I retired after 35 years as a Trucker, refused to EVER haul rolled steel, didn't miss a thing...

Here in the UK we use specific trailers for Steel Coil Transportation. The Trailer has a deep gully down the middle and the coils sit in the gully the opposite way round to the one one this trailer. It cannot roll and is extremely stable in transit. The trailer has lift out boards that cover the gully, so you can use it as a normal flatbed if required.

Whenever I see a flatbed with coils, I get the hell around it and way away.

I know for a fact that those coils are extremely heavy. I am a sheet metal worker and the sheets of metal with which I work come from coils just like this. One of those coils broke loose and fell off the back of the trailer. It landed on the hood of a car and flattened it, engine and all down to within a foot off the ground. Scary to say the least.

As a press operator that processes steel coils like this I thank you getting our loads to us safely.🍻

Enjoyed your video, bud. Hauled coils myself through the nineties. You were articulate, precise, and fully explained why you did each part of the process. I would have done a couple of things differently, but those are mostly differences in the way I was trained. Almost made me nostalgic.

Drivers, please continue being professonal and conscientious. As someone commented, gutter trucks sounds safer to me, worth the cost. A couple coils got loose in Buffalo NY 25-30 yrs ago. Don't know how they were loaded or secured, but i do recall several fatalities in the opposite lane, one was a mom going to work after dropping off at daycare. Once they are loose no knowing where they are going, rolling or flipping. So much responsibility.

I learned a lot from the video and the lengthy discussions that followed. Thank you for making and posting a fascinating video. I do fear that yours is a diminishing profession. Best of luck.

There's a simple solution for this problem in the UK. Most coils are carried on trailers with a coil bed built into them. 10mins to load 3 nine tonne coils, 10mins to strap them, good to go!

Down around Montgomery Al. they have had many of these coils come off trailers or flip them altogether, when they talked about what they needed to do to prevent this, someone told them that they needed to get them off the flatbeds and haul them on lowboys and that it would solve over half the problems they were having.When you raise the center of gravity on something that heavy that high your just asking for it.

So back before Interstate 49, from Fort Smith to Fayetteville on highway 71 I saw SOO many coils of steel unrolled, so many trailers upside down. Glad that you guys have a safer route now!

I remembe in the 70sr going with my dad to docks on the East coast of the UK to pick up steel coils from a German ship. We were on and off the boat through the freight door and my dad never worried but when it came to loading I was told to get in the cab and stay there. The trailer was unhitched and away up the dock. He had a trenched trailer with three coils loaded eyes to the front and chained through and over, no sheeting. still clear in my mind was the tension in all working around the load. Thanks for bringing up good memories

I was getting a partial out of Toledo going back to Chicago, heading home. I found another partial south of Detroit on the way...it was very similar to what you are showing here, but, only two coils (similar thickness metal) that were "upset". They had been re-banded (as best they could, not equal winding as yours. They were then set on their side and each banded to a large pallet and scraps of wood, not providing much of a "level" surface. I was told by the agent the load needed to be tarped. When I got to the PU, was told the opposite, no tarp needed. They weren't big, I didn't mind tarping...but, upon closer inspection....the edges were jagged and WAY sharp, broken on different angles and bent outward and up. These coils had been CLEARLY marked "scrap metal" all over them. I wished I had a conestoga or a covered wagon flatbed!!! I called the agent a second time, took photos, emailed, etc. I didn't understand the need to tarp...and, wasn't willing to trash my tarp, didn't have a "throw away", and was needing to get further down the road to pick up a second partial in time. My time for getting to the next stop was getting close. I was pissed because I was forced to wait in line outside for 2 hours, not getting a visual on this load until I got backed into the loading area. I ended up leaving without it. The broker got pissed. I tried to explain as calmly as I could, the load was never described as being a destroyed coil. You get a coil load, there are certain "expectations" of how the load will look, especially if it needs a tarp. I never got a dime for the waste of time. And, I swore I'd never do business with that broker again, who was big, but, has since gone out of business. I don't do flatbed anymore...too old and fat to jump on and off that thing...and frankly, the pay isn't that much more to make it worth all the effort to secure the load. But, good luck to those that do!

