An inside look at how those big wood chip trucks are emptied when they get to the mill. This footage was recorded at the Celgar mill, near Castlegar, in December of 2009. 720p resolution - ENJOY!
The setup at my old mill never had the yellow bars over the top or let you dump with the truck still on. Man, I can't imagine the time that would be saved with one of those setups.
damn I've NEVER seen a chip hauler with doubles, I've been driving for 20 years, but I see this everyday when I go into Georgia pacific wood mill to drop pulp wood.
Thank you for a great video!! I've seen them tip from a distance, not up close.. almost got to see a portable tipper in action a few times, but they we're too slow at getting set up, I had to get going.. Oregon State Highway 6 Through the coast range in 1996.. dug out, rebuilt it... They filled all the deep slides with treated chips. Wed head up at 7pm, no chip pile, by 7am there'd be a huge pile, day shift dump trucks hauled the chips up to fill the holes we cleaned up at night.
We have to keep the equipment as light as possible,but strong enough to carry as much payload a is legally allowed. The cargo weight is heavier than the equipment. Also the loads sometimes stick especially in the winter. A hydraulic dump would be way too heavy and probably fall over when dumping. We do sometimes use " Self Unloaders" in some situations. These flat floor trailers have a moving hydraulic floor that walk the payload off. I've been doing this nearly 20 years now.
#5 Almost forgot.... The lost hour matters also, because they don't pay by the mile, but by the run. And they don't pay for runs they send you out on where you can't pick up any chips; at least that's how it was told to me by Mr. Company Driver.
I used to haul to this mill at Castlegar for Kerver, hauling DCT Chambers Super B Wood Chip Vans... B-) I did the Merritt, West Bank, Eagle River, Revelstoke, Golden and Salmo-Creston runs...
Iron Horseman I was on a test/evaluation run from Castlegar to Revelstoke and back for Chambers when I shot this video. The company driver who was evaluating me actually talked me out of hiring on with them. He made the company sound so bad, that I decided not to pursue employment with them. That, and the townsfolk basically told my wife (she stayed in town while I did the run) "Don't let your husband work for them!"Don't know - maybe they're a good outfit; I'll never know.
Nice dumpers,the ones at the mill here,we have to back on,and drop the trailer,even the 48 and 53 foot trailers,won't let us keep our tractors hooked up anymore.
Heard a story of a guy leaving truck running dumping garbage. It was an old mechanical engine so no automatic shutdown if it looses oil pressure. It wasn't running when it came back down I gather :-) I watched a reefer engine trying to run on its side after guy flopped it. It was a tuff lil bastard, ran violently for 3 min before it finally pooed the bed.
Depends, if you go from hauling bark to chips then yes. but if you haul the same thing all the time no. The dumper empties 99% of it and sometimes crap sticks in the corners
Just gonna throw in a comment to see who says what... I recorded this video when trying out for Danny Chambers Trucking. I had to make a run from Castlegar to Revelstoke and back. The company driver who was my evaluator/tester (not sure what to call it) basically talked me out of the job while we were on the road there and back. He was quitting in two months. It was weird - he was trying to make it out like they are a good outfit to work for, all while he's telling me about... continued...
I'm a chip hauler in Oregon, 1) the truck is resting against a metal stop so it can't fall it, 2) the driver is never inside the truck, we're always inside s control room operating the tipper!
#3 and they send you back empty, 'love letters' from Chambers for going one or two clicks over 100 KM/H, even when you're in a 110 zone, and various other niceties. So, he wouldn't come out and tell me that he hated working there; only that he was 'moving on'. But before the run was over, I knew there was no way I'd work for them. Funny thing was that while my wife waited for me in Castlegar, several townsfolk told her, "You don't want your husband to work for them; they've ... continued...
Great video, thanks for sharing. Interesting to see the detail of how this work. Does anyone know of anywhere that this same method is used for unloading coal from either semis or B-trains?
They have a bubble door on the front of the B trailer and barn doors with a drop down door on the back of the A trailer, product flows through both out the back, I used to haul these super B trailers every day, now I haul a single 53' and make more money
#4 ...got a real bad reputation." So, for my part, I have nothing to say from experience with them, but it was enough to spook me so I figured I was better off writing off the hotel, fuel and meal costs off, and chalk it up as a nice winter trip with the missus to Castlegar for a couple of days. Just curious to hear what anyone who's worked for DCT, or who know someone who does, has to say.
JoshCourts dump trailer are heavier so they can haul more weight this way and you eliminate human error factor by not having the possibility of leaving the dump in the air
@oney135 One of the reasons I didn't take that job is because the driver told me (he probably wasn't supposed to tell me, lol) that if you get sent away from a mill empty because they're out of chips, you don't get paid for your trip, even though the company sent you there. I understand that the company has too run a pretty tight ship to make a profit, etc, but after I crunched the numbers, I figured I couldn't afford to drive for them, unfortunately.
Ill be going to work for chambers in a week or so..I head alot of shit about both arrow and chambers..im sure there are horror stories with all companies.. but i hope everything goes well.
@oney135 No. I was a driver for one day. I tried out there, but didn't end up taking the job. Too long on work, and too short on pay. But it was good for a photo shoot. Even the company driver I was with told me (off camera) that he'd be quitting in a couple of months, and that they have a hard time retaining drivers (I've noticed they're almost always advertising for new drivers) because they don't pay well, at least not what the job is worth. Money's pretty tight all around, I guess.
Chips from and for...? Pretty crazy instead of just a dump trailer they tilt tractor & trailer. Does the truck/trailer get strapped down any on that platform?
Just a bar across the back of the rear trailer. Gravity does the rest. The front trailer dumps right through the rear trailer. I guess it's cheaper than a walking push wall. Things like that usually come down to whatever is considered cost effective.
The beam across the rear of the back trailer holds all of the weight of the vehicle. The tractor simply sits with the front trailer holding its weight on fifth wheel.
I thought it would be fun to stay in the cab, It wasn't fun at all, scariest damn thing I ever did. I had to keep my hands on the roof to keep from flipping out of the seat.
parking brake, it aint going nowere, just don't stand outside in the dump cage you'll be fine. First time I did it scared the crap out of me, but it got routine fast...
About a year ago the very tipper in this video on the far side actually collapsed to the side underneath the path of the one the uploaders truck was on while it was in the air. The entire operation was down for over a week until they could do a damage assessment and safety inspection. They had 1 tipper for almost 6 months it was a painful long wait every day with 25 trucks lined up waiting
#2 ...wage clawbacks, where they pretend to give you a 'fuel bonus' after first clawing back 10% of what they used to pay, only to pretend to give it back if you hit all the right ratios when shifting, so as to use less fuel, even while you lose an hour on a run because of it and the arbitrary 100 KM/H company speed limit, not getting paid for runs they send you on when the mill doesn't have enough chips... continued...
thers nos way that cant be real,,,,,is fame?how thery tipping the truck upside down down and the driv er doest fall out,,,or whay about the oil and gas,,,,must be something esle
put in on the dump, parking brake, shut off truck, get out, operate the dump, take sample, rinse and repeat. They do it all day long, there is no chains gravity holds it in place, and the oil/fuel stays put (as long as you have your lid on) just don't forget to get your drinks out of the cab, and open the tailgate...leaveing the tailgate shut can cause a huge disaster lol
nothing but gravity holds it, did this for four years in the NW USA, longview WA mostly. The bar you back into is the only thing keeping it from going into the hopper
damn I've NEVER seen a chip hauler with doubles, I've been driving for 20 years, but I see this everyday when I go into Georgia pacific wood mill to drop pulp wood.
