• Xbeam@lemmy.world
        14·
        3 months ago

        They do rent trailers for this exact reason. Home Depot rents trucks by the hour too.

        • toynbee@lemmy.world
          3·
          3 months ago

          One time I tried to rent a truck from Home Depot to haul … Something, I forget what.

          They said they weren’t renting out the truck because there was rain in the forecast.

          What kind of work truck can’t handle the rain?

          • Fondots@lemmy.world
            1·
            2 months ago

            Think of a pickup truck, you have a big engine and a cab up front, and then not much in the back except a big empty bed.

            Most pickup trucks are rear wheel drive, so there’s not much weight over those drive wheels. That can create some traction issues in rain, snow, loose sand, mud, etc. if you’re not careful, it’s not hard to spin your tires when starting from a stop, or oversteer hydroplane. Having some weight in the bed-cargo, sandbags, etc. can help a lot with that. They also have a higher center of gravity than most smaller vehicles so they’re a higher rollover risk when that kind of thing happens.

            Most people who drive trucks regularly are used to this in their vehicles and know how to compensate for it. It also helps to have some weight in the bed over those rear wheels- cargo, sandbags, etc. Or depending on what sort of 4wd system it has (if equipped, I’m not sure if home Depot rentals are 4wd or not) you may also be able to put it in 4wd to help, some are able to be driven on dry pavement in 4wd provided you stay under a certain speed, others should really only be put into 4wd if you’re driving through significant mud or snow or similar conditions or you risk significant wear and damage to various vehicle component, or at least compromising some of the handling characteristics or increased fuel usage.

            It’s something most people should be able to learn and adapt to pretty quickly, but frankly I’ve seen how people drive, and I don’t exactly blame the lawyers and bean counters for hedging their bets there. You can’t know for certain what that person’s driving experience is like, but since they need to rent a truck, it’s probably a pretty safe bet that they don’t regularly drive one, and may not know how to drive one safely in inclement weather.

            One of the cars I learned how to drive in was my dad’s rwd ranger. It’s kind of shitty in any kind of weather, and it has occasionally struggled to get up some sheepish gravel driveways without some weight in the bed, even though other cars had absolutely no issues making it.

            • toynbee@lemmy.world
              1·
              2 months ago

              This is certainly more detail than I expected at all, let alone almost a month later.

              Thank you for taking the time to respond.

              • Fondots@lemmy.world
                1·
                2 months ago

                Yeah, I kind of ended up here accidentally while scrolling through someone else’s comment history. Thought about not commenting since this thread is a few weeks old, but I figured I have some thoughts and Lemmy can always use more activity in general.

                Also I do want to say that while there are some different concerns with driving a pickup truck vs other types of vehicles, 99% of the time it’s not all that different than driving any other car, it’s just that for that 1% of the time it really pays to know what you’re doing and take a little extra care.

                And for all my words, my personal biggest concern with people driving trucks (rented or otherwise) is people not securing their loads properly, which is totally independent of weather. If I could add one thing to school curriculums it would be how to use a ratchet strap.

                • toynbee@lemmy.world
                  1·
                  2 months ago

                  No worries, at least from me, about reviving a dead thread; I appreciate the engagement.

                  If you scroll through my comment history, you’ll find a few comments about my previous vehicle, a Ford Flex. One of many reasons I miss it is that it had hauling capacity plus enclosure (I’m aware you can get covers for most if not all US pick-up trucks). One time I confidently transported a queen sized mattress within it, for example; every one of the few times I’ve tried to transport anything in an uncovered pick-up I’ve spent the entire drive checking whether the load was still in the bed, but that was never necessary in what was essentially a large minivan.

                  I think, in the case of the Home Depot truck, I ended up renting a U-Haul (or equivalent) instead.

  • Raiderkev@lemmy.world
    7·
    3 months ago

    I recently was scrolling through doordash or Uber eats and saw that Home Depot was a choice. Out of genuine curiosity, I went and looked at if they had lumber for sale. Sure enough you can buy 4x4s that are 20 ft long. I was very tempted to try and order one to see what the doordash driver would even do with it.

  • jqubed@lemmy.world
    61·
    3 months ago

    Are these AI? Or really terrible image compression?

    Separately, bottom left looks like it would start a fire if they drive long enough dragging that wood on the pavement!

  • Rose Thorne(She/Her)@lemm.ee
    5·
    3 months ago

    Just get a buddy to sit in the back with a hand on it, maybe give it a good “ain’t goin’ nowhere” while they give it a pat.

    Seems to work for all the construction crews in my area.

  • Miles O'Brien@startrek.websiteEnglish
    4·
    3 months ago

    I got to dodge some lumber on the way to work the other day.

    It was going from rear driver side window to front passenger window, sticking about 3ft into my lane. The driver was “holding” about 20-30 2x4s.

    Fun times.