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ABF | Preventable Accident

Someday I'll show you the pictures of the line I snagged where it actually pulled the pole out of the ground and shot it across a yard like a 40 foot arrow. It speared the side window of a Toyota, went all the way through both Windows and spun the car around in the driveway.......All this happened on a 3 block long residential street at 10 miles an hour as I was checking house numbers. Pictures show I was in the dead middle of the street. Brand new pole put in one month before with a line running diagonally across the road. "Bow-and-arrow" effect on upper edge of trailer. Non-chargeble......
 
canaryinthemine said:
Brand new pole put in one month before with a line running diagonally across the road.
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And I see it failed your proof test. That reminds me of a couple I had...One there was a sharp 90 degree turn to the right in the road and a utility line came in from the left, right in line with the road after the turn. A road I used on a regular basis. I come out of the turn and the truck starts leaning to the right. :confused1: Happened pretty quick, faster than I could process everything and the trailer was empty except for a few boxes of tubing on the floor so I knew there was no load shifting. For about 20' the lean increased then 'POP' and down came a big phone line on the left fender of the truck. The bolts holding it to the pole finally let go before I got flipped on my side. Neighbor comes out, lost his cable and tells me that there was just an accident there and they had to restring that line. Seems they didn't bother checking the ht. when they restrung it. :ranting2: Annnndddd the Verizon guy was acting like it was a chargeable accident. :hysterical:

Then there was one, once again on a road I used on a regular basis and there was a lone pole on the right side of the road whose only job was to provide a guy wire for the pole across the street. Somehow that guy line came down in ht. since my last trip through and I was moving about 30 MPH or so. I hear a noise, looked in the mirrors and watched as that pole broke off, spun on it's end across the street, got tripped up by the curb, wailed the brick wall (doing some damage of course) and came to rest laying right at the foot of that wall like the line crew and just put it there. I just kept getting along, had freight to deliver ya know and no cars or pedestrians got hit.
 
DCM_Doc said:
The curbside top trailer light is referred to as the limb light in the shop.
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Never heard that one before but it makes sense. I also recently learned that the right front tire position on the spread axle drop decks is called the 'scrub position', I still can't figure out why the company puts new tires there. :confused1:

And I'll bet you have nicknames for some of the drivers too. i e, Limb Light Larry, Drainage Ditch Daryl, Snow Bank Sam, Flat Tire Frank, Windshield Willy, et al.
 
Nicknames are common in the workplace, some well deserved. One guy in the shop was named R&R, (rollover & runaway). He rolled a rig on the yard & later had an engine run away & it blew up. He was advised two or three times to clean the oil out of the CAC before starting the engine after a turbocharger failure. A diesel engine runs well on oil mist going through the intake & there is not much time to knock off an air intake hose once it takes off. R&R bailed out of the cab & started running away when the action started.
I have never wrecked one on the yard but I did make a few "Rookie" mistakes. I learned a few lessons on heavy equipment & trucks while in the military. An older GI told me to not worry about honest mistakes. He said the military is a good learning place & Uncle Sam has a lot of money to pay for whatever is torn up.
 
DCM_Doc said:
He said the military is a good learning place & Uncle Sam has a lot of money to pay for whatever is torn up.
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Good advice there. Back in my O/O days my mechanic used to carry a heavy phone book with him under the hood. He told me it was to throw on the intake in case the engine ran away. I've never seen it first had but have heard of it a time or two...now three. Only heard mythological stories of batteries blowing up when under stress and someone got too close with a cigarette or something. I hear all the time how static discharge can ignite fuel when fueling...and I can honestly say that the only time I ever really heard of it happening was one time when I was filling my mower in my garage...that gets your attention pretty quickly and if anyone doubts it the melted threads are still on the top of that plastic gas tank.
 
The old 2 stroke Detroits were notorious for running away due to a rack hanging up. The phone book on the air intake would work or breaking a fuel line would stop it if the rack was hung. To stop a runaway the air or fuel must be taken away. Some of those engines had an emergency shut off on top of the blower that choked the air off. I have seen several runaways due to various causes. I hauled two Caterpillar powered tractors to a dealer for warranty both had turbocharger failures. The first one did not push oil into the CAC. The inexperienced mechanic replace that one with no problem. A few weeks later he replaced a turbo again. That one did have oil in the CAC. He started it in the shop & away it went. It scuffed the cylinders & locked up. It also blew the clutch apart due to the high RPMs. Truck clutches aren't designed for high RPMs like race clutches.
I had one battery to explode. It had a trickle charger on it. I started to remove the charger clamps without unplugging the charger. That caused an arc which ignited the vapors from the battery. Yes, I kicked myself for being so careless. I've never had gasoline to explode though.
The best way to avoid an accident is to think what you are doing before you do it. Most of the accidents I have had were caused by stupidity.
 
