Have you ever wondered what glass transportation looks like? If so, today’s post is just for you! I am going to take you behind the scenes of this unusual type of transport. Enjoy the read!
After a few months of working with refrigerated trailers and, before that, curtain-side trailers, I came to the conclusion that I should look for a job that was less physically demanding. A colleague had actually been recommending glass transportation to me from the very beginning. But to be honest, I was reluctant to try it.
Not because I was afraid I would not be able to handle it, but for a rather silly reason. Simply put, I did not like the trailer. Compared to a standard trailer, it has a slightly different shape and is also about one meter shorter. I have always liked the size and dimensions of trucks, and I had the impression that the bigger my vehicle was, the more satisfaction I would get from the job.
However it is very difficult to find a curtain-side job that does not require securing loads with straps, or a refrigerated trailer job without a refrigeration unit. After three months of driving a refrigerated trailer, I learned that getting used to the constant noise is not as easy as it may seem, and it can become quite irritating over time.
That is why I eventually decided to give glass transportation a try. After all, I was not signing a contract for life. I could always leave if I found that the job was not for me. Another advantage was the fact that the company’s transport base is located very close to my home—only about two kilometers away. From that perspective, I could hardly have wished for anything better.
And I must admit that I liked this job from the very first day. Already during the initial training, I knew I was going to enjoy it. The fact that the trailer is slightly shorter is compensated by other aspects of the job, such as the precision required when positioning the trailer under the glass rack for loading, as well as the challenging access to some factory gates.
I know it may sound a little strange, but I have always been the kind of person who enjoys testing myself and taking on new challenges. And just like that, three years have already passed since I started transporting glass. Looking back, I can honestly say that I could not have chosen a better job. I would not trade it for anything else. What once seemed like a disadvantage turned out to be an advantage.
And here you can see what my truck and trailer combination looks like.
But what exactly do we transport with trailers like these?
The answer is raw glass sheets, which are delivered to various manufacturing plants and glass factories, where they undergo further processing. Standard glass sheets are 6 meters long and 3.20 meters high. Sometimes we transport glass that is slightly taller or slightly longer. With my trailer, I can carry glass sheets up to 7 meters in length. If the glass is even longer, we use a specialized extended trailer designed specifically for transporting oversized glass sheets.
And what is all this glass used for later on?
Well, pretty much everything involving glass and mirrors. I should also mention that we do not transport only glass but mirrors as well. We deliver these materials to manufacturing plants that produce, for example, car windows, residential windows, mirrors, shopfronts, and display windows.
So, in practice, if something is made of glass, there is a good chance that the raw material for it once traveled on a trailer very similar to mine.
The glass is transported on specially designed racks created for this purpose. The glass sheets are first placed on these racks, and then the entire rack, together with the glass, is loaded onto the trailer.
This solution allows the glass to remain stable during transport and makes loading and unloading much easier. Instead of handling individual glass sheets, the entire rack can be loaded or removed as a single unit.
So what does the inside of the trailer look like?
As you can see in the photos below, our trailer does not actually have a floor. The base of the glass rack serves as the floor once it is loaded onto the trailer. Along both sides of the trailer there are also so-called rubber supports. Their purpose is to keep the glass in the same position throughout the journey and prevent it from moving during transport.
During loading, it is extremely important to approach the rack very carefully. One wrong move to the left or right can result in tearing the rubber supports. That is why precision is essential, and every loading operation requires full concentration from the driver.
So what does the entire loading procedure look like?
Can you imagine reversing a multi-ton truck and trailer combination while being completely unable to see what is behind you? Because that is exactly what our loading process looks like.
To properly pick up a glass rack, we position ourselves directly in front of it. By doing so, the rack completely blocks our view, which means we have to reverse underneath it with precision without actually being able to see it. To make this task easier, we place two marker poles on one side of the rack. Then we drive past the pole with only about two or three centimeters of clearance. That way, we know we are correctly aligned and will pick up the rack properly.
A very high level of precision is required here. There is not much room for error. So ladies, if anyone ever tells you that two or three centimeters is not a lot, today I am here to tell you that it absolutely is. 😁 If I miss the rack and reverse just two or three centimeters too far to one side, it can result in damage to the glass.
And believe me that glass is extremely expensive. The losses can be substantial!
Once the rack has been loaded onto the trailer, I install the upper and lower securing bars and then close the side supports. Unfortunately, some drivers, probably due to routine and habit, occasionally forget to close the supports. When that happens, they usually do not get very far.
In such situations the journey often ends at the very first corner. Without the supports properly secured, the glass can shift during a turn and the entire load may collapse. Unfortunately, the result is usually thousands of pieces of shattered glass and very significant financial losses. 😒
That is why, despite the routine that comes with doing the same job every day, every step of the loading process must be checked carefully. In glass transport a small oversight can have very expensive consequences.
The entire loading procedure does not take very long. If the glass is already prepared, I drop off the empty rack, pick up the loaded one and continue on my way. The whole process usually takes less than ten minutes.
Another thing I really like about this job is the fact that we have very generous loading and unloading schedules. I do not have to rush all the time or constantly worry about being late. My daily rest periods are usually well over a dozen hours and on weekends they are often much longer.
Thanks to that I have enough time to properly rest, relax, or go out and explore the places where I happen to be parked.
And that is what glass transportation looks like behind the scenes. I still do not particularly like the trailer itself, but at the same time I have grown very fond of it. Today, I cannot imagine working with any other type of trailer. This one gives me a great deal of satisfaction and plenty of interesting challenges.
Especially when the delivery location is unusual. Sometimes we transport finished products as well, because when the glass cannot be transported on a standard trailer, we are the ones who deliver the final product. Those deliveries often take us to some really interesting places, but perhaps that is a story for another post.
So, my dear readers, the next time you pass a truck carrying glass, you might look at it a little differently. Because who knows—maybe behind the wheel there will be a fellow driver fighting for those legendary two centimeters of precision. 😁😅
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This post is based on my own experience and original photography. AI was used for grammar correction and for supporting the translation process.