Haha, as soon as I heard that horn going off I knew it was a Cascadia with the parking brake off and the door opened 🤣

Crazy! At first I thought it was odd that you as the driver would have to secure the load, but then I realized that makes sense since you're the one that'll see it anytime you stop along the way, to make sure it's remained secure, or to “shore it up” if it needed adjusting or reinforcing it. Very cool!

Growing up in a steel town (Sparrows Point) there were truckers who hauled steel in our neighborhood. When I was young, we lost a neighbor hauling a coil loaded suicide which broke loose in an accident and rolled over the cab. So I do see the nature of the beast here. I've always wondered why larger cradles aren't required to haul these loads. I'd be fairly anxious hauling any such load even with multiple chain binders without some other protection. The short cradle pictured in the vlog wouldn't stop roll in a severe collision/sudden stop.

That's a JMS load going to Sand Springs OK. if I remember correctly. Webco

Looks good in exception of the angles on your forward and rear prevention chains. DOT will put a damn angle ruler on that crap these days.

Good vid bro. I like the way you detail everything. I do use alot of the info you share,keep up the good work

I've carted hundreds of these coils in the late '80s from Port Kembla to Sydney and Newcastle and never had a problem. We used 4" x 4" hardwood timber in a cradle. 3 chains, 1 pulling to the front,1 pulling to the back and 1 in the middle. If it was narrow slit steel I'd put a choker chain around the top. Drive accordingly.

I once hauled a huge cable roll on wood on a pup trailer, with no good way to secure it, man, I was nervous the whole way to AMTRAK, thank god it wasn’t that far, had wood placed underneath the reel, this and that no way to properly secure it with a load bar, that was crazy I almost refused the load and I was damn glad to get that behemoth off my back!!!!😥

The DOT should shred your CDL for the way you have that coil tied down. You need to spread out the tie-down points to decrease the stress on the chains. I can't believe you haven't gotten red-tagged for that.

I used to work at a pipe mill in Sweden and we got all our coils loaded that way as most companies would use either a crane or a forklift with a "horn". But we did usual get our coils by rail as we used 4-500 ton material a day.

HI Dale, I hope all is going well on the road. Well, looks like I'll be trying to hook up with Schneider. Thanks again for the video. I truly appreciate it. Be safe out there on the road.

I've had the band's bust and the coils shift on those coils like that , choker chain is a must .Only load I've ever had shift.

This was super important and extremely informational! I use this in my everyday life! This is something we should all care about! I'm so glad you wasted your time making this video so that we can all see this! This is a must-see!

It is my personal belief that Maverick has the coolest trucks on the road. I am biased being from Little Rock, AR, but spend a lot of time on the road and always proud to see a Maverick truck rolling down the road.

Nice video showing how you hold that in place. Thank you for making sure everything is properly secured.

Those are dangerous. There are other dangers too. My brother worked in a factory that used those, before they could punch out the part shapes, they had to be rinsed in acid, then washed. My brother walked by the open air acid baths, accidentally breathed some in, and has had chronic lung problems ever since.

If those pockets are rated for the weight then sure but id personally never hook chains to the state pockets themselves especially doubles lol but to each their own.

Great video Dale, appreciate the detail explanation of your securement. Camera in camera 👍

I hauled steel coils for 17 years and transported all sorts of different steel products. Slitter coils aren’t too bad if you have them choked at the top like this guy did and you have enough cradle braces to support the weight and wood blocks directly under the coils. The worst load I’ve hauled was 3 tall skinny coils that were 22” wide, weighing 32,000 lbs each and loaded suicide. I put 4 chains through the eye of each coil and two leash chains from the top of each coil to the deck on each side to keep them from tipping sideways off my trailer in case of a swerve situation or just the inertia from a regular turn while driving. When I got them to where I was going, the receiver said I was the only guy he’s ever seen secure that load correctly and the only guy that didn’t deliver them with at least one ready to fall over!😳

I always hook another chain to the one that isn't long enough on the slitted coils, nice job, you're meticulous as I am.