DCM_Doc said:
Job insurance for the shop. If nothing needed to be repaired mechanics would be laid off.
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Yep! Every time I pull into the shop I feel as though I am doing those skilled men a justice, if there were just standing (or sitting) around talking about R&R or Windshield Willy or their hunting and fishing trips their jobs could be on the chopping block.
 
I was going down a street and noticed the poles swaying along the sidewalk. Sorta figured I might be the cause of that and stopped. Sure enough, snagged a wire. Now a days, if it looks sketchy, be it low wires, tree limbs or tight spaces, I don't go in and hold my ground with management when they try to convince me otherwise. Been there,done that, and just tired of the BS that comes with it.
 
One tip for city drivers...when entering streets that contain low wires (usually cable)...a steady speed of 15 MPH will result in the wind deflector kicking the wires up over the trailer. We all try to avoid those situations but I have been trapped and had no choice so I gave it a whirl and it worked.
 
screwy louiey said:
Had an ABF brother hit a power line that was too low & knocked out the power for some 7,000 residents for three days. Made the news and showed the unit with the power line on top of trailer. company started to fired him but after the BA talked to the company it was reduced to an incident.
Problem I have with that brother the TM has a warm and fuzzy for, could it be he is trying to single him out. Is there are any records or notes regarding any previous employees who had similar situations what was the discipline issued. You'll be surprise what the past brings up.

I'm dealing with a similar situation also where we requested the company get a straight truck to make those residential deliveries and especially those limited access areas. For the very point you stated "running 13'6'' trailers thru residential areas is an accident waiting to happen. Make the point that without proper equipment to handle this new freight shipments being made on line and being delivered to the door step requires certain type of equipment to get the job done. Put it on management for not addressing this problem and make it their problem not the driver trying to perform his task they sent him to do.
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We requested two 13'2" pups for our city operation in atlanta. These are used for inside the perimeter of atlanta. We were told the cost to retrofit the pup was 11k. most of the time we use tractors with no ferings on them for this reason.My gosh , you think the BM would have enough insight to get this equipment in his barn. That being said, we have a brand new 53' liftgate:wtflol: go figure. If this is the type of manager yur dealing with, by all means if you dont think its safe dont do it and that goes for u-packs to.
 
I believe my TM is getting a kickback from cartage, especially when the district manager has said they have new straight trucks with liftgate.
Can't get straight talk for a straight truck from any of these bozo's. Time to file a art 32 grievance on the work being farmed out cause the the TM is allowing this to go 3rd party.
 
screwy louiey said:
I believe my TM is getting a kickback from cartage, especially when the district manager has said they have new straight trucks with liftgate.
Can't get straight talk for a straight truck from any of these bozo's. Time to file a art 32 grievance on the work being farmed out cause the the TM is allowing this to go 3rd party.
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One thing I have seen and heard is, "ABF doesn't have those, we can't get that...", then I encounter a driver from a neighboring terminal and viola you should see the ::shit:: that the have over there!!!! But, but, but we can't get one?
 
pennzoil said:
We requested two 13'2" pups for our city operation in atlanta. These are used for inside the perimeter of atlanta. We were told the cost to retrofit the pup was 11k. most of the time we use tractors with no ferings on them for this reason.My gosh , you think the BM would have enough insight to get this equipment in his barn. That being said, we have a brand new 53' liftgate:wtflol: go figure. If this is the type of manager yur dealing with, by all means if you dont think its safe dont do it and that goes for u-packs to.
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What, ....in living heck,....are you going to do with a 53' liftgate? Surface Transportation Act of 1986 designates 53'ers as "Highway Use Only" trailers, to be used no more than one-third of a mile off designated highways. Each state is in charge of designating it's own highways, other than interstates. Here in Pennsylvania, the State Police puts out Publication 411,....which tells you where you can go legally with a 53'er..(..very little, legally..).It also states there is a $300.00 fine for being off designated routes. We have a copy right outside the dispatch office that I got from the State Police. Needless to say, they don't even bother to ask us to...peddle..with a 53'er. I'm sure,.....very, very sure,....the state of Georgia has something similar provided by the State Police,....Just call up their weights and measurements Bureau and ask about 53's, 102" wide, and the STAA of 1986..No way in Hell I'd peddle with a 53'er, and knock a wire down. You'd be guilty regardless, because you are off-route.
 
