Bad deal on boat transport
 

Recently shipped my sailboat from Florida to Racine Wisconsin using American Boat Transport.
When boat arrived, mast on deck had shifted foward about 2 feet, although it was secured well
in three places. Driver says he noticed shift while driving down the highway. More like he had
to do a panic stop. Everything inside the boat was tossed about. Hanging nets came down, etc.
Only after the driver left Racine did I notice the outboard bracket was cracked, and luckily the
engine did not fall off the boat. American Boat refuses to accept responsibility for this, or pay
for
a new bracket. There are many reputable boat transporters. I just picked a bad one.

Sherwin D.

Generally shipping damage must be noted on the BOL to be reimbursed.
Insurance companies often demand this. You did insure your shipment????

Butch
"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
Recently shipped my sailboat from Florida to Racine Wisconsin using
American Boat Transport.
When boat arrived, mast on deck had shifted foward about 2 feet, although
it was secured well
in three places. Driver says he noticed shift while driving down the
highway. More like he had
to do a panic stop. Everything inside the boat was tossed about. Hanging
nets came down, etc.
Only after the driver left Racine did I notice the outboard bracket was
cracked, and luckily the
engine did not fall off the boat. American Boat refuses to accept
responsibility for this, or pay
for
a new bracket. There are many reputable boat transporters. I just picked
a bad one.

Sherwin D.

On Tue, 03 May 2005 23:11:40 GMT, "Butch Davis"
wrote:

Generally shipping damage must be noted on the BOL to be reimbursed.
Insurance companies often demand this. You did insure your shipment????

I find most shipping damage results from poor prep rather than poor
driving. I always recommend folks not skimp on decommissioning costs.
The few that pinched pennies on decommissioning were the ones who
bitched the most about the condition of the boat on arrival.

bb

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
Recently shipped my sailboat from Florida to Racine Wisconsin using
American Boat Transport.
When boat arrived, mast on deck had shifted foward about 2 feet, although
it was secured well
in three places. Driver says he noticed shift while driving down the
highway. More like he had
to do a panic stop. Everything inside the boat was tossed about. Hanging
nets came down, etc.
Only after the driver left Racine did I notice the outboard bracket was
cracked, and luckily the
engine did not fall off the boat. American Boat refuses to accept
responsibility for this, or pay
for
a new bracket. There are many reputable boat transporters. I just picked
a bad one.

If you shipped a sailboat with the outboard still on the bracket then you
really don't have anything to complain about. The violence of sailing is
nowhere near the violence of driving over the road.

Reply All,
The boat was in fact very well prepared for transport. What was I to do with a
100 pound outboard engine, put it in the cockpit or on the deck? If I had put the
engine inside the boat (there was no room anyways for it), or in the cockpit, the
damage would have been a lot worse.
Amazing how people jump to the defense of this poor trucker.
Am I supposed to be grateful that they didn't total my boat. Some of these trucking
companies go under the assumption that you have to expect some damage. I don't
buy that. If I were a large company shipping my 500000 dollar yacht, you can be sure
they would have taken care of any damage. This cowboy trucker was probably
driving too close to the vehicle ahead, or fell asleep at the wheel. They are only supposed
to drive 8 hours a day, but he made the trip in just over 1 1/2 days, as the
only driver. Well, if nobody complains, these companies will continue their bad
practices. Seems like nobody cares, and thank goodness, I don't plan any future
transports.
The trucker has insurance and I am covered also by my yacht policy, but making a claim
for $150 hardly seems worth it. I was not able to see the damage immediately, as the boat
was on the travel lift in the air being just taken off the truck. I was being a nice guy about not

keeping the trucker waiting until the boat could be lowered onto the ground. The driver told
me that if I missed anything, they would take care of it.
I spent three days in Florida preparing the boat for transport, and everything was securely
tied down. If the truck made a panic stop, no amount of securing would have kept everything
in place. The money isn't important, but these people have the nerve to tell me that the boat
was in the same condition at arrival, as when it was picked up. I sent them photographs of the
cracked bracket, but they obviously ignored them. These people have no right to be in business.

Sherwin D.




Butch Davis wrote:

Generally shipping damage must be noted on the BOL to be reimbursed.
Insurance companies often demand this. You did insure your shipment????