Story of a driver from Nucor Steel. Lost control of his semi due to poor road conditions and drove off and down a hill. Semi hit the tree and driver was knocked unconscious. He wakes up to find his whole passenger side... gone. Completely destroyed. Down the hill was the steel coil, all crumbled up. Driving with those coils are deadly when caught in an accident.

I like seeing the Maverick boat division trucks going found the road, that looks like more fun than messing with normal flatbed loads.

I used to haul steel back in the late 90s when I moved into flatbeds. Never cared much for it but it's nice to see good load securement (I saw a lot of sketchy coil securement back then). The past decade, I've driven mostly oilfield and wind sites (blades the last couple of years and recently back in the North Dakota oilfield), permitted loads mostly. I'm glad the steel hauling taught me the basics for good securement but I don't miss it in the least.

cool stuff dalethankyou for sharing

I work in a large automotive stamping factory. I unload these coils daily. It can be a nightmare. The first few weeks I ran the 50 ton overhead crane, it was kinda scary lol

I worked at Evraz in Red Deer Alberta (formerly known as IPSCO) for about 8 years. I spent about 2.5 of those years working on the mill, so when I was at the uncoiler or running the overhead crane, I had to move these coils around a lot. Looks like coils for 3.5" pipe, but could be for other applications too.

I watched many of these coils unchained when I worked at a truck wheel manufacturer. Some trucks brought them in three coil in back, two in front. About 1/3 of the loads would come in leaning. I would watch drivers unchaining their loads. It would always make me nervous as they removed those chains. I saw several of these coils fall over and off the trailers. Our crane operator would hook the coils before the driver would take the last chains loose. Some trucks brought in a single coil weighting 45,000 lbs. Most trucks brought in five separate coils weighing about 7,200 lbs each. Most coils arrived with no tarp. One day we had over fifty loads come in.

Seems it would be far safer to transport these coils, with all seven separate, and layed down flat across the whole bed. Seems to be asking for trouble putting the whole load so high up and all in one place.

I needed this video. Thi is exciting and eye opening as it relates to the danger of hauling such a load. Thanks for posting. Drive Safe

I like that you used more than (2) chains and wood. Best way I've seen yet! I always see just (2) chains

I see trucks hauling 6-8 coils like that a lot un-tarped. What's the big deal?

I drove for Maverick for 1 year, they are tarp crazy. I loaded slinkies in south Texas, I was the only truck there tarping. The reason I quit was my fm was an idiot and no amount of complaining would convince them to let me change. So I gave them a choice, I would have another fm or another job. I drive a cement mixer local now. same pay, home every night.

This might be a stupid question, why load it vertically and not horizontally?

Seen a photo once of a truck that went off the highway and the coil crashed through the cab, scary site.

Just curious as to how the coil chocks are secured to the bed or perhaps, the load? In my experience any sudden braking will create tension on the rear most chain. Along with the pull of the forward most chain...failure of the load securement could result, in the event of front end collision. 45,000 lbs. Of potentially rolling weight wants to continue to keep rolling when traveling at 60 mph. and is suddenly put to the test. What we need to know, basically, is...what is the force applied and the combined breaking strength of chain and securement points. Force applied is in reference to a sudden stop as in the case of the front end hitting an immoveable object. God bless the truckers of the world and the trucking industry as a whole. You guys are truly gifted.

Dale the next time you are repairing your tarps can you film it and please show us

Seen the aftermath of one of these rolling over a cab onetime after the driver rear ended another semi... suffice to say the driver didn't make out too well.

