Hi,

Title was supposed to be "Pulling container ANY rougher than dry van?"
I'm looking into a job that hauls containers from a railroad terminal, using day cabs. Would the ride be any bouncier pulling a container than a dry van? I used to drive a dry van with a day cab and it was pretty rough on certain stretches of road. I actually developed a sore neck at one point from the bouncing, which is why I'm asking about the ride when pulling a container. Seems to me it would be about the same, but maybe not. Just asking.


Thanks

 

How rough the ride will be is the least of your worries. You need to know, going in, who's responsible for the can being road-ready. It shouldn't be you. I mean ALL mudflaps attached, ALL tire pressures, ALL lights work, ALL latches are operable. Every can you pick up should be pre-tripped before you get there, even though you will also thoroughly pre-trip it. DOT bubbas luv container pullers. BOL

 

^ What ? you are responsible for the equipment you're driving/pulling and that's a fact.

Containers are usually pieces of over weight crap and you should never pull one without pre-tripping it.

 

Thanks for the replies. It's JB Hunt Intermodal, by the way. You deliver a container within a 150 mile radius of the train terminal, bring back an empty, repeat until your 14 or 11 is up.

 

I pulled flatbed for JB, hauled cans on 'em. In dropyards or terminals, at receivers, unused trailers, in your case, chassis, will be viewed by some drivers as a source of spare everything associated with the chassis. Ya' gotta check everything. Make sure you have your own stash of trailer lamps, a mudflap, and the tools to work on the trailer. You'll also be surprised how fast your time will go during your shift. What Blacksheep said is true too. Make sure you have a tire pressure gauge to check tire inflation, don't rely soley on a thumper. Don't believe the weights that are on the BoL, scale the load. ALL DOT bubbas view cans as a revenue source because they know how poorly maintained they are.