well dang nammit, that didn't work as planned

Dart has been buying new trailers, replacing the entire fleet. The latest batch are spring ride. This REALLY po'd me because when I was a teenager I broke my back and so I can't tolerate the banging from spring ride trailers. I was so beyond pi**ed that I wrote an email to the person in charge of trailers and let them have it. I explained about my back and why I can't pull those trailers. I let them have it good about how I didn't like loosing 8 years with the company and loose my truck 2 years into the contract so he could pocket some extra money. I especially didn't like the thought of looking for a job and starting over at 52 years old. Today the owner, Don Oren called me and explained about the money they saved with the spring trailers to which I not real nicely explained that that was money saved at the expense of the drivers. I explained that I was unique in that I came with back problems and because of that I wasn't able to tolerate the fore/aft slapping from the spring rides, but that all the drivers would suffer. I also told him I thought it would lead to more workers comp issues down the road. After listening to me he said he hadn't thought of it from that point of view and that he valued my opinions. He also said that he would like to buy me a new Bose seat, (yes the radio people) to try to see if that would make it ok for me to pull the spring trailers. This Bose seat is a $6,000.00 electronic seat with servo motors for the suspension that senses the truck movement and cancels it before it reaches the driver.

I thought I would get fired, instead I get a new seat. Lol.

Many years ago I drove trucks with fleet of spring trailer and tractor. I was young, in good health and didn't think much about it in the COE's of the period. I don't recall many cross wide blow overs. I drove vans both heavy and light and never happened to me nor had much trouble even here on the Illinois prairie. Now I observe van trailers with air bags tipping in the cross wind. I retired when air ride was just getting installed in trucks so I'm no expert about it. Just my thoughts. Oh, and COE's didn't have brakes on the steers then.

Well at least ( and having not read what you sent LOL !) the owner is receptive and wise to listen to a drivers opinion, you know, the ones that actually drive the trucks with the trailers attached LOL !

It makes you wonder, do you think Mr Don Oren would have been just as receptive if you had written it in a more diplomatic, but effective tone ? Would it have gotten his attention just the same.

As much as I have at different times, probably done about the same, having been passionate and prideful about the work I did, some times you really have to stand up and ring the darned bell as loud as you can, though your demeanor might seem a bit angry, frustrated or any of those. Sure it takes some effort to write something that is truly well crafted, to get a point across, get someones attention, might even look a whole lot better when you look back it, but it sure does feel good to speak your mind doesn't it ?? LOL!

I used to do it occasionally and though I never feared the result, sometimes I wish I did the previous or used the English language more effectively.

I never knew Bose made seats like that, and its really nice to hear about Mr Oren's reaction, sounds like he has an open ear to the employees, of course business is business, and you've probably seen as many whiners in that line of work, I have, some you can't please, and the higher ups, get weathered to that, its refreshing to see that is not the case. I can remember dealing with equipment issues on trucks that bosses did not want to hear about and would just prefer to replace you if you took them to task on it.

I used to sell Bose speakers, be really interesting to hear about that seat. I have a hard time with my right leg and sitting for long periods as an over the road driver must. I would be most grateful if the company was to provide something like that to make the job tolerable, or even if they split it or some combination of same.

Of course if the other drivers find out, nahh, thats just some run of the mill Bostrom, previous one had a defect LOL !

(quoted from post at 15:38:32 12/01/14) Oh, and COE's didn't have brakes on the steers then.

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Neither did conventionals.....made for a fun time when bob tailing in the snow.

You own your own truck so he didn't offer to put on another piece of chrome to make you happy.

Are the Dart tractors that are running on Natural Gas company owned or they also Owner Operator?

There are many drivers with shot backs.
I have heard some complain about certain seats that go back and forth and up and down really hurting their backs.
Not around that industry any more. I guess from an outsiders view it is hard to understand that the trailer transmits that up to the truck. Does your truck have an air ride suspension and air ride cab ?
I do hope your NEW seat helps. And also glad they listened to you. Very rare for anyone to listen to the wisdom of the employees who actually do the work !
Afterall with all the non English speaking drivers I am seeing delivering to my work now it looks like many companies hire anyone ?

Interesting, as an owner operator some of the loads I contract will not load a spring ride trailer. Too much freight damage. I haul a lot of copiers and a spring ride trailer will beat the sensitive electronics to death. Lots of client complaints back in the day.

I upgraded to an air ride trailer in 07 and have not had a client refuse to load it. Frieght damage and claims are very rare for me now. I also immediately noticed how much smoother the ride is. Also really cut down driver fatigue.

I wonder if Dart thought of that angle. I'll bet in the long range those cheap trailers are going to prove very expensive.