canaryinthemine said:
What, ....in living heck,....are you going to do with a 53' liftgate? Surface Transportation Act of 1986 designates 53'ers as "Highway Use Only" trailers, to be used no more than one-third of a mile off designated highways. Each state is in charge of designating it's own highways, other than interstates. Here in Pennsylvania, the State Police puts out Publication 411,....which tells you where you can go legally with a 53'er..(..very little, legally..).It also states there is a $300.00 fine for being off designated routes. We have a copy right outside the dispatch office that I got from the State Police. Needless to say, they don't even bother to ask us to...peddle..with a 53'er. I'm sure,.....very, very sure,....the state of Georgia has something similar provided by the State Police,....Just call up their weights and measurements Bureau and ask about 53's, 102" wide, and the STAA of 1986..No way in Hell I'd peddle with a 53'er, and knock a wire down. You'd be guilty regardless, because you are off-route.
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We used to have contract language that prevented them from making us peddle freight with a 53 as well...I don't know if that language is still around though.
 
Here at 050 every city peddle route is a 53' with the exception of downtown Indy which they still let a pup be used. Triple A Cooper here is right by our terminal and they have 53' Liftgates. I think most of us, especially neighboring city routes, have had residential Dels with 53s. One guy had a residential with a set one day!
 
The contr
ABFer said:
We used to have contract language that prevented them from making us peddle freight with a 53 as well...I don't know if that language is still around though.
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Actual language is still there...Anything that "violates Federal, State, or local ordinances',......you can refuse to do. Just because the company is slavering to make more profit from a single employee doesn't mean that they have the right to force their employees to violate law. You know what will happen if a local policeman decides to enforce the law,......the DRIVER will pay the fine, with the subsequent points on HIS license,.......regardless of whether the dispatcher told you that "the company will pay any fine"..............They're admitting right there that they know it's illegal,....and they're lying by saying they'll "pay any fine".......Want proof? Get them to put it in writing,.......see how far that goes........The whole proposal in the new Transportation bill that Congress is trying to pass, about 33' doubles, and 58' long trailers comes from the idea that MOST drivers, especially non-Union ones,...can be brow-beaten into taking the larger equipment into places where it's not legal to go,......and carry ALL the liability for responsibility on their own shoulders......That pole that I was talking about that I had pulled down? We had gone to court, and neither the company, or the power company who owned the pole, or the cable company who strung the line, would admit any wrong-doing. As our contract insures that,...as long as we are not committing a Felony,.....or DELIBERATELY violating a law,..they must accept all actions of the employee as their responsibility......Non-Union employees DON'T have that protection........Well,.....A year later, I went to re-finance my house,...and the Bank informed me that I had an $8,000.00 judgement against me pending! Because NONE of the three companies involved would settle,...the person whose car got speared had his insurance company file a lawsuit against ME, My employer, the cable company, and the power company.....I was NEVER informed by the company's attorneys that I was a CO-DEFENDANT..........Within 15 minutes of me being in the terminal manager's office, we had the attorneys on the phone,.....and they had an affidavit sent to the finance company,.....and we had a settlement in this case within a week........So,......How long do you think ABF and their attorneys were going to keep me in the dark about being a CO-DEFENDANT in a Civil suit?.....Remember,.....it was the BANK who informed me of this,.....not my employer. I was under the impression that it was done and over a year ago. I have all the papers in this case,.....just in case some company weasel is monitoring this site and thinks I am "defaming" this company. I would welcome a First Amendment fight. So,.....For those of you who think the company will...."Take care of you"....in the event you do something illegal,.....or ,...as in my case,.......something NOT illegal,....but costly to the company,.........Well,....I can only wish and hope you don't get a rude awakening......I almost lost my house,....and didn't even know it...
 
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