Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/201087
EQUIPMENT: WIDE LOADS Buckner Companies – a Graham, N.C.-based crane-contractor with a fleet of 15 tractors and straight trucks – has been in business since 1947. Setina says. "We don't have the resources to train on a scale like the big boys do." That's why Joe Tex Xpress doesn't hire any heavy-haul drivers with less than four years of experience. "Our heavy-haul drivers are our 'rock stars,' " Setina says. "Nothing happens fast in heavyhaul. Whether it's getting permits, loading, tying the cargo down, driving or unloading it, you have to have patience, experience and attention to detail to get it right." securement being one of the main curriculum subjects. After a initial training and evaluation week is deemed satisfactory, Maverick makes a job offer, then in-depth training begins with a week of load securement work – typically a couple of hours of academics each morning, followed by hands-on load securement workshops. "We go through every hauling scenario we typically encounter in those classes to prepare our drivers," Newell says. In addition to typical and nontypical flatbed loads, Maverick also has a glass-hauling division. Drivers schooled in glass transportation receive three weeks of load securement training before taking to the road with a trainer. "It's an intensive program," Newell says. For Joe Setina, president of heavy-haul provider Joe Tex Xpress, "this is all about having patience." The Mount Vernon, Texas-based specialized carrier focuses on large and unusual loads, including those hauled on specialized 13-axle trailers. "Training is very important to us, but we're not a large fleet," NO 'WEIRD' LOADS Good training has proven to be crucial for Jennifer Sampey, a driver hauling specialized flatbed loads for St. Cloud, Minn.based Anderson Trucking Service. "We haul a lot of different stuff, including things nobody else will or can haul," says Sampey, who recently hauled nuclear regulators. Sampey began her career as a van driver but grew tired and left that behind after only a few months. "Pulling a flatbed, you never know what you're going to be hauling. It's always something and someplace different, and it's a challenge. I like that," she says. Sampey says her strangest load to date was a completely assembled escalator system for a high-end retail complex. She says top-notch training early in her career has been key for her success hauling such unusual loads today. "It can be tricky trying to figure out how to haul some of the stranger things we get," she says. "In the early days, I'd lean on an engineering team for help, but I don't really do that anymore." Jeff Holmes, equipment manager for Buckner Companies – a Graham, N.C.-based crane-contractor with a fleet of 15 tractors and straight trucks – says that some cranes can take as many as 50 loads to transport, with some sections weighing as much as 140,000 pounds. "We've been in business since 1947, and we've learned that planning pays off in all aspects of heavy-hauling," Holmes says. "When it comes to permits, avoiding scale violations and other parts of a haul, you really need to map out everything you're goCOMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2013 65