How many of you guys have lost stuff off your pipe rack/pickup bed due to forgetting to secure or strap failure? What was it? I lost 60 feet of 2 inch pvc conduit in the middle of an intersection the other day. Had 100 on the truck took 40 off at job and forgot to restrap the rest when I left for lunch. Managed to gather it up no harm no foul, could have been alot worse.

I never lost anything, but a friend lost a 6' Ladder that way. He didn't even realize it was gone until he got home.


Bill

Once I forgot to secure a 12' Wooden stepladder. In the fast lane of the 405 freeway (70 mph), I saw the shadow of my truck in the afternoon sun. The ladder was at about a 45° angle on the back of my truck rack.

I eased into the "breakdown lane" to my left and the ladder fell off. I hit the brakes. To my amazement it followed me....right up the lane...and stopped, perfectly centered about 3' away from my truck, only slightly damaged.

My other gross mistakes have not been so lucky, nor had such a happy ending.

I lost my tool box the other day. I have a Reading body and my tools are drivers side front compartment. Sometimes the door doesn't latch even though it looks like it is. I left home, drove 25 miles into Brewer was going around a sharp right hand turn approaching a traffic light when out it came. I carry alot of hand tools as I do mechanical work on equipment also. Sucked, snap on tools spread across the road, busy intersection, 7.15 in the morning, I was livid. Ruined the tool box, bought a new one and bolted it in so it can't happen again

Roofer neighbor, had a ladder fall off truck, it hit the police chiefs personal, just delivered new car, he is really good at checking his truck loads now, after an expensive lesson.

Years ago, before my sparky days, I worked for a construction company. I was driving a flatbed that had a bunch of construction material to include sheet metal siding from a prefab building I was hauling back to the warehouse. I jack rabbitted out in to a busy intersection but the siding decided to stay there, in the middle of the intersection. Not only was it embarrassing, my boss was not too happy about the damage siding either.

I also had a couple bundles of conduit do the same thing years later and under the same condition (jackrabbitting into busy traffic). Now I think about, both incidents happened just a few blocks away on the same highway.

I thought I was alone. I lost a ground rod and 50 feet of emt off the front, plywood off the back, and wire nuts and breakers out of the side. That stuff is embarrassing, but it was a lot more work when a shelf fell over in the back of the van.

I lost a 20 ft aluminum extension ladder a couple of months back. I had it strapped with bungies coming home from church one Wednesday night. The bungies gave out and I lost it at night doing 75 mph down I26. All I could see was traffic swerving behind me. Went back to see the damage and the largest piece I could find after two eighteen wheelers hit it was one rung.

I had to help a guy with a flat tire from it. I guess it was the least I could do.

I have not used a bungie since. Went to the tie down straps that self close on the strap.

Oh boy is that a sore subject here. We used roof-top pipe storage troughs on service trucks. We kept about 5-10 sticks of various sizes of pipe in them. To save space, we kept ground rods stored inside the 3/4" EMT with the points facing toward the back. We could then slam a short piece of 1/2" EMT in there, it would "grab" the rod and allow us to pull it out. We also stored the 1/2" EMT inside the 1" and so on.

The troughs had a lift-up door to gain access to the materials. When closed, they had a hasp that allowed for a padlock to keep it secure, but we used just a piece of wire.

Well, it was late on a Friday and one of my co-workers pulled up beside me at was the first of about 20 lights on the way back to the shop. We would punch the gas when the light turned green and race to the next light.

My new helper didn't recognize the importance of closing and locking down the back door of the trough on our last job of the day. With the door left completely open, each time I punched the gas, a few ground rods slid out. After a while, I had about five of them hanging out about five feet.

The last time that I punched it as we neared the shop, two of them shot out and hit the car behind me. One hit the hood and the other fell on the road.

I just about lost my job over these antics, but my boss felt sympathetic since I got hit with a slew of citations and fines for my irresponsibility by the police.

Then there was the time I had a rented Genie lift cart wheeled off its trailer and down in a ditch as I went around the corner. The good news was it wasn't my fault. It turned out that one of the chains that was permenatly attached was "repaired" with a bolt through two links. It busted the snot out of the lift.

At the end of a really long day, left my tool belt and drill case on my (open) tail gate and left the site. Had no idea til I got home. Belt, hand tools, drill charger, drill case, battery, etc, all bye bye. Bummer in the Summer! That was about a $650 whoops. My bad day was somebody elses good day I guess.

I'll not fib ... I've had stuff fall off my truck, and I've driven off with an open tool bin. TG my losses have been minor, and that no one has been harmed.

And that's the point ... something I've appreciated since that day, in 1993, when a man was killed on the freeway, as the result of a lost ladder. Ironically, this good Samaritan was attempting to remove the fallen ladder from the traffic lane when he was struck by a passing car.

In my place, I've had a truckload of cabinets, and a full-size door, both fall from vehicles directly in front of me.

