FedEx Freight | Chemical totes

Gator

Outstanding Member
Credits
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If we are going to be a chemical tanker hauler then give us the right equipment to haul it. This has been my pet peeves going on three years of speakups to equipment specs. But it seems to go to corporate safety.
I have requested all new trailers to be equipped with one UN flippable numbers placard and two slide ins and one regular placard. They say it would cost 11.00 per placard extra. They say it's a regional problem and not worth the extra cost. I have UN Placards almost on every trip. So what, I'm tired of when it gets cold or raining you loose half of them before you get to the meet point only having to replaced it again. I guess they think that had no cost.
But corporate worries how many times the damn truck records. Fedex get your priorities in order. These placards bring big tickets when they fly off. Either be a freight company and act like one or quit hauling chemical totes that require UN numbers
 
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At UPGF we go thru the shop use a heat gun to dry and warm the surface they'll stick. You can also use a propane torch. Hope this helps.
 
At UPGF we go thru the shop use a heat gun to dry and warm the surface they'll stick. You can also use a propane torch. Hope this helps.
There is no shop at a meet point when your trailers show up missing half the Numbers.
Should not have to go through that process. UN flippable numbers placard would solve a lot of this.
 
And look at the headache trying to peel them off in Sub-Zero temps. Have to razor blade them off at our barn. Like I said let's get off the money issue and get a flippable UN number placard put on all new trailers from this point forward. I would almost settle on a third slide in at this point.
 
I don't think having an open flame to apply HazMat UN numbers is a great idea. :D

I carry enough extra UN numbers that I could make money selling them, be prepared!

roog
 
From the few that have commented yes we have the placards you put the numbers on and yes I carry enough placard materials to placard four sets but that is not the fix. If a trailer shows up at the meet point and missing some placards that has to be stuck to the trailer, and this happens all the time or I lose one on the way down and have to reapply it. The problem seems to arise when the winter sets in or rain and nothing will stick to the trailer.
If you only haul it once in a while I quess it shouldn't bother you but CMH hauls the hell out of it on daily basis.(UN numbered placard) and it's nothing to have four different placards on one pup. So you can see our dilima, every driver from our center complains about this, even the SC manager has tried to get on board with flippable UN numbers placards placards with no luck from corporate. Our shop can't handle the volume of trailers to go warm up them to put placards on.
I always see FedEx buying silly crap that we really don't need but something we all benefit from it will fall on deaf ears. Oh well I vented enough
 
From the few that have commented yes we have the placards you put the numbers on and yes I carry enough placard materials to placard four sets but that is not the fix. If a trailer shows up at the meet point and missing some placards that has to be stuck to the trailer, and this happens all the time or I lose one on the way down and have to reapply it. The problem seems to arise when the winter sets in or rain and nothing will stick to the trailer.
If you only haul it once in a while I quess it shouldn't bother you but CMH hauls the hell out of it on daily basis.(UN numbered placard) and it's nothing to have four different placards on one pup. So you can see our dilima, every driver from our center complains about this, even the SC manager has tried to get on board with flippable UN numbers placards placards with no luck from corporate. Our shop can't handle the volume of trailers to go warm up them to put placards on.
I always see FedEx buying silly crap that we really don't need but something we all benefit from it will fall on deaf ears. Oh well I vented enough
Has anyone ever thought to maybe outfit 4 pups with all the flip placards you need, and make them dedicated trailers between your center, and their unloading terminal, and the managers work together to ensure their daily load and return to origin? Seems like a way cheaper price for all involved. Sometimes when you can present a money saving alternative to the high ups, it actually can happen. It is all about costs....
 
Has anyone ever thought to maybe outfit 4 pups with all the flip placards you need, and make them dedicated trailers between your center, and their unloading terminal, and the managers work together to ensure their daily load and return to origin? Seems like a way cheaper price for all involved. Sometimes when you can present a money saving alternative to the high ups, it actually can happen. It is all about costs....
Tried that approach to and was told logistically would be a problem keeping it in the region. And I can see there point there
 
There is no shop at a meet point when your trailers show up missing half the Numbers.
Should not have to go through that process. UN flippable numbers placard would solve a lot of this.

