Am I responsible for damaged cargo? Securing? Inspecting?

That's a dog food load in the photo.
Depends on the shipper/receiver. Sometimes you're not allowed on the dock while trailer is being loaded or unloaded. Many times you must wait in the truck while the trailer is being loaded and sealed.

 

Your the captain of your ship. There's a bit of a gray area if you weren't allowed on the dock or your picking up a pre loaded wagon. If you were on the dock and that happened that's 100% your fault if that were to happen. Failure to properly secure your load and taking corners way too fast. You'll either have load bars or the more common one now is E track straps, or a combo of both.

Even if it was a sealed and pre loaded trailer the fault is still gonna fall on you as messed up as it sounds. A good driver would of been just fine with that load and got it there all intact.

At least you have some common sense asking good questions. I think you'll do just fine in the industry

 

Sometimes you aren’t able to because the load is preloaded and sealed. Whenever possible, I take a look and make sure everything looks ok and won’t shift or anything.
When I was OTR I always kept a few cargo straps in my truck. They actually came in handy a couple times. I’ve hauled a few beer loads where the rear of the load looked rough so I took a couple pallets and strapped them against the load. Sure it cost me a few minutes at the pick up, but it potentially saved me hours on the live load deliveries.

 

You should have at least a few straps with you. Some companies will have actual load bars on the truck.

Ask your dispatcher if the load needs to be secured.

Also ask them at the pickup if the drivers normally secure the load or if it's a load that needs to be secured.

If you have any doubt secure it.

Loads that are heavy like beverages generally don't move as long as you drive like a gentleman, but light loads like cardboard and things like that it's a good idea to strap in.

You are on the right track. Keep asking questions. You'll do way better than the next guy.

 

Basically driver is responsible for damages or load shift. When you get loaded, if you can look and watch them is a good idea to make sure they don't load damage stuff onto your trailer. You might want to count the pallets or see if you get everything your signing paperwork for.

Shippers usually wrap stuff so it won't tip over but nothing is guaranteed and smooth driving and slow around corners will help stop load shifting. They generally know how to load trucks and they do this all day. They like to load as much stuff in trailer as possible

 

My first gig, we hardly ever saw what was loaded. all we knew was what was on the bills. alot of times it just said FAK = freight of all kinds. Once in a while we had to fiddle with those load lock thingys.

 

The driver is responsible for anything and everything... and if you ask yourself if im responisble for this , the answer is yes... somehow someway the blame always goes on us, just remeber that when u get out here.... We are professional scapegoats

 

Always make sure the BOL matches the product and the final destination. Sometimes you'll have 2 or even 3 different addresses on the BOL. For example one could be the billing address or the headquarters address. Make sure the address you put in is the ship to address. When in doubt call your dispatcher or if there is a phone number on you bills. You don't wanna put the wrong address in and end up in the wrong spot

 

Always double-check the paperwork always always.

I just did a load there was a two-stop load and the first address was different than what was on my rate Con. As a driver you won't have a rates con but you will have information from your dispatcher, same difference.

If there is any discrepancy always call in and make sure that dispatch is aware of it and they take care of it and give you instruction for what to do.

You'd be surprised how often things like that happen. And always double-check the trailer number and the seal number.