A time lapse video of me loading my car hauler (Edited with a new, BETTER! video)
Last edited Sun Apr 28, 2013, 07:23 PM - Edit history (1)
I recently purchase an iPad and bought a mount and tripod for it as well. I downloaded a Time Lapse movie maker App and this is my first attempt.
I have onboard a Volvo XC 70 that I picked up at a yard about 1/4 mile away. I offload it first, then load 4 Kia's and reload the Volvo. Then 4 more Kia's on the bottom. Sorry about the speed and other glitches.
Here's another one I did today (4/28), loading 9 Volvo's also in Brunswick, GA. I changed the Frames Per Second rate on this one from the 20 FPS I had set in the video above to 10 FPS. It's a lot smoother and you can see a bit more detail of the process. I also put some music to this one - a little Antonio Vilvaldi, "The Four Seasons". One of the other guys loading in this yard thought it was appropriate to mug my camera several times, but that's OK! He keeps driving by in the Range Rover's he is loading about 50 yards to the cameras left.
For more detail on how I load a truck like this, see this thread from September, 2011, shortly after I started with this firm, posted on DU2
= new reply since forum marked as read
Nice job demonstrating what the task involves.
No matter how many times I hear it, I never grow more tired of it. 
--imm
Another club trademark: they served drinks in glasses shaped like cowboy boots.
Just for fun. 
I often wondered how those huge car haulers worked. Now I know! 
And it only took 2 and a half minutes... you should ask for a raise!
Hey, if you get pulled over for speeding do you get 10 tickets? 
Most car haul companies pay by the unit/mile. No pay to load and a small stipend to unload, called "Skid drop pay". Meaning dropping the loading ramps ("skids"
on the ground.
I do OK though. The rate going down the road makes up for it.
I hesitated to ask but that was a lot of time spent just getting loaded. I've sat 12-24 hours before when I was running truckload and never got paid anything for it.
Hauling produce was the worst about that. Stop 3-5 different places to get loaded and wait hour after hour at each one for a few pallets. Then the reefer breaks down after you get headed home. 
Drive Safe.
Several reasons.
1) With very few exceptions, the angle from the bottom of the tire to the point where the first material/bumper/muffler whatever will make contact is GREATER at the rear of the car than in the front. In other words, if you were to pick up the car with a tow truck, you can lift it higher if you pick it up from the front than if you pick it up from the rear. This is true for the overwhelming majority of production cars made worldwide.
Having said that, the center position in this load configuration is "Split-Decked" where the steer tires and rear tires are on two separate platforms. Here is that very car and you can see the fronts are on a different deck than the rears;
So I need to back it in because of the angle it will sit when rolling down the road. If I drove it on and had it at that angle, the underside of the front bumper would be subject to damage.
2) Weight distribution. While not critical with this load, as they are all fairly light cars, backing that center unit in places the weight of the cars engine over the trailer tires, thus more evenly distributing the weight.
3) Height. With this particular model, since it is a boxy little crossover, if I had driven it on, the back end would be sticking up much higher than the front is now. I have units on the deck above that have to come down to 13' 6". Backing that car, and indeed any car on makes it much easier to get the trailer down to statutory height. The hood is almost always lower than the rear or trunk.
One other thing that goes to point one; With most cars the distance from the vertical centerline of the front tire to the tip of the front bumper is ALMOST ALWAYS shorter than the similar dimension at the rear. For that reason it is usually the case that the first unit on the top of the trailer - the 3rd one I loaded - is backed on. The reason is so that the extra room the trunk and that overhang takes up is out in the wind and not crowding up the limited space I have on the upper deck. The reason I didn't back it on with this load is that the Kia Soul is one of the few that the front is longer than the rear. Of all the models my firm carries, only 3 or 4 have similar dimensions. The Nissan Cube is one and the Hyundai Veloster is another.
I hope that makes sense.
Great video in your op and lots of interesting infor throughout thread. Thanks!
Good to see you and I hope it's all good in your world!
Julie
So there are real peoples on Du after all! Nice stuff - thanks!
I'm watching your vid while waiting to be unloaded at a Iowan Hy-Vee distribution center. Not only do I second the run around in circles suggestion, I want to raise with a couple of ladder twirls.
Not to mention the 3rd world bazarr meets Quentin Tarrantino, open-air asylum that is a big, "1000 cars every Thursday" wholesale auction.
I've been, and i got friends.... Lately I heard "I bought cars from them guys - they're usually worth what you pay for 'em. But a couple weeks ago, the chief bandit stands up at the beginning of his run of cars "OK, boys, we brought 10 cars today, 4 of 'em are good. Let's go!"
Keep on truckin! 
Well done! K&R
I had no clue just loading those cars on there took so much work. 
K&R