Funny thing is. The metal service center I worked at in Philly,specialized in blemishes or second coils and sheets. Not prime. So I saw a lot of it including painted and such. Level a coil that was scrap,send it to a shear. Cut out the good. So on, usually had a lot of work. 20 yrs ago

Hi Dale, is there a reason not to tie back the top of the coils to the back of the trailer, as a way to make it less likely they could come forward in hard braking or an impact?

I think it should be on a specially made heavy duty steel pallet to avoid it from rolling off on a hard stop. And secured with thicker chains.

I saw a couple of your glass trucks heading west in AZ the other day. Didn't think y'all went that far west

I carried 10 chains, and with a max load, I used them all. Mike taught me to do a belly hold back. (fasten to back side of trailer, accross the front of the load, then back to the other side.) My brakes were a lot stronger than my power, so I didn't have to worry much about it sliding backward.)

obvious you know your stuff.. thanks for sharing.. what app are you filming in? love the PIP effect.. is this in the one capture? or post edit?

I work on a slitter that cuts these coils into these "slit coils". Not having a tarp is beyond comprehension, so that's really weird. But, having the coils slit and bundled sideways like this is the wackest thing I've ever seen. In 15 years of working with these I would have never thought anyone would do this. As far as suicide loading goes, it's fine if you have enough chains. The chain around the top holding the coils together is a good idea. If this load came into my place of employment I'd utter more than a few epithets for sure. CRAZY LOAD.

A little over 48,000 would be my guess. We get shotgun slitted coils out of Houston, Tx and those are a pain.

Do u think master coils is the most dangerous load for fb?

Thank you for sharing this. That is strange- without a tarp. Still- you were able to show the scary but awesome beauty of all that deadly mass.

Here in the Uk we have specially built coil trailers with wells in the middle in which you sit the coil. Makes no sense to be hauling them on a standard flat?

u could make a jig to make it safer friend. even a cage that straps to the bed

Here the rest of us can get an idea of the work truckers do. My hat's off to you sir.

Too big to lay flat? Any other reasons? CG is lower, more flat area in contact with bed.... assuming diameter is just too large?

i always prefer to pull coils loaded suicide. they seem to ride better. trailer doesn't want to roll as much on turns. just gotta be sure to oversecure and leave plenty of following distance. safe travels

Why isn’t custom pallets made for these things. At least chock it properly with decent cut logs. A simple frame could be strapped & chained. For added safety. But would add cost I suppose

I know where you picked that up. I hauled a bunch of those from there out past Ft Worth, just running back and forth. Used to stop at that station with the diesel fried chicken, though I never got around to trying any. They required all the coils to be tarped back then.

I am trucking for 38 years and i have hauled countless loads of these steel coils , I caught this video and noticed from what I can see is that your two outer chains are not cross chained meaning forming a x pattern with the intersection in side the coil . By cross chaining you are less likely to ever have that coil come loose , I have seen coils loosen with the method you have . P.S. having the centre chain is good to use even in a cross chain configuration .

Wow. When I was driving Flatbed, I never, thankfully got a drop and hook coil load. Always loaded when I was present and always Shotgun. Though Suicide is easier to chain ; ). What killed me was almost every coil, I was told to tarp it. Then I'd deliver it to yards with thousands of rolls out in the open, rusty, and I'd untarp the damn'd thing, and they'd put it outside with all the other rusty coils. 0_o. And they're a bitch to tarp too. I think the CO I drove for only paid like $15 to tarp and it was not worth it.

When I tie them down I always use extra bungee cords

Cool.... why is the coil not over the wheels, either front or back?

How do you pick where the giant coil gets loaded on your trailer? Is there some science behind this or just where gigantic fork lift/crane puts it?

Coils like that came off of a semi a few years ago in Minnesota, rolled down the highway and a guy in a full size Dodge truck hit one and died.