Does not make a lot of sense to me. Spring ride trailers are a BIG step backwards in technology. I had run into situations where the shipper specified that the load had to go on air ride trailers.
I also do NOT see the economic side of it. Spring ride trailers are more complex, have more failure points, require more maintenance, and in general are INFERIOR to air ride trailers.
Sounds like Dart has some real idiots in the office.
But, don't worry, Jon, even at your "advanced" age, trucking jobs are plentiful - especially for experienced drivers with decent driving records. I retired from trucking about 3 years ago, and from time to time, I get offers from companies in the area, and I am a bit older than you <grin>.

(quoted from post at 13:22:27 12/01/14) Interesting, as an owner operator some of the loads I contract will not load a spring ride trailer. Too much freight damage. I haul a lot of copiers and a spring ride trailer will beat the sensitive electronics to death. Lots of client complaints back in the day.

I upgraded to an air ride trailer in 07 and have not had a client refuse to load it. Frieght damage and claims are very rare for me now. I also immediately noticed how much smoother the ride is. Also really cut down driver fatigue.

I wonder if Dart thought of that angle. I'll bet in the long range those cheap trailers are going to prove very expensive.

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Took the words right out of my mouth!

But at least you could steer them..

When it would get bad, we always backed-off the Steering brakes..set them back up before entering California..

One more thing about the Air-bags..you can lower the trailer if needed to get under some bridges.

They ride best when set well down on the lower Cup anyway..

Ron..

you Must Rate very Well with the old school type BOSS,, Jon ,,consider Yourself Lucky and take care of the new seat ..,LOl ,.//in this modern world Most Folx would a smply got a letter sayin they was done !,, TERMINATED ..

its all about the figures in that stupid computer --people lose there jobs because of the stupid computer--college grads see one thing ($$$) cant think past there nose -- and the hell with personal things-- and logical thinking -- its all over the place these days--

How far would the $6000 seat go to upgrade to air ride trailers? I just googled the question. Ultra lease came up with 10 year costs at $900 for air and $240 for spring. But check their sources.

If spring is so good, why doesn't dart use spring tags? I don't know what the empty weight difference would be between the two. Dart is probably like all big business, if they can save a dime, they will do it, no matter what it costs in the long run.

The figures they gave me go like this. Dart has 3 trailers/driver. For those three trailers they expect to save $10,000 in maintenance over 10 years. If they outfit all their trucks with the Bose seat it will cost them just over $3,000.00/truck with the volume discount, so they figure to save $7,000.00/driver over 10 years plus some savings on trailer costs up front. 2,500 drivers times $7,000.00 is 17.5 million over 10 years.

Good thing you never had to drive a 60's model IH truck.

All the NG trucks are company short haul trucks so far. It's my understanding that without tax breaks they are still not cost efective. They also have a short range of about 300 miles with the large tanks behind the cab and side tanks. They also are still dealing with high maintenance costs.

I used to pull spring ride grain trailers but now that I've been involved with air ride trailers I never want to go back. It surprising how much a rough riding trailer jerks the tractor around.

My son has a bad back with a few bulging disks. He had a ruptured disk fixed twelve years ago. He puts on somewhere around 100,000 miles a year with his truck. His back doctor told him he is losing the natural arch in his back from too many hours in the saddle. Doctor said the lower back needs a natural arch and truckers or anyone else who spends a lot of seat time start to lose that arch over time. The doc recommended pumping up the arch support in the seat as far as it will go to try to help him out. He does plan to reduce his seat time but right now the bills need to be paid so the truck has to run.

He has his numbers backwards. Air ride costs more up front, but less over time. In 10 years the spring ride trailers will be beaten to pieces, and an air ride would need new bushings. Been there done that... Never had to replace an air ride slider frame due to it falling apart. We used to keep a spring subframe in stock. And this was only an outfit with 40 trailers.

Hope the ride is great!

I think Don will find out he made a BIG mistake in the long run with spring ride bans. The long term maintenance will be much higher on the spring ride trailers if they are pulled many miles. The trailers and the non suspension parts will literally be shook apart from the bouncing.

I know this for a fact. I have two grain trailers. They are the same exact age,7 years old. Same brand and size. I have owned them since they where two years old. The spring ride has had to have the frame welded in several places in the last year. All were fatigue cracks. The air ride is still in fine shape. The spring ride is traded off on a new air ride one right now.

I will second the freight issues/damage they will have with the spring ride trailers. A local precast concrete business will not load a spring ride trailer. They say that any trip much over 150 miles will crack the concrete products in transit.

Can you imagine what a load of TVs will look like after bouncing across the country????