Butch
"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
Recently shipped my sailboat from Florida to Racine Wisconsin using
American Boat Transport.
When boat arrived, mast on deck had shifted foward about 2 feet, although
it was secured well
in three places. Driver says he noticed shift while driving down the
highway. More like he had
to do a panic stop. Everything inside the boat was tossed about. Hanging
nets came down, etc.
Only after the driver left Racine did I notice the outboard bracket was
cracked, and luckily the
engine did not fall off the boat. American Boat refuses to accept
responsibility for this, or pay
for
a new bracket. There are many reputable boat transporters. I just picked
a bad one.

Sherwin D.

On Wed, 04 May 2005 00:19:24 -0500, sherwindu
wrote:

The boat was in fact very well prepared for transport. What was I to do with a
100 pound outboard engine, put it in the cockpit or on the deck? If I had put the
engine inside the boat (there was no room anyways for it), or in the cockpit, the
damage would have been a lot worse.

No offense, but leaving a 100 lb motor hanging on a bracket with no
support for a trip of that distance is - well, stupid. No other word
for it.

Later,

Tom

No offense, but leaving a 100 lb motor hanging on a bracket with no
support for a trip of that distance is - well, stupid. No other word
for it.
Another word for it might be.....unfortunate.......
Being a sailor, this guy might not be familiar with all the cracked outboard
brackets that happen when powerboats come back in from offshore and take a
pounding, so he didn't prep for that.
As often as not, I suspect that the bracket cracks are the cumulative result
of metal fatigue, rather than a one-time stress, and an outboard bouncing
along for over a thousand miles might be what pushed the bracket to the
limit. Who knows, it might have been on the verge of cracking when the trip
started.
Unless there is some evidence of the motor being backed into something,
methinks you protest too much.

Assuming the driver had to do a panic stop, why blame that
automatically on the driver?

It would seem likely that you've never driven anything larger than a
U-Haul van, or you would realize the big, slow, cumbersome loads seem
to attract every nutcase in the world.

That "panic stop" may have been necessary to avoid flattening a Mini
Cooper that pulled into the space immediately in front of the tractor-
and slammed on the brakes. Have you considered that the skill of the
driver may have kept your boat *out* of a devastating
collision, rather than the driver's negligence was somehow responsible
for damage to a boat improperly prepared for transport?

The very fact that items in the boat were strewn about by the transport
demonstrates that the prep was not sufficient. Having to slam on the
brakes once or twice during a cross country is a probable occurence for
which one should plan and prepate.

On 4 May 2005 07:53:58 -0700, wrote:

Assuming the driver had to do a panic stop, why blame that
automatically on the driver?

It would seem likely that you've never driven anything larger than a
U-Haul van, or you would realize the big, slow, cumbersome loads seem
to attract every nutcase in the world.

It's funny - I see boats traveling down 395 all the time - there is
usually a gap between the front "WIDE LOAD" guide car and the truck
carrying the boat.

I asked one time about that and this is the reasoning - you have to
allow for stop distance. In fact, nobody is supposed to drive between
the front guide car and the truck carrying the load for that very
reason.

I don't know about you, but I've never heard tell of that, so I called
my state DOT and sure enough - there is a regulation that says you
can't get between the front guide car and the tractor carrying the
load.

You would think that would be common sense, but as far as I know,
there isn't any information about this in the driver's common
knowledge base. I asked several driving instructors in the area and
they never heard of it either.

So the potential of having a car, or more than one car, move into the
gap between the guide car and the truck is very high, thus creating a
potential for accident.

However, that doesn't excuse leaving 100 lbs hanging off the back of a
boat being transported a long distance.

Later,

Tom

On Wed, 04 May 2005 13:35:14 GMT, "Floyd in Tampa"
wrote:


No offense, but leaving a 100 lb motor hanging on a bracket with no
support for a trip of that distance is - well, stupid. No other word
for it.
Another word for it might be.....unfortunate.......

Well, that's being charitable - perhaps I was a little harsh. I've
had my share of "oh sh..." over the years. :)

As often as not, I suspect that the bracket cracks are the cumulative result
of metal fatigue, rather than a one-time stress, and an outboard bouncing
along for over a thousand miles might be what pushed the bracket to the
limit.

~~ snip ~~

Exactly.

Unless there is some evidence of the motor being backed into something,
methinks you protest too much.

Agreed.