I really can't stress this enough ... dropped loads can be deadly.

That's one problem I have with our world these days; in far too many instances, stuff is transported in unsafe ways, on trucks that really aren't set up to carry them. How many times do you see ladders being hauled by trucks without ladder racks?

This is the opposite thing, but...

If any of you guys have ever lost stuff in NJ, thank you for donating to my tool bag! My father's found 8foot fiberglass ladders intact in ditches, having flew off a truck at a curve in the road. Not to mention a lot of hand tools in the middle of the road. (Two lane county roads at night.)

And there was one time, me and my mother were going somewhere, and were waiting for the left turn signal to get on Business Route One. (Four lane highway that used to be Route One until it was bypassed.) There was a HVAC truck in the through lane. The back door to his van was open, and two tool boxes were about to fall out. If the light didn't turn green just then I probably would have gotten out and knock on his window to warn him or something. Thankfully the guy behind him in a '67 Chevy had some common sense, and didn't move! The HVAC truck got to the middle on the intersection, and tools everywhere. He stopped 100 feet later, walked back and picked up the tools, traffic permitting.

Ian A.

I drove off with my Motorola Portable Terminal on my roof one day (1986 granddaddy of a Blackberry/Palm)
It laid in the intersection of SR 884 and Metro Parkway all rush hour and got run over several times. The thing still worked when I finally found it a couple hours later but it was pretty beat up.

I used to have a 10', 5" piece of pvc on my roof rack. Had a male end and a cap. I would forget to put the cap back on and loose grnd rods, emt, and pvc all the time.

Try losing a bundle of 5000' of 1/2" EMT taking off from a stoplight (50 bundles of 100 banded together).. This was back when I worked at a suppler, I was young and stupid, and our biggest delivery vehicle was an Isuzu pickup!

A.D

How did you manage to get it in the truck without killing it?

i had the back doors of my utility van wide open and driving about 45MPH until someone tracked me down but so far haven't lost anything yet. but i have found 10' ladder, (2) 6' ladders, tools.

I picked up a piece of 1" x 10" x 10' steel at the local steel yard and had it loaded by forklift and sling into my truck. As soon as I got on the road, I hit a bump while accelerating and drove out from under the bar that was floating in the air. I thought I might be able to load it but I couldn't even stand it up on edge. I had to get one of the guys at the steel yard to drive the forklift 1/8 mile down the road to load me again.

A guy working for me dumped 40 pieces of 1-1/2" PVC. He came to a stop while turning left across a divided roadway. The PVC all slid off his ladder rack in one perfect pile and landed in the median. I happened to be driving the other way and saw it happen just in time to swerve onto the median and help him pick up the pipe.

I see a lot of guys on the road using bungee cords to fasten down materials, ladders, etc.

They're NOT intended for the primary hold down, in fact, some of them state so quite clearly, embossed right in the rubber.


I've got a cable run through the ladders, through the rack and padlocked. I use bungee cords just for holding them in place.

I was doing a job way up in some hills at this creepy house. I just wanted to get out of there. Finally finished the job, and got in my van and took off. Went a good 2 miles down the hill on this road you cant possibly go faster than 10 MPH on, got to the bottom of the hill finally, went through the city [1 mile] and onto the freeway. I got 3 exits away and finally came to the conclusion that the reason the glass on my back doors wernt the same was because one of the doors was open, just swinging about. At first I thought 'Its been like that for a long time' then I started slowing down, exited the freeway and pulled into this parking lot. I expected to see half of the pile of crap in the back to be missing... but I found nothing missing!

I shut the door and drove home somewhat embarrassed.

It hasnt happened since.

~Matt

That's just BS for the lawyers, like how there are no waterproof watches anymore, just "water resistant" and roman candles printed "do not hold in hand" or how you'll see pacifiers and baby bottles in stores emblazoned "not for children under 3" just like every other product coming off the boat. Of course, they're primary hold-downs, that's the entire point of bungees! That they try to pretend otherwise because they're worried about breaking is simply sad.

Steve,


I don't suppose you've ever had one snap holding the ladders down on your Porsche on your way to work.

You're an engineer, not a tradesman

LOL.:)

Ouch!

I was following my boss down Hwy 8 to a new job a few years ago. He had loaded a 14' step ladder in the bed of his full size Pu. When he loaded it with the top in the front of the bed I suggested he turn the ladder around to have the heavy end in the bed. He said "It's OK". He hit a bump at MPH and I watched the ladder teeter-totter and come right off the truck. I swerved and missed it buy inches. Made for an exiting morning. Rod

A Porsche with a ladder rack ... now, that I would like to see!

That's an interesting point about bungees; I had not heard that before.

There has been an amazing amount of creative engineering put into a variety of ladder holding devices; I can't say I'm convinced the problem has been solved. Especially for multiple ladders!

