Heavy Haul Transporting Inc.’s Specialized Transport Division has heavy and oversized transportation equipment for all your transportation needs. As one of the nation’s leading heavy haulers, HHT is the best choice.
Flatbed Service must not tolerate drivers driving under the influence (DUI). Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is one of the common reasons for serious traffic accidents.
Here are some tips to discourage drivers from transporting heavy equipment while driving under the influence.
1. Random Drug/Alcohol Testing
Flatbed Service must carry out random drug testing to catch drivers. Strict penalties must be imposed on drivers who violate the company policy of consuming drugs or alcohol before driving.
There are 3.5 million professional truck drivers moving freight for van and flatbed transport companies in the United States with an additional 8 million people employed in jobs related to the transportation industry. The transportation industry will be changed dramatically by the refined and rapidly advancing artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
AI Technology is moving forward rapidly with the likes of companies like Tesla, Google, and Uber. Truck manufacturers are testing prototype vehicles on public roads. These companies will revolutionize many areas including the optimization of travel lanes, efficiency in fuel use, drivers, safety, and prevention of accidents. AI is set to impact all these areas as well as others.
Autonomous Trucks
The biggest impact that AI will have on flatbed transport companies will be with the use of self-driving trucks. Highways are the easiest roads to successfully implement autonomous driving safely. Because of this, the trucking industry will be in the forefront of this emerging technology well before passenger cars. Urban roads just offer too many situations that can deter safe operational results.
Even though the constant and more predictable highways offer a safe place to roll out autonomous transportation human drivers will still be needed in cities and towns. These trucks will be able to travel for long periods of time staying in their lane-keeping a safe distance from other vehicles until they exit the interstate highway systems.
When it is time to choose a flatbed equipment hauler, think twice before using a hotshot truck.
Hotshots are not equipped to handle heavier freight as seen below with this damaged hot shot trailer.
Now, not all flatbed hotshot trucks are bad, but many do not require the same standard rules and regulations that are required for large flatbed trucking companies.
Examples like no drug testing and no CDL’s (commercial driver’s license). Many hotshot carriers cannot meet the expectation you would expect because of weight and space limitations. Hotshot trucks are more commonly used by companies like Uship.com or Ebay.com for the customer who purchased a lawn tractor or table set.
When booking a flatbed equipment hauler be sure you ask what type of flatbed truck you are getting to avoid any overweight arguments because you did not provide the accurate weight. This can cost you thousands of dollars because the truck will need to be offloaded at the highway scale and reloaded by a crane. Sometimes it is just not worth it to try to save a buck.
With the safe arrival of its second B-1B, the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University would like to recognize the organizations responsible for preparing, transporting and unloading B-1B 86-0101, the “Watchman,” on its final 165-mile journey from Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City to NIAR’s Aircraft Structural Test and Evaluation Center in Park City, Kans.
Now that we are well into 2021, we can see that 2020 was one of the most volatile years for the trucking industry. From drivers to dispatchers, load chain managers, planners and logistical professionals all were able to keep the cargo moving under the most strenuous circumstances.
Even under these incredible constraints that the pandemic brought upon us the transportation sector including heavy haul trucking companies followed a similar annual pattern. In the fourth quarter, the eCommerce boom raised and compensated for any change in the usual pattern. Shopping online started an eCommerce boom that replaced the usual trips to brick-and-mortar businesses with purchases from home office supplies to holiday presents causing ripple effects well into the trucking market.
Mar 29 – Apr 4 – The capacity crunch caused by extreme weather in February pushed spot rates above contract rates in March, but spot market van rates have dipped back below contract rates in April. Capacity remains tight for reefer and flatbed. For reefer, spot rates have been higher than contract since August, while in flatbed spot rates are now higher than contract for the first time since June 2018.
Transporting oversized loads can be a dangerous job for just about anyone. Heavy haul trucking companies in Houston, TX face numerous dangers during each shipment job. Let’s examine some of these dangers and how heavy haulers typically overcome them.
Stopping Distance
Heavy hauling trucks are massive vehicles that weigh tens of thousands of pounds. When carrying oversize loads, the total weight may exceed 80,000 pounds regularly. Getting such a vehicle up to speed requires plenty of engine power. However, slowing down or stopping these vehicles can be just as challenging for heavy haul trucking companies in Houston, TX.
The stopping distance for a truck carrying an oversized load can be much greater than that of an ordinary passenger vehicle. In fact, it is believed that every 20,000 pounds added on top of the 80,000-pound vehicle load increases stopping distance by a whopping 25%.
Heavy haul trucking companies in Houston, TX often get around such dangers by training their drivers to anticipate this greater stopping distance, and by maintaining a suitable distance between their truck and the vehicles in front of them.
If you plan to transport an oversized item via road, you will need to use services from heavy haul trucking companies in Michigan. These companies obtain special permits that allow them to transport oversized items legally on Michigan roadways. Let’s look at the permits these companies require and why they are important.
Why Are Heavy Haul Transportation Permits Required For Heavy Haul Trucking Companies in Michigan?
The Pursuant to Act 300 of the Public Acts of 1949, the Michigan Vehicle Code (MVC) requires individuals or businesses to possess permits when transporting loads that are above the maximum legal size and weight limits in the state.
These restrictions are in place to ensure the safety of other vehicles and pedestrians, as well as the roads themselves. Transport permits are usually issued only to those vehicles and items that cannot be reduced in size or moved via other means reasonably.
In the United States, the trucking industry is consistently on the rise even though faster and more advanced modes of transport are being developed every year. Transportation by vans and other trucking flatbed variations are still the most suitable means to move goods from shore to shore. These equipment haulers make up 70% of these deliveries.
The highways in 2021 exhibit a plethora of different types of trailers and tractor combinations designed to carry a number of different types of standard and heavy haul freight. It is forecasted to become the fifth largest cause of deaths in the U.S.A. by 2030. As the main source of income for many individuals, it will be helpful to understand the main causes of these deaths by accidents so that the data can be studied and improved on and ultimately help to reduce the death count.
1] Since 2009 over a fifty per cent increase in these accidents has been documented.
2] Large trucks are reported in seventy-four per cent of all fatal passenger vehicle deaths.
3] The most common cause showing 30% of all truck-related accidents is caused by tire defects.
4] These accidents are reported as 20% of the total during the day between noon and 3 pm.
5] Occupants of passenger vehicles are reported to be 68% of these truck fatalities.
Currently, oversize freight shipping has experienced a substantial increase in demand. Trucking companies have had to postpone shipping loads resulting in much slower than normal performance. Even though other areas of freight transportation have leveled out and, in some instances declined, this growth for flatbed freight subsists.
This upswing trend in flatbed shipping demand can be explained in a few different ways but first, we should focus on why a shipper would choose flatbed shipping over other transporting opportunities.
Flatbed trucking companies offer four major shipping methods: ground, rail, ocean, and air. Not all these flatbeds are what you might be used to seeing on the interstates. Other forms include refrigerated flatbeds, trailers, train cars and many more.
When loads are bulky and too difficult to move or lift without the aid of heavy machinery, that’s when flatbeds are the transportation choice. These flatbeds offer the most versatility for flatbed shipping companies when moving construction supplies like wood, steel, and masonry.
Stored supplies and goods at times can be difficult to access and hard to retrieve using normal means and therefore flatbeds offer the only options to difficult logistics. Now that we have an idea of what flatbeds can be used for, let us investigate the reasons why demand is spiking for standard and heavy haul trucking services.