It seems that while the UN flippable would be a solution, it would be expensive, it would not universally solve the problem when multiple placards and numbers are required. Also, the $11.00 cost seems unrealistic and low. Even with the massive volume, it would cost more than that, unless that would be the difference in cost per, when compared to standard flippable racks.

http://www.flipplacards.com/digi-lock-placards
img_digilock_toppic.png

$70.95
And look at the headache trying to peel them off in Sub-Zero temps. Have to razor blade them off at our barn. Like I said let's get off the money issue and get a flippable UN number placard put on all new trailers from this point forward. I would almost settle on a third slide in at this point.

The biggest headache, if you can get the correct placard, seems to be getting them to stick/unstick, depending on the weather. Here is where they may be buying placards of the wrong material.

http://www.labelmaster.com/hazmat-source/hazmat-placard-material-types

Vinyl placard material options include:

  • E-Z Removable Vinyl: can be removed at the destination with little or no residue and can be left on for continued use and removed later.
  • Removable Vinyl: can also be removed at the destination with little or no residue and can be left on for a limited time and removed later.
  • Permanent Vinyl: backed with high-tactile adhesive, so it is not easily removed and ideal for permanent applications.
  • Rigid Vinyl: 20-mil vinyl withstands changing weather conditions and dirt washes off.
Option 1 or 2 above seems to be better than the more common option 3. And of course option 4 is only suitable/required for slide in applications.

Let's not overlook the challenges faced in the city, at the shipper/conignee. The shipper is required to provide placards. It is the driver who is required to make them stick and or secure them. Not to mention, remove them when appropriate.

The UN numbers (black numbers/orange background) put the driver in the uncomfortable position of making a decision, when correct numbers in correct sizes are unavailable. THAT decision has only one correct answer. How many make the appropriate decision?

It is a difficult to solve, series of challenges. Not to mention a variety of placard racks, on the same unit. Flip 3, only to find the 4th doesn't contain the necessary option... :clapping:

Cost benefit analysis would likely show, a properly stocked supply of proper placards & numbers to be the most reasonable. When those are not available, the answer to why the shipment sits, should rest on the shoulder of the responsible party. The driver is NOT ALLOWED to move the trailer, until it complies with placarding requirements. Oh, and retaliation? Against company policy...
 
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We were told that we shouldn't use the sticky placards unless it's a last resort...they've even went so far at our center to keep the "sticky's" under lock and key and we have to ask for them...and under no circumstances are we to use a "sticky" in a placard holder!! I will say that we keep a good supply of cardboard placards in stock, however, our problem lies with a lack of UN numbers...clear and white...and even though we have a good supply, it's getting the dock to properly placard/unplacard the trailer while being loaded/unloaded.

Gator, I feel your pain at the meet point, it's why we also keep spare placards and UN numbers in our trucks as well and I also agree it's not the answer. I feel the majority of drivers would love to have at least one placard with the UN number per side of the trailer but I'm not sure if we'll ever get it. Perhaps if the hazmat/placard violations start adding up, they'll find it feasible to invest in the right tools for the job!!
 
It seems that while the UN flippable would be a solution, it would be expensive, it would not universally solve the problem when multiple placards and numbers are required. Also, the $11.00 cost seems unrealistic and low. Even with the massive volume, it would cost more than that, unless that would be the difference in cost per, when compared to standard flippable racks.

http://www.flipplacards.com/digi-lock-placards
img_digilock_toppic.png

$70.95


The biggest headache, if you can get the correct placard, seems to be getting them to stick/unstick, depending on the weather. Here is where they may be buying placards of the wrong material.

http://www.labelmaster.com/hazmat-source/hazmat-placard-material-types

Vinyl placard material options include:

  • E-Z Removable Vinyl: can be removed at the destination with little or no residue and can be left on for continued use and removed later.
  • Removable Vinyl: can also be removed at the destination with little or no residue and can be left on for a limited time and removed later.
  • Permanent Vinyl: backed with high-tactile adhesive, so it is not easily removed and ideal for permanent applications.
  • Rigid Vinyl: 20-mil vinyl withstands changing weather conditions and dirt washes off.
Option 1 or 2 above seems to be better than the more common option 3. And of course option 4 is only suitable/required for slide in applications.