Why would they not lay each slit coil on its side and pack it on a pallet? This does not look like a safe load to me. I am in the steel fabricating business...have been for 31 years. I have between 200-300 coils on my floor at any time and I have never had a load of slit coil delivered like this. What is the advantage?

Worked for Maverick Transportation for 3 years, great company.

I worked at a facility that had a drywall cornerbead manufacturing line and we got spools these in all the time. Still makes me nervous when I see full loads of these running on the highway......people dont get how insanely heavy they are.

this is dangerous you have to complete the Figure 8 holding the top from shifting from right to left if you only have one side then the load can shift to the other. one of these coils just heavy enough to smush a four-wheeler like a pancake. and it has happened. the driver should have never left without completing the figure eight securing the top of those coils.

Dude! Connect 2 chains together to make the figure 8 securement. I wouldn't go posting a video of an improperly secured load that you've transported all the way across Arkansas.

I live in canada and that's all I haul . Never had one not tarped. Nice job with the tie down,real professional. You can come work for me anytime, if you can stand Canadian winters.

I'm only at 3:30 minutes into the video and I already see how f'ing lucky I was when I hauled a 43,000 pound coil. My employer had 5/16ths inch chains, only 7 of them. I knew they were only good for 5k pounds each, so I used 8 of the wide straps. When I got to where I was going, because I didn't know how to use the braces, and had used only two, the 4x4 was ruined. Great video.

I would've added one more chain holding it toward the rear of the trailer. I've hauled them suicide as well as shotgun and have never once had a problem. I don't understand what you're talking about when you say Suicide steel coil nightmare. It's just another day and another dollar from what I can see. You want a pain in the rear to secure, try hauling a load of slinkies...

I miss flat bedding, this was a sloppy way to secure this load!

What's the big difference between untarped or tarped?

I ran OTR for a full year and I would be surprised too to see an untarped coil in my briefing. Noticed your chain protectors don't have padding against the coil which would make securing that coil simpler.

Why am i watching this?

Looks good Dale. My guess on weight 49,000 pounds.

BTW, most slitted material was on it's side,on pallets. Solid coils always loaded stand up.

why would you load that in that position on the trailer? its a bogie type of trailer too?

The only suggestion I would have is using big lumber and big coil racks. Anything coil that size using small lumber and small coil racks can have your coil touching the trailer floor leaving it to move slightly and causing the chains to loosen. Other then that looks good. Great video and info thank you.

Any Coils I have had how up to my shop are secured with many large 6x6 blocks to make basically large wheel chucks for it. Those are also secured to the trailer, this seems rather unsafe during an emergency braking situation.

Place i work at coil steel comes in on heavy material skids laying flat. Mind you at that thickness with our forktrucks we would only have 2 to 4 coils per skid.

I work in logistics and found your channel. We run a ton of flatbed freight around the country. Would love to work together if possible! These videos are awesome!

I want to see a rig like this in a 65 mph crash test.

Take it up to 70 and jack on the brakes ! Be sure you are playing James Taylors Steam roller blues before you do it .

1) The coil is not resting directly on the trailer, but on two beams (which look like hardwood). If they give away the coil would sink down and everything would be loose. 2) The distance between the beams has to be sufficiently secured for the same reason. I would guess the wedges you can see on each side of them were connected beneath them. However, at 2:30 you can see that the beams are lying without distance to the trailer, so this is probably not the case. How are the wedges attached to the trailer, to prevent the beams from being pushed aside?

I see these without tarps and suicide loaded all the time around were I am. One truck with B-Train trailers and a spool on each trailer. Now, I remember being a kid and seeing what happens when those bands break after an MVA. Clock springs they are.

I've never had that happen (coil without a tarp), I'm sure if you run along side of a county or state trooper on the road, he will take a good long look at it. Looks good though!!!

Steel, the foundation of a modern world.

How did you get both camera on your phone to operate at the same time??