add the 11th one, I've been guilty of this several times: Thou shall be certain the tail gate chains of thy body are positioned such that thy tail gate will open fully, else the damnation of shoveling shall follow the far longer than the would like.

I dumped a load of wet, fuel contaminated clay in the landfill one fine day, forgot to check the gate chains. Raised bed, wait a minute - something don't feel right - crap, chains set for tail gating stone. The bed wouldn't come down with all the load in rear. Asked the compactor operator to push gate in so chains could be unhooked - nope - against company regs. But he had set of bolt cutters I could borrow - how white of him!! Cutting the chains was somewhat like being a sucide bomber! After that little show, for some reason the truck always had to be backed into a tree to latch the tail gate. Life is a blast, long as you last!!!!!!

Over & out from Ignorant Ridge,

Tom

[Lmackattack]

I bet you closed your eyes tight when you cut those chains

I have been guilty of that also so dont feel to bad. Last year I was on a job site with no one around (weekend) I raised the box and forgot to hit the switch for the air tail gate. box was up on the 3rd hoist stage when I noticed. I hit the switch and nothing. stoped the pto and let it back down. Still no luck. had to back up to a clay pile. I balanced a 6x6 timber on the spread pan and dirt pile. I gave it a vew bumps in revers into the clay pile and it poped open... Just one of those days

Then there was the time I was on I-94 south of the loop (chicago) I came up to my exit ramp with a long line of dump trucks all heading to the same concrete dump I was going to. I made the turn with the other trucks and as I got closer to the truck in front of me I see this chunk of concrete swinging on a rod of rebar out his tailgate. I backed off fearing what could happen. He went a few more miles like that. When we got to the yard the operator chewed him out for his stupidity.

Trent

[kevin mccune]

Okay pros&cons,heard a little debate on this-is it better to raise the bed fast or slow on uneven ground? you cant always dump on perfectly level ground=Kevin

[fuzzy buzzard]

Hello, raise it fast. If the stupid thing is going lay over, lets get it over with fast - less time to get scared!!!

Tom