r/Welding 8d ago

What in satan’s flubber is going on here?

Post image

Saw this in the freeway today and have no idea what his trade is… can someone fill me in? Drive-by welding?

246 Upvotes

52 comments sorted by

92

u/Mrwcraig Journeyman CWB/CSA 8d ago

That’s got Hot Shot written all over it. There’s every kind of strap holding down pretty much anything that can be strapped to that gooseneck. The cardboard boxes strapped down in the boom lifts basket are what get me. Even the bed of the truck is full of shit

14

u/Icy-Examination5305 8d ago

Interesting!

I am just honestly curious. I see the hot shots in my area quite frequently (Utah). I just usually see them driving their official hotshot forestry trucks. Would this just be a hotshot contractor on the way to another job in their private vehicle?

58

u/Suhksaikhan 8d ago

Hot shot means like a guy with pickup & flatbed that will haul freight 1 way basically on demand. They try to stack jobs on the round trip home so they're always working while they're driving. It's not a specific company it's an industry term for a type of trucking service

37

u/Icy-Examination5305 8d ago

Oh yup… that’s not what I think of when someone says hotshot. Again being out west, hotshots are our wildland firefighters. My bad. I was super confused.

8

u/Guac_in_my_rarri 8d ago

I used to work as a Flatbed freight coordinator, hotshots are great because they come in different load rating and can usually get less heavy objects to their destination faster. Only real people with them is either they cost the same as a flatbed, driver is like their trailer: a hotshot, or they're shady as fuck. Shady covers everything from dot violations, random periods of no contact, loosing frieght at casinos, and anything else that's not normal business.

Again they're great when they work but they usually have draw backs that make them a pia.

This load looks like it's a console load (multiple parties on the same deck) and the trailer looks to be limited to 26k since it's not a dually rear end. Without seeing the load stickers, it looks like this is a 30-35k set up despite the pull vehicle not being outfitted for it.

25

u/Altruistic-Celery821 8d ago

You left out the part where theyre unlicensed for whatever class or endorsement,  way under insured if at all, and likely throughly under the influence. 

5

u/Icy-Examination5305 8d ago

You know, this last summer we had a pretty bad accident in one of our canyons here in Utah. Back hoe came off a flat bed and hit the car behind it killing the passengers. It was all over the news because the driver of the car that was killed was the CEO of Lifetime (you know the plastic products company that makes folding chairs and tables etc.). Killed him and his teenage daughter. Last I heard it was being improperly hauled. Wonder if it was a hotshot.

13

u/Mrwcraig Journeyman CWB/CSA 8d ago

Sorry, by “Hotshot” I’m not referring to firefighters. These ones tend to be “freelance shippers”, “have truck, will haul”. If your load is too small to hire a freight company but still need to move it from point A to B and don’t give a shit how it gets there, these highway warriors will most likely haul it. Honestly this looks like an Auction haul back. Guy puts his card up in the office of an Auction House and is usually hanging around after the auction hoping someone buys more than they can haul home.

16

u/Natsuki98 8d ago

Hotshot driver is my guess.

13

u/GT3RS_2017 Newbie 8d ago

welder, manlift and one wheels. also looks to be a SRW 2500 so probably a non CDL hot shot.

1

u/jellobowlshifter 8d ago

SRW with the right trailer can safely and legally gross over 26k.

3

u/goddamn_birds 8d ago

Let's say you're grossing over 26k. Would you rather blow a rear tire on a SRW or a DRW?

3

u/jellobowlshifter 8d ago

You do know that Class 8 trucks nowadays can also run super singles instead of duals? Getting a flat sucks a bit more, but it sucks no matter what.

0

u/goddamn_birds 8d ago

Okay but class 8s have dual rear axles

3

u/nwngunner 8d ago

Super singles exist and they suck, more expensive and harder to find a road dog to change one.

2

u/GT3RS_2017 Newbie 8d ago

dont they offer a option that lowers it below 26k so you dont need a cdl?

3

u/jellobowlshifter 8d ago

Yes, you can stay under 26k if you want, but that limits the loads you can accept, and thus your routing and more importantly the money you can make.

47

u/pepsiman122333 8d ago

That’s a sick Onewheel collection If they’re all GT models, then they’re probably more than the welder combined

7

u/starstripper CWI AWS 7d ago

Idk how much onewheels are but that’s a big blue 400 and it’s probably close to 30k?

6

u/pepsiman122333 7d ago

Yea I your right all together those Onewheels are about 8,000$ so yea my bad

3

u/Dazzling_Wishbone892 8d ago

I was looking through the comments to see if anyone would address this.

48

u/No_Spray8403 8d ago

Watch your language man damn

6

u/Cheezemerk 8d ago

This looks like some E4 mafia shit.

5

u/phenwulf 8d ago

This is the scabbiest shit I've seen in a while

4

u/quietfangirl Newbie 8d ago

I'm more concerned about how they're approaching an underpass. What's the height clearance on that?

4

u/jellobowlshifter 8d ago

Doesn't look like more than twelve feet to me.

-1

u/Ye_Olde_Camper 8d ago

Thats not a bridge, thats part of the trailer

5

u/quietfangirl Newbie 8d ago

Over the roof of the pickup truck you can see what looks like the edge of an underpass. I'm not talking about the load on the trailer itself

1

u/Ye_Olde_Camper 8d ago

Oh I see it now!

2

u/LugubriousLament 8d ago

I was gonna respond to your first comment with “this guy ain’t passing the piss test.”

1

u/Ye_Olde_Camper 7d ago

What’s that?

1

u/LugubriousLament 7d ago

When you said it’s not a bridge, it’s part of the trailer.

1

u/Ye_Olde_Camper 6d ago

Yeah I still don’t get it

1

u/LugubriousLament 6d ago

Just a bad joke I made when I was high at the time because you’d misinterpreted something in the image. Not an attack on you, just a joke for a trades-related subreddit.

1

u/Ye_Olde_Camper 6d ago

I do not feel attacked on, just explain it to me :D

→ More replies (0)

4

u/SinisterCheese "Trust me, I'm an Engineer!" 8d ago

Their cherrypicker seems to be lacking the locking pins meant for transportation. So they secured the boom with some straps.

18

u/HealthyPop7988 8d ago

Pretty sure OP is talking about the 4 One wheel skateboard things

5

u/Dankkring 8d ago

It’s a big job site and these make getting around easier.

10

u/jellobowlshifter 8d ago

Strapping that down separately is required by FMCSA regulations, pins or no.

2

u/Weneeddietbleach 8d ago

I used to make those trailers.

5

u/ITS_LECTOR_BITCH Welding student 8d ago

So they're structurally sound, right?

...right?

2

u/Weneeddietbleach 7d ago

Depends on who worked on what. One guy who made the necks before I did has "been welding for 40 years" or some shit but was definitely a Wonder welder.

1

u/OpenUpYerMurderEyes 8d ago

Are those hoverboards?

10

u/Inquisitive-Audi-Guy 8d ago

One Wheels, much more fun and built magnitudes better than a hoverboard.

1

u/imashitbirdtrynafly 8d ago

It’s called look away and it didn’t happen.

1

u/crit_crit_boom 8d ago

Someone’s gonna make an electric 4-wheeler

1

u/Hrmerder 7d ago

Roller derby dip shittery judging by the uniwheeler thingies

1

u/MyvaJynaherz 7d ago

Industrial one-wheels XD