Loading/Unloading cars

Today's equipment is a piece o' cake. 102" wide...simple, low approach angles on the loading skids, etc.

Get ready for a "back in the day". After I walked 6 miles bare-footed in the knee-deep eastern Kentucky snow to get to my truck...

I started out with a single axle (spring suspension) Troyler trailer that was built in Scranton, PA. Supposed to be 96" wide but after all the brackets, flippers, swing-arms and gougers inside the trailer, I still wonder how I put those old model Lincoln's up inside without scuffing something. These were "high-fifth wheel" trailers and way before a stinger-steered combination was ever dreamed up after some length law changes. The truck had a single car rack built over it...forget hydraulics. You built your way onto this position with jump skids or whatever. Had a top rear deck that was hinged and sprung upward by a pair of heavy coil springs when you released it. It had 2 pairs of hydraulic cylinders on the whole she-bang. This trailer was about a 38-footer IIRC. (Not to be confused with the second-coming of Troyler Trailers when they built a few "10-car" 45 foot trailers). We used to cut and whack these trailers, lengthen them, modify 'em, in every way possible so it was seldom you would find 2 trailers exactly the same. That top rear spring-loaded ramp meant that you got to use a pair of very long loading skids, 2 pieces for each side, joined in the middle by you & a selection of pins as you erect the skids each time you load/unload at each stop. You are fortunate if you have all your fingertips today if you operated one of these wonderful, hi-tech marvels....the "scissor legs" were famous for reminding you that the lack of fingertips is actually a positive should the wide-ties want to search your personal background for whatever reason. Many were the days that you would dread peeling that leather cuff glove off fearing the tip of your finger was still in there. I had a helluva time getting my fingerprints to score for my TWIC card application. They looked at me like I had ground 'em off for some unknown purpose. Yeah, right...east Kentucky hillbilly, born & raised...tied up with organized crime to the point I needed to grind my prints off. Cornbread Mafia...

Getting to that top front position, you had to ascend that long, grade of wobbly aluminum/steel ramps you just built without them (and you) reeling over, which happened to everyone that ever used these contraptions...several times. It was a regular occurrence to see your bud over there in the yard after morning's dispatch with a Volkswagen camper/bus laid over to one side, rocking back and forth, teetering on an invisible axis, ready to tip over on it's side....with a passel of co-workers lifting and yanking to get the van up so the skid could be kicked back in position. And you ain't even made it on the first ramp yet. The top rear ramp was the last position to be loaded on these well-designed sleds, which was just as worrisome as the top front position due to the extreme angles.

My solution to the fretting of driving it on the top front position and worrying about backing it down...just back it up there to begin with and then you get to drive it off! But I was one of the smarter guys...as far as car haulers go.

 

I don't go back near as far as Trucklist, and now we run all 3/4 trailers. But when I started I was somewhat used to driving cars on ramps as I had owned an alignment shop with a pit that you drove cars out onto.

I really don't think that I will ever go back to a stack trailer, for a couple of reasons, our equipment is much cheaper to buy and a WHOLE lot cheaper to maintain.

Another reason is that we "usually" don't have to worry so much about residential del. as we are normally under 12 tall.

Also, and this is just my opinion, it is getting harder to find drivers that have that, I can get it done attitude. Whether it is common sense or mechanical ability it seems to be far and few between when it comes to guys new to the industry, seems like all the "farm boys" are gone.

Last but not least, my insurance is cheaper if all of your loading is done on the ground. JMHO.

 

I had a Bankhead high mount once. The top rear ramp was about 5' off the ground. The ramps were in two sections with a piece between them where they join. You had to be careful or the support could drop. Those ramps were really heavy, too. The trailer was 96" wide and could hold up to 9 cars. It was 53' long (actually it was 54' due to a modification that someone made) with the tandems all the way to the rear. It was a joy to deliver in Philadelphia or Baltimore, especially if it was downtown.

I do remember some of the old trailers that you had to build what looked more like scaffolding than ramps. It was facinating to watch drivers build the ramps. I never owned one of those.