Let's not overlook the challenges faced in the city, at the shipper/conignee. The shipper is required to provide placards. It is the driver who is required to make them stick and or secure them. Not to mention, remove them when appropriate.

The UN numbers (black numbers/orange background) put the driver in the uncomfortable position of making a decision, when correct numbers in correct sizes are unavailable. THAT decision has only one correct answer. How many make the appropriate decision?

It is a difficult to solve, series of challenges. Not to mention a variety of placard racks, on the same unit. Flip 3, only to find the 4th doesn't contain the necessary option... :clapping:

Cost benefit analysis would likely show, a properly stocked supply of proper placards & numbers to be the most reasonable. When those are not available, the answer to why the shipment sits, should rest on the shoulder of the responsible party. The driver is NOT ALLOWED to move the trailer, until it complies with placarding requirements. Oh, and retaliation? Against company policy...
We were also told recently in a safety meeting that the cost would be an additional $11 per placard. Using their figure, $44 per trailer, means it would still cost less than a cool million to outfit every trailer in the fleet!! We could even go a step further and say only outfit the "newer" trailers (say P30XXX and up for pups and whatever number necessary for vans) and spread that cost over time until the older trailers are phased out while eventually outfitting every trailer....just sayin'
 
It seems that while the UN flippable would be a solution, it would be expensive, it would not universally solve the problem when multiple placards and numbers are required. Also, the $11.00 cost seems unrealistic and low. Even with the massive volume, it would cost more than that, unless that would be the difference in cost per, when compared to standard flippable racks.

http://www.flipplacards.com/digi-lock-placards
img_digilock_toppic.png

$70.95


The biggest headache, if you can get the correct placard, seems to be getting them to stick/unstick, depending on the weather. Here is where they may be buying placards of the wrong material.

http://www.labelmaster.com/hazmat-source/hazmat-placard-material-types

Vinyl placard material options include:

  • E-Z Removable Vinyl: can be removed at the destination with little or no residue and can be left on for continued use and removed later.
  • Removable Vinyl: can also be removed at the destination with little or no residue and can be left on for a limited time and removed later.
  • Permanent Vinyl: backed with high-tactile adhesive, so it is not easily removed and ideal for permanent applications.
  • Rigid Vinyl: 20-mil vinyl withstands changing weather conditions and dirt washes off.
Option 1 or 2 above seems to be better than the more common option 3. And of course option 4 is only suitable/required for slide in applications.

Let's not overlook the challenges faced in the city, at the shipper/conignee. The shipper is required to provide placards. It is the driver who is required to make them stick and or secure them. Not to mention, remove them when appropriate.

The UN numbers (black numbers/orange background) put the driver in the uncomfortable position of making a decision, when correct numbers in correct sizes are unavailable. THAT decision has only one correct answer. How many make the appropriate decision?

It is a difficult to solve, series of challenges. Not to mention a variety of placard racks, on the same unit. Flip 3, only to find the 4th doesn't contain the necessary option... :clapping:

Cost benefit analysis would likely show, a properly stocked supply of proper placards & numbers to be the most reasonable. When those are not available, the answer to why the shipment sits, should rest on the shoulder of the responsible party. The driver is NOT ALLOWED to move the trailer, until it complies with placarding requirements. Oh, and retaliation? Against company policy...
I thought 11 dollars per flip placard sounded awful cheap. Even if they did buy thousands of them. About the only trailers I ever see them on are those guys that have 7-8 flip placards on the trailer, and are hauling nothing but hazmat all the time.
 
I thought 11 dollars per flip placard sounded awful cheap. Even if they did buy thousands of them. About the only trailers I ever see them on are those guys that have 7-8 flip placards on the trailer, and are hauling nothing but hazmat all the time.
another thing maybe to think about is attaching flip plax with all the ID numbers to the rear of the trailer. With a roll up door,they almost both need to be down by the bumper,otherwise they seem to get caught by dock cushions and get bent up, then are a bitch to use.
 
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