Old foreman's load chart comment stuck with me for 12 years now

Back when I was running a Grove RT in Charlotte, this old foreman named Ray watched me pick a steel beam way under capacity. I was being cautious, but he just shook his head and said 'kid, the chart ain't a suggestion, it's a map of someone's bad day.' I didn't get it until a few months later when I saw a guy on another site try to get cute with a pick near the edge of his chart and the boom buckled. That sentence changed how I talk to green operators now, I always repeat it when they start eyeballing loads. Ray retired a while back, but every time I set up a lift I still hear his voice in my head. Any other crane guys out there have one line from an old hand that stuck with you longer than any manual ever did?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

alice80828d ago

That line about the chart being a map of someone's bad day really hits, sorry you lost a guy like Ray.

7