 

It can be rather scary to pull a car on the front ramp. It looks like you are going to drive right off the truck. That has happened. You don't want to be going too fast when you hit the first ramp. I know a guy who did drive right off the top ramp. He was going too fast and could not stop in time. I have spoken to drivers who are very uncomfortable driving on ramps that move. As you drive on the trailer ramps will move around on you. If you don't have the ramps lined up right the car could drop and get damaged. It can be difficult to see whether you are backing or pulling on the trailer. It is not a business for the faint of heart. I did enjoy it at one time.

 

It is definately not for the faint of heart, this business. I agree the equipment is modern now and easy to use. Loading and off-loading aren't to bad, unless your decks are covered in oil (like from the truck next to you that blows a hydrolic line and sprays yours) or freezing rain, and all you 1/4 ton trucks are 4x2's. That can be interesting. Loading cab's and chassis can be fun too, espcially if they're F550 4x2 duallies, and you can't see the side of the trailer, only the ground AND your trying to nudge up to the chassis in front of yours (quick load trailers or car haul flats). I've had more then one set of rear duals start spinning off to the left side. Good days and bad. I could spin lots more horror stories.

SL

 

Let's see two of my most memorable stories from my car lot days:

1.) "Which way were we going again?"

I was trying to help a driver get a car onto the top rack. It was either a Corolla or a VW Golf that had decided it would only run for about 1min 30secs after starting. So my (drafted) job was to back the car up the block a good distance, then get it running and floor it! Like something out of the Dukes of Hazard it was a trick we could only do once. So I start the POS and slam it into gear with the thottle floored. The car sputters and wheezes as it barely cranks out any power. I'm going at what can best be described as "top speed" although probably a pathetic 25mph it's still a hell of a speed to be closing on a parked truck. The engine dies just as I hit the ramps and I pray that I've got the steering wheel straight enough.

The car comes to rest about 4 feet short of the targeted deck. (It's been a while since I've worked with a car hauler, it's the 1st top trailer position, or the #3 pos back to front?) Here's where it gets funny,,,

The driver of the truck figures that's good enough to start with and that he can PUSH the car the rest of the way into position. Just like any dead car on the side of the road right? Just push it?

Only one problem genius! You're 20 feet in the air, straddling a pair of ramps pushing a car up hill! I politely suggest since the whole trailer's a rolling erector set wouldn't it be better to re position the decks so that the car rolls 'downhill'?

I swear he was gonna fall down that hole and have the car fall on top of him.

2.) "He did WHAT?"

I don't know how he did it, (Heck I don't even know how this O/O got his licence in the 1st place) but some driver managed to pack a Ford F-450 dually into the belly postion in the trailer. Somehow he even managed to get it in w/out scratching it. Unfortunatly he needed to pull it out, and when he did no matter how much I tried to help him, he got so bent out of shape he started demo-derbying his way out. I got tired of him not listening to me, "NO! I do it MY way!" *crunch*, so I just let him simmer. I punched out an hour later and he was still *crunch* there *crunch*.

For all I know he took the dually out sideways.

 

I cheat and winch load my cars, but then again, I do enclosed.




I do have respect for you open haulers.

When I started driving I hauled farm machinery, nothing like loading a combine with 3 inches of tire riding on the outside of the outriggers.

 

My first time, driving up the ramps on our 7 car miller, it was nervracking, it looked simple enough, similar to loading our 4 car wedge. As I headed up the ramp I realized I couldnt quite see where the ramp anded and I got on the top deck, I was just hoping that the wheels were straight enough to be square with the top. I made it. It gets better everytime I do it. The bottom belly hole, thats interesting too, just wondering if the car im trying to put down there will fit height wise, even though I know it should fit. The true fun is when you back a car into the top forward most position, granted I know I wont just drive off the front and hit the ground, I will run into my sleeper first.

 

I don't see how he had enough clearance to put a dually in the belly of a car trailer. I have seen them on the top rear deck, but not in the belly. Your story about the ramps reminds me of a couple of times when I have used hydraulics and my ramps to move cars forward or back. It is a pain, but it can be done. I kept the cars loosely chained to limit movement. I have not thought about that in years. When you haul cars you really need to be innovative at times.