Later,

Tom

On Wed, 04 May 2005 00:19:24 -0500, sherwindu wrote:

Reply All,
The boat was in fact very well prepared for transport. What was I to do with a
100 pound outboard engine, put it in the cockpit or on the deck? If I had put the
engine inside the boat (there was no room anyways for it), or in the cockpit, the
damage would have been a lot worse.

How about putting it in the trunk of your car?
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

On Wed, 04 May 2005 15:06:17 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

It's funny - I see boats traveling down 395 all the time - there is
usually a gap between the front "WIDE LOAD" guide car and the truck
carrying the boat.

Considering this boat was ob powered, therefore probably a smaller
boat, I wouldn't assume it required a guide car.

bb

Just to clarify, the part of the bracket that broke was a piece of two inch thick mahogony
bolted to an aluminum frame. This was a newly installed item, which had only been used
once before for a two week cruise.

The damage inside the boat was minor, like hanging nets torn loose. Outside, the mast had
shifted forward over a foot, bending the bow pulpit to which it was lashed, and of course,
the broken bracket. I'm not concerned about the money or labor to replace the bracket,
but the driver lied to me at delivery about how the mast shifted forward, telling me he
just noticed it while driving down the road, as if nothing had preceeded that to cause the
problem. Also, American Boat Transport assured me that if I missed anything on the
delivery inspection, they would honor any damages, which they now claim, did not occur.

I had no other choices to stow this 100 pound long shaft engine other than on the stern.
I flew down to Florida especially to
pack up the boat, so I couldn't take the engine back as extra luggage. There was no
room inside the boat for this engine, crammed full with dinghy engine, collapsed dinghy,
boom, etc. Had the engine been inside or in the cockpit, I'm afraid even worse damage would have
been incurred. It's easy to blame the owner for improper packing of the boat, but there is no
excuse for bad driving. I have made the trip to Florida dozens of time by auto, and never had to
make any kind of panic stop because
I kept a safe distance from other vehicles. I would expect professional truck drivers
to do the same. This driver was either half asleep after making the trip in under 2 days, or he was
spaced out on something.
My boat was together with another boat, and there was no accompanying vehicles. The other boat
did not have visible damage, but it was cocooned in plastic, so who knows what it looked like
inside.

Sherwin D.



bb wrote:

On Wed, 04 May 2005 15:06:17 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

It's funny - I see boats traveling down 395 all the time - there is
usually a gap between the front "WIDE LOAD" guide car and the truck
carrying the boat.

Considering this boat was ob powered, therefore probably a smaller
boat, I wouldn't assume it required a guide car.

bb

I have made the trip to Florida dozens of time by auto, and never had
to
make any kind of panic stop because
I kept a safe distance from other vehicles

*********

Try to same trip in the tow rig with a two-boat trailer. Much different
than a car.

Every time you come to a decent grade you will slow down, and all the
impatient people will begin whipping around you. The safe stopping
distance that a truck leaves behind the preceding vehicle looks like
wide open spaces to the driver of a little hot rod car, (who will think
nothing of pulling into the spot and then slamming on the brakes).

Then there's the suicide lane change that auto drivers like to do. It
involves making a continuous lane change of two or more lanes beginning
from a point right alongside the tractor.
Guy on the left wants to be two lanes to the right in order to exit,
and the guy on the right wants to be two lanes left to go "fast".
Neither can see the other with the truck in the way
and the first time they realize that somebody else wants to occupy the
same space, at the same time, is after the manuever is already started.
Point is, you're blaming the driver based on the assumption that
driving a Peterbilt is just like driving your Volvo sedan. It ain't
necessarily so. It would make more sense to prep the boat with to a
standard that would withstand the possibility of an emergency stop than
to expect the driver to control every variable on the road so that an
emergency stop would never be requred.

wrote:

I have made the trip to Florida dozens of time by auto, and never had
to
make any kind of panic stop because
I kept a safe distance from other vehicles

*********

Try to same trip in the tow rig with a two-boat trailer. Much different
than a car.

Every time you come to a decent grade you will slow down, and all the
impatient people will begin whipping around you. The safe stopping
distance that a truck leaves behind the preceding vehicle looks like
wide open spaces to the driver of a little hot rod car, (who will think
nothing of pulling into the spot and then slamming on the brakes).

