Usually I buy from a local store, just a few miles away of country roads. Little traffic and I cruise along like a Sunday driver as they say. This year after some phone calls I found out in the next town over they were selling the same pellets for $35 less per ton. Surprising seeing how it's also from the same chain hardware store. I don't like traveling extra with a load if I don't have to, but that is a substantial price savings considering I'll be getting 3 tons in one load at least. And I'm often traveling there to the grocery store anyhow. Just so happens the other weekend my son was going over to his friends house that lives there in town so I made a combo trip to get gas, groceries, pick up my son, and pellets. I threw in some chains and straps since it was a longer trip and starting out in traffic in town.
Well I got the pellets and clear forgot to strap em before I was heading out of the hardware store to get my son. No biggie, its not even .5 miles to where he is staying. Only problem I didn't realize there were speedbumps, like a bunch of them. Not bad ones, but still enough to make the loaded trailer hop a bit even going 10mph (? or less). I should have perhaps come to a complete stop and creep over them, but I'm always self conscious about holding up traffic and this is a heavily used road that cuts between shopping centers, and being that the speed bumps are not very big traffic usually maintains 30+ mph through there. I already had a couple cars backed up.
So I arrive and notice the skid is starting to lean forward a bit. Wow never saw that happen before. I hunt down my son, gather up his stuff and were off again. Oh shoot my memory is so bad I forgot to strap it down again. Well no biggie I need gas I'll just secure it at the gas station since there isn't anywhere to pull over here. Oh, those speed bumps again. Slower this time. Not very far I can actually see the gas station from there. So finally get gas and get out the chains. The load was leaning over a bit worse now, maybe tipped forward about a foot at the top. Now I am getting nervous, thought maybe I'll have to break this pallet down, but I grabbed some chains and secured it best I could and figured I'd pull over after a bit and check on it. With the load secured I drove a bit and checked, and it had pretty much completely fallen over forward, like in the pictures I'll attach. It was still chained, and the heavy shrink wrap at the top seems fairly solid so I kept going and it didn't shift any more that I could tell by the time I got home. Had I not had it chained down though I'm sure it would have shifted around some more and perhaps right over the front of the trailer without stopping.
Moral of the story is always secure load, and even doing 10 mph apparently some bumps can still cause a skid to move big time!
Well I got the pellets and clear forgot to strap em before I was heading out of the hardware store to get my son. No biggie, its not even .5 miles to where he is staying. Only problem I didn't realize there were speedbumps, like a bunch of them. Not bad ones, but still enough to make the loaded trailer hop a bit even going 10mph (? or less). I should have perhaps come to a complete stop and creep over them, but I'm always self conscious about holding up traffic and this is a heavily used road that cuts between shopping centers, and being that the speed bumps are not very big traffic usually maintains 30+ mph through there. I already had a couple cars backed up.
So I arrive and notice the skid is starting to lean forward a bit. Wow never saw that happen before. I hunt down my son, gather up his stuff and were off again. Oh shoot my memory is so bad I forgot to strap it down again. Well no biggie I need gas I'll just secure it at the gas station since there isn't anywhere to pull over here. Oh, those speed bumps again. Slower this time. Not very far I can actually see the gas station from there. So finally get gas and get out the chains. The load was leaning over a bit worse now, maybe tipped forward about a foot at the top. Now I am getting nervous, thought maybe I'll have to break this pallet down, but I grabbed some chains and secured it best I could and figured I'd pull over after a bit and check on it. With the load secured I drove a bit and checked, and it had pretty much completely fallen over forward, like in the pictures I'll attach. It was still chained, and the heavy shrink wrap at the top seems fairly solid so I kept going and it didn't shift any more that I could tell by the time I got home. Had I not had it chained down though I'm sure it would have shifted around some more and perhaps right over the front of the trailer without stopping.
Moral of the story is always secure load, and even doing 10 mph apparently some bumps can still cause a skid to move big time!
