After years of pounding across rough interstates on my dedicated run, the wear and tear finally caught up with me — and my trailer. What started as a small broken coil block turned into a much bigger problem that forced me to make some tough decisions. This chapter reveals how I ended up replacing my trailer, saving my Conestoga, and even helping a friend in the process.
—
These events happened right after my truck had its issues in the last chapter. Thank God my trucking insurance covered the bulk of the cost.
I need to start with the route to and from Voss Clark to the Toyota Tsusho facility in Georgetown. From the time I started the dedicated run until March 2025, I-265 halfway around Louisville was under construction and the interstate was insanely rough. Also, the 22 miles of I-64 from the Waddy exit to the Midway exit in Kentucky — both east and westbound — were equally bad stretches of interstate to drive on.
There were other highways that contributed to this problem as well, but these two were the worst.
—
The Trailer Trouble Begins
In July of 2022, I noticed that one of my coil blocks — the piece that holds my timbers in place — had broken. I didn’t think much of it, so I just replaced it with another one I had.
Three weeks later, the replacement coil block also broke. That’s when I figured something bigger was going on.
When I moved the timbers out of the way, I saw that one side of the trailer floor had given way and collapsed about three feet in length, dropping nearly two inches below the rest of the floor.
—
Insurance, Repairs, and the Conestoga Problem
I took the trailer to a shop near Jeffersonville for a thorough inspection. They said it would take a couple of days, so I left it with them.
When they called me back, they told me that the beam supporting the trailer floor had broken, causing the collapse. I filed an insurance claim, and the company sent an adjuster to verify the shop’s report.
Now, this trailer had a $20,000 Conestoga cover on it, and I wasn’t about to lose that too. The insurance company agreed with the shop’s findings and paid out the claim. But they told me I would need to bid on the trailer to buy it back in order to keep my Conestoga. That process would take 14 days.
—
A New Trailer, and Saving the Conestoga
During that time, I searched for a replacement and found another “Big Bubba” Reitnouer over in Ohio. I bought it, then won the bid to buy back my old trailer so the Conestoga could be transferred onto the new one.
After about three weeks out of service, I was finally back to running my Georgetown loads.
—
What To Do With the Old Trailer
Next came the question: what to do with the broken trailer?
Ernie and Mike Lunsford carefully inspected it and, to all of our surprise, found no beam damage at all. That meant the shop’s original diagnosis was false — the trailer didn’t need to be scrapped.
As God provided, a good friend and fellow independent contractor, Dana Moore, needed a trailer. His East trailer had literally broken in half. He called me after talking with Ernie, and we made a deal. Dana bought the trailer, and he’s still running loads with it today.
—
Looking Back
We came to the conclusion that the trailer shop — which I won’t call out directly — had falsified the diagnosis so they could push me into buying a new trailer. And the insurance adjuster, instead of making a proper inspection, just rubber-stamped the shop’s findings.
And that’s what happened to my 2003 Reitnouer Big Bubba.
It might seem boring to some, but I feel it’s important to include these details. Not every chapter of my trucking career was about the open road — some were about the hard lessons of equipment, business, and trust.
Stay with me, because more issues are coming in the next chapters.
—
#TruckingLife #IndependentContractor #SteelTransport #TruckingStories #TruckingChallenges #OwnerOperator #Conestoga #BigBubba #TruckingEquipment
—
My Trucker Life 