Don't be That Guy (don't be me)

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Hi all,

Soooo, I’m sharing this story with great embarrassment in the hopes that heightened awareness will help somebody avoid a similar disaster. Here’s what happened earlier this autumn:

I was finishing a job after a long day of work. This job was wayyyyy out of my normal work area but the owner enticed me with a bag of money so I still had a few-hour drive in front of me before my day was over. I was tired and ready to go play in rush hour traffic. As I coiled up my hoses and packed away wands and loaded up my ladders, the owner came outside and started talking my ear off about nothing important. Finally, he thanked me again and I got on the road.

All seemed OK as I drove through suburbia on my way to the highway that would point me home. I got onto the highway, motored a few minutes, and then BAM. I looked in my rearview to see my 28-foot extension ladder tumbling down the highway like a giant dice, only to come to a rest sideways across BOTH lanes of traffic. Did I mention this was on a major New England highway at rush hour.

Long story short: I forgot to strap down that ladder. Those who know me know that I’m “Captain Safety” and that I’ve often mocked guys who use bungee cords to hold their ladders or 300-pound novelty straps to hold their tanks in place. But it turns out that my custom 1500-pound strap system is actually useless if it’s not used.

In hindsight, I can see myself hurriedly packing up, tired, and distracted by the homeowner. Obviously that’s no excuse for neglecting to strap down a ladder, but the REAL error was in not taking a moment to walk around the Hino and give things a double-check before hitting the road. Mistakes happen, which is why we’re supposed to double-check. I’ve been doing this since 2010, but this time I didn’t double-check.

You’re wondering about the pile-up on the highway: how many cars were totaled or people killed. Remarkably: zero. Despite a ■■■■ show which you wouldn’t believe unless you saw it yourself, nobody was hurt, no cars damaged, no nothing. An angel was on my shoulder for sure, but I would never ever expect to be so lucky again. Pretty sure I used up all my luck at once.

So: whether you’re a rookie excited to clean your first vinyl siding, or a vet who’s been in the game since before the rookie was born, double check things before hitting the road.

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Don’t beat yourself up about it. We all make mistakes. I have ruined three extension poles from forgetting to tie them up before driving away. Every mistake is an opportunity to better yourself.

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Had something like that happen to me, fortunately I was able to pull over before the 24 foot ladder fell off……it happens. Double checking helps. Thanks for the reminder.

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Customer really are distracting lol. I was shutting my custom side doors on my box truck when my customer comes out to chat and I forgot to lock it down, its on hydraulic shocks so it can open if its not latched. Next stop is on a dirt road and the bumps cause the side door to open and a tree rips it right off… fortunately a couple of hours of work and I was able to take it apart and reshape and reassemble it so now you can hardly tell it just doesn’t close like it once did. This is a custom door with a custom wrap so it would be a pain to replace.
This picture is after I bent it back in shape mostly it was pretty bad.

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IMG_89263024×4032 3.32 MB

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Nice work

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Thanks for sharing that. Glad to hear you made it out ok and nothing happened to you or someone else. I think most of us have been there, tired as snot at the end of the day and can’t wait to get home and get cooler and rest.

I learned the hard lessons to make a mental checklist before I get into the truck to go. Now, I walk from one side to the other and I make myself say, point to, then check each item. I also have a checklist before I leave in the morning so Mr. Murphy will hopefully not make an appearance on the way to the job.

Murphy’s Law: Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and it will be at the worst possible time.

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Same thing happened to me back in ‘97. I was wrapping up a job with another guy, he said the ladders were strapped down. I got on the ramp for I-480 in Omaha and the 24’ slid right off the top. I pulled over, traffic stopped right before the ladder and I ran back to retrieve it. Some d-bag got impatient and ran over my ladder. I was not happy with various people.

I really don’t even trust myself so I hang the ratchet straps on the door handles to remind me.

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Glad you’re ok and no one was injured. We all make mistakes - especially when we’re tired.

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Good idea on the straps. Going to start doing that. No matter how careful you are I think we’ve all done it at some point.

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Don’t be me either:

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Leave the ladder locks hanging on the rack, and leave the truck keys with anything put someplace else (like a charging battery, etc.).

And my pet peeve, always check the trailer hookup if you’re driving, I don’t care who hooked it up for you. They won’t be asking that person any questions if the trailer jumps and kills someone…

The same goes for ladders really. I may not check them every time I get into a truck, but if it’s the first time of the day, I will definitely give them a yank to make sure they’re secured. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen a guy grab one to use in the shop, then just drop it on the rack and not secure it bc he wasn’t going anywhere that day…

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It happens to the best of us.

When I used to live in the hood, people were constantly trying to steal my ladders. One day I got in the truck to drive, rounded the corner and my ladder flipped off the roof and smashed onto the side of my vehicle. The only thing that kept it from falling all the way off was the rope lock.

Whoever was trying to steal it apparently gave up when they saw the lock.

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So good that no one was physically hurt! Patience will keep you safe for sure.

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had a 65 gallon leg tank fly out the back of my truck
it got hit at full speed by a huge truck and came to rest in the center lane wall area
I went back and got it though
tough tank

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I’ve had ladders fly off the top of the enclosed trailer more than once over the course of 10 years. This usually happens when one guy thinks the other guy secured them and the other guy thinks the other guy did. Now it’s a walkaround double check every single time. Saved us from happening a few more times.

What do you guys use to secure them? We use large Husky velcro straps, 3 of them per ladder.

By the way once maybe 8 or 9 years ago i had asked my then-employee if he had checked the ladders before leaving, he said yes. Then the 32 foot ladder flys off maybe 20 minutes later, in the middle of a bridge. I run as fast as i can to retrieve it before oncoming traffic runs over it, it’s getting dark as well. I’m finished getting the ladder secured on top of my 8’ high enclosed trailer when my employee decides to come help me. Of course he locks the truck doors while getting out, with the keys inside. I had to call my wife to drive an hour to bring the spare key , waiting on the middle of the bridge, at dark, outside the truck, directing traffic around the whole time.

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Our SOP is the driver is ALWAYS responsible for making sure ladders are secure before driving off.

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I agree. Like i said that was 9 years ago, i learned a lot since.

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