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Keith S

Keith S

Active Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2014
Messages
285
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2
Location
Oakland County, MI
My place of employment has had a GMC 3500 HD for many years. Have used it to haul all sorts of equipment and materials; mostly soil, rocks and also our tractors. Last month the ol' girl died. This month upper management decided it was a decent time to look for a replacement... Well the "suits", desk jockeys, decided to go with a Chevy Silverado Light Duty. The GMC's towing capacity was near 18,000lbs...the Chevy's is 5,000lbs. Let me give you some numbers to crunch. The vehicle haulier trailer by itself weights 2,240lbs. The weight of the tractor by itself weights 2,474lbs. Now for the tractors attachments that are on it... The front end loader weights 492lbs. The blade on the rear weights 680lbs. That is a combined total of 5,886lbs (without onboard fuel). We also have a tandem axle dump trailer which weights 4,113lbs empty. Told upper management that we needed a vehicle that could tow more than 5000lbs, their response was "this truck has a hitch built into the bumper. Just buy a heavier ball". Sucks being in a department that is looked at like the ugly stepchild.
 
Accountants, manglers, and idiots screw up a lot of stuff like that. Of course it will never be their ass, but yours for "ruining the brand new truck". You need to write all of this up (your weights and recommendations above) into a memo and give it to your supervisor. Keep a copy somewhere. It might just come in handy and save your ass. Seriously.



If nothing else, the liability they are taking on by having that thing out on the streets is huge. Let a collision happen and take a family with a bunch of small kids, and that big HD 3500 truck will look like a huge bargain compared to the lawsuit settlement that they will pay out.
 
Load it all up, Go up and down hills, Kill the motor, tranny and smoke the brakes, Crash the truck.......That's what would happen here.



Todd Z
 
Keith,

All you can do is go on record that stating that the replacement truck is not up to the required tasks. They will find out soon enough that being cheap ends up costing more in the end. I just hope nobody gets killed driving that rig...or should I say, Jury-Rigged solution.



Perhaps you should explain to management, that the cost of a lawsuit if someone gets injured and the courts find that the vehicle was overloaded, and warned in advance that the vehicle not rated to tow that much weight, they might change their minds....That's all we can hope for, since we all share the same roads that this overloaded vehicle will be traveling on. Too Scary !!!



...Rich
 
My direct boss and I have already written up a list of everything we use and their respective weights. We even went as far as getting the weight per yard of materials that we have gotten in the past. So far they haven't even agreed to getting a trailer brakes system. @Todd - my department has a bet getting started on what will fail first on the truck. We loaded it up with trailer and tractor just to see how the suspension would react, there is probably just 2-4inches of travel room for the rear suspension.
 
Oh we most definitely will "give 'er hell". Boss looked at me and said I should "accidentally" run the tractor into it, looked back at him and told him no because that would hurt the tractor lol
 
I once had a boss that asked if I was willing to travel from Florida to California for two back to back weeks for business. I said "sure!".



She then says, I would not be able to stay in California for the weekend; I would have to fly back to Florida Friday night and back to California Sunday night since the company doesn't authorize staying over the weekend.



Her "logic" was to spend the money for 2 friggin round trips to San Fran, and have me waste the majority of my weekend sitting on planes rather than pony up for 2 days in a hotel.



I refused the trip.



 
There is an old saying that says: "There are more horses ***** in this world than there are horses".



When dealing with idiots that don't listen, you are much better letting them find out for themselves how stupid they are. All you can do is back away and cover your own ass.



...Rich
 
bo said:
I once had a boss that asked if I was willing to travel from Florida to California for two back to back weeks for business. I said "sure!".



She then says, I would not be able to stay in California for the weekend; I would have to fly back to Florida Friday night and back to California Sunday night since the company doesn't authorize staying over the weekend.



Her "logic" was to spend the money for 2 friggin round trips to San Fran, and have me waste the majority of my weekend sitting on planes rather than pony up for 2 days in a hotel.



I refused the trip.
Click to expand...

Sounds more like company policy that she couldn't do anything about.

25 years ago when I worked at a hospital in materials management we got a new F-650 to haul supplies around to the different buildings. It had a reefer box that we NEVER used for that purpose ("plans change"), no A/C in the cab that we COULD have used, a single gas tank so at some point someone had to fill it up every day, and no engine block and fuel heater which we did have the dealer add later when it wouldn't start in the winter.



In Keith's case I would document everything and give it to management and the legal department if you have one. They do not give a crap about what is needed or what you want. They WILL give a crap about liability issues. If someone is in an accident when it's overloaded you need to cover your ass. Your insurance company may not cover it because it was due to intentional negligence. Also everyone who drives the truck can simply refuse to drive it when it is overloaded. Y'all might get fired but it would hold up in court.
 
@ Johnny - I still haven't driven the truck, and will refuse to drive it more so now because it is winter and the trucks tires don't have the best of treads on them.



@ Gavin - The truck has only been driven a few times and that was by my direct boss. No more trailers for the winter unless the tractor breaks down beyond what we are able to fix. Just dealing with boiler issues now :p

 
Just wait until your management institutes something like ours did, GCI (Global Competitiveness Initiative). So far the only result has been that all of the experienced (read older and higher paid) employees have been given incentives to leave or have been made "advisers" and nobody else knows what they are doing or who is responsible for doing it. Systems and procedures that have taken years to perfect are being shown the door as well, all in the guise of consolidation and "competitiveness". Sure looks like we are being stripped down to the bare essentials in anticipation of being sold to the highest bidder so that the "stakeholders" and upper management can cash in. Those who have been around long enough to qualify for the no longer available to new employees pension program are getting while there is something left to get. :sad:
 
blksn8k,



I feel your pain. Don't forget, I am across the tracks at the Stirling complex.





Tom
 
Not a bit. I am not part of the PGG side, I am on the NOG side in NDE Engineering. I have no part in any fossil fuels. I am 100% non-fossil...if you catch my drift...





Tom
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah, you radiate with warmth. :grin:



Any odds on how long before you're side is part of L-M? I've heard voices...
 
They claim the split is not for us to be sold. We are really the profitable portion of the company, or at least that is what they tell us. I haven't heard any rumblings from the gov reps we have, so I can't say for sure.



honestly, I think your side will be on the auction block once we go through the split.



Time will tell...





Tom
 

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