Then there's the suicide lane change that auto drivers like to do. It
involves making a continuous lane change of two or more lanes beginning
from a point right alongside the tractor.
Guy on the left wants to be two lanes to the right in order to exit,
and the guy on the right wants to be two lanes left to go "fast".
Neither can see the other with the truck in the way
and the first time they realize that somebody else wants to occupy the
same space, at the same time, is after the manuever is already started.
Point is, you're blaming the driver based on the assumption that
driving a Peterbilt is just like driving your Volvo sedan. It ain't
necessarily so. It would make more sense to prep the boat with to a
standard that would withstand the possibility of an emergency stop than
to expect the driver to control every variable on the road so that an
emergency stop would never be requred.

Ok. I should have riveted the mast to the boat. That would have kept it
from moving. This driver made the trip from Florida to Wisconsin in just
under 2 days. Doesn't that violate the 8 hour per day limit on driving? He
also was untruthful about how thing got shifted around, telling me he just
happened to look back will driving and noticed a problem. You see people
trailering their engines all the time on the back of their boats, so if this were
a dangerous proceedure, nobody would do it. I have had trucks ride up my
rear end, even though I'm going over the speed limit. I get out of their way
quickly, since they outweigh me by quite a bit. Some of these drivers are
overtired, and anxious to get to the next rest stop, so watch out for anyone
that gets in their way.

Sherwin D.

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
snip

Ok. I should have riveted the mast to the boat. That would have kept
it
from moving. This driver made the trip from Florida to Wisconsin in
just
under 2 days. Doesn't that violate the 8 hour per day limit on driving?
He
also was untruthful about how thing got shifted around, telling me he
just
happened to look back will driving and noticed a problem. You see
people
trailering their engines all the time on the back of their boats, so if
this were
a dangerous proceedure, nobody would do it. I have had trucks ride up
my
rear end, even though I'm going over the speed limit. I get out of
their way
quickly, since they outweigh me by quite a bit. Some of these drivers
are
overtired, and anxious to get to the next rest stop, so watch out for
anyone
that gets in their way.

Sherwin D.

Two days? Depending on where in Florida to where in wisconsin, it is quite
a ways. Mapquest says Orlando to Madison is 1300 miles and 21 hours. 65
mph, mapquest drives like the wind....

del cecchi

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...


wrote:

I have made the trip to Florida dozens of time by auto, and never had
to
make any kind of panic stop because
I kept a safe distance from other vehicles

*********

Try to same trip in the tow rig with a two-boat trailer. Much different
than a car.

Every time you come to a decent grade you will slow down, and all the
impatient people will begin whipping around you. The safe stopping
distance that a truck leaves behind the preceding vehicle looks like
wide open spaces to the driver of a little hot rod car, (who will think
nothing of pulling into the spot and then slamming on the brakes).

Then there's the suicide lane change that auto drivers like to do. It
involves making a continuous lane change of two or more lanes beginning
from a point right alongside the tractor.
Guy on the left wants to be two lanes to the right in order to exit,
and the guy on the right wants to be two lanes left to go "fast".
Neither can see the other with the truck in the way
and the first time they realize that somebody else wants to occupy the
same space, at the same time, is after the manuever is already started.
Point is, you're blaming the driver based on the assumption that
driving a Peterbilt is just like driving your Volvo sedan. It ain't
necessarily so. It would make more sense to prep the boat with to a
standard that would withstand the possibility of an emergency stop than
to expect the driver to control every variable on the road so that an
emergency stop would never be requred.

Ok. I should have riveted the mast to the boat. That would have kept
it
from moving. This driver made the trip from Florida to Wisconsin in
just
under 2 days. Doesn't that violate the 8 hour per day limit on driving?
He
also was untruthful about how thing got shifted around, telling me he
just
happened to look back will driving and noticed a problem. You see
people
trailering their engines all the time on the back of their boats, so if
this were
a dangerous proceedure, nobody would do it. I have had trucks ride up
my
rear end, even though I'm going over the speed limit. I get out of
their way
quickly, since they outweigh me by quite a bit. Some of these drivers
are
overtired, and anxious to get to the next rest stop, so watch out for
anyone
that gets in their way.

Sherwin D.



They can drive more than 8 hours a day. Legally. And outboards on kicker
brackets that are stronger than a piece of Mahogany break on trailer boats
with some frequency. And how much does your mast weigh? May take a lot of
tie downs and straps to some heavy duty attachment points to keep it from
moving.