Even when they achieve "ladder harmony," there will still be the problem of strut, pipe, and all the other stuff we need to haul.

The guy I feel for the most was the guy who had a rolling toolbox fall off. While he did immediately stop, the box (those things aren't cheap) was destroyed ... and he had countless sockets, etc., spread all over the freeway.

What puzzles me the most is that ... how is it I've had tool bins drop open, expensive stuff either fall off, or get 'beamed off' in transit ...yet the cup of coffee I inadvertently leave sitting on the rear bumper doesn't move an inch, no matter how rough the road?

I work with engineers electure, they are the scariest ones to be around when the step away from the slide ruler. Especially the ones who think they are electrical engineers also.

Let's not get too carried away bashing engineers ... that's my job

All come on now, I'm not getting carried away but if the slide ruler fits in the pocket...

The engineers I work with are mainly are civil (not) and structual. Some of them even started out as ee's by went down a differnt path later. Some of them however feel their degree is good across the board and being an engineer excempts them from following code.

I was going down a country road years ago behind a dump truck pulling some sort of equipment trailer. As it went around a curve, the trailer started to act funny as it went out of sight. As we cautiously went a round the bend, the dump truck was stopped on the side of the road, and without the trailer. We look to the right and there was a 100 yard swath of missing Sassafras trees with the trailer at the top. It also flatten an extra large mail box. Luckly no one got hurt or nothing else was damage.

Would a track flying off of a track vehicle while on maneuvers in the militay count as AWOL materials?

My buddy lost a 23 foot Rabalo (fishing boat) on US 41. Jumped off the trailer and went sliding by on the keel while they were in the median. The guy riding shotgun said "Hey don't you have a boat like that"?

Hey now, don't go blaming the bungee when you overstretch it, put it in a bad spot, or expect a nicked and abused 10lb bungee to hold 100lbs of ladder at 80mph!

Can't believe you guys use bungees, what do you think romex is for anyway? 33+ works pretty well also

Scott, I just fell out of my seat...

Don't use bungee cords, as my father found out last night with a truck he brought home since his is in the shop. The truck had a six foot step ladder put on it by the regular driver w/ (one month old) cords. One word: SNAP.

The ladder is sitting in the backyard until he gets his truck w/ working ladder rack clamps back.

Ian A.

Bungee cords? try a 3 foot piece of old romex. Just rap and twist

What does singing and dancing have to do with holding down ladders?

Larry C

I had a plumber buddy almost lose his eye a few years ago. He was strapping down his ladder with a bungee at the end of the day and It snapped right into his face/eye. I was a pretty serious injury, and he was out of commission for quite a while.

I have a speech impediment. i tend to drop my W's

In Washington State:
Drivers can expect fines of $216 for unsecured loads. If an unsecured load injures someone, you may be fined $5,000 and be sentenced to a year in jail.

Greg:
You brought up a bad memory....I watched my Sea Ray roll off of the trailer back in '02. Had a roller trailer, hook let go; I pulled out at a stop sign, and there she fell. Wiped out the outdrive, gimble ring, and a big hurt on the transom. Bye-Bye time.

This guy actually got away with launching his boat on US41. It scuffed up the keel of the boat a bit but a little Marine Tex fixed that. The motor was trimmed up and missed hitting the road.
The Lee County Deputies were great about it. They helped us reload the boat and get out of there before the state cops could get there and write a ticket. Fortunately it was near my house so we had a welder to fix the trailer and jacks to get the boat up so we could fix it (and readjust the tongue load so the thing would trail right)
We were back on the road to the Keys in a couple hours and he dunked the boat the next morning. (had to let that epoxy set up overnight)

My misfortune was on a local street. Some really great neighbors, and strangers all assisted, jacks, timbers, muscle and we got it back on the trailer.

Our savior was a 300 pound deputy who can probably dead lift twice his weight or more. We had the electric winch smoking, 4 guys pushing and pulling while deputy Mongo got his shoulder under the outboard and lifted it up on the trailer.
Lee County Sheriffs department got my unqualified support that morning.

Jimmy,
Over here in NZ, it is an offence to carry stuff on a vehicle or trailer, untethered.
You can be served an instant fine of NZ$800, for being found to have a load that is insecure.
I've been to I don't know how many fire rescue calls where something has left the vehicle that it was "tied" to and gone through the front windscreen of the car following the carrying vehicle.
You can end up in prison here if it kills someone and rightfully so.
They don't make strops for the fun of it.

I'm always impressed with the use of those $2.00 plenum-rated HVAC Ty-Raps that are about 3 feet long used to tie down a ladder or pipe.

That's not too far off from the cost of three feet of Romex these days.

OK then John,
Mind you, this is a Bentley and the guy is a plumber:

I don't believe it ....

How much does the guy in the Bently charge an hour?

How much does the guy in the Bently charge an hour?

At least he has "no vehicle charge" on his sign. His hourly rate must make up for the trip charge.