As I stated in an earlier post, my experience with bulk liquid tankers proved beneficial shortly there after as I got a job with Clay Hyder truck lines from Auburndale, Fla. and started a long stint hauling OJ from Fla. west and Meat back to Fla. While doing that I had a couple of good scares learning how the meat reacted differently than the liquid.
With a tanker, the weight stays low in the trailer but with swinging meat the weight is hanging from the roof so the shifting of the meat causes the trailer to want to fall over ! Making it very unstable in curves, and just uneven roadways or driveway transitions could keep you busy holding it straight.
My first scare was with Hyder as they were a test facility for Goodyear truck tires and at that time Goodyear was just starting to offer radial tires for trucks, so I found I had a new set of steer tires on my truck when I started out for Texas with my OJ. I didn't notice much difference until I loaded my load of swinging for Fla. out of Guymon, OK.
Usually we would cut over to 287 and run south to Dallas, then I-20 To Jackson, Ms., 98 down to Mobile, I-10 to I-75 and south to our delivery, but a few of us cut a lot of miles off by running the 2 lanes southeast across Ok. to I-40 and cut down through the woods to get to I-10 in Fla. I was one of those and found out real fast about the new tires and how they reacted to curves.
See, when you go into a curve with swinging, the first thing that shifts is your suspension, then the load, and you manage the curve but with radial tires you have a third shift, the tires rolling over the sidewalls. when your not ready for another shift, that tire roll, Your ass sucks seat springs big time ! But after time you learn how to compensate and all is well.
No comments:
Post a Comment