Overland Transport - Leonard "Rocky" Clark

[Dartanyon]

This is going to be a long shot. I'm also not sure if it is the proper place to ask the question, so I apologize in advance if it belongs in another topic.

I'm having a serious issue with the trucker we hired to move our Norseman 447 from Tampa to Seattle. He was due on the 1st of June and has continually professed to be a couple days away. As it is now six weeks late, I'm looking to find any other folks that have had dealings with him. He was Recommended to us by Dudley Trucking in WA.

There will be a whole cautionary tale that results from this, so for the moment, let's try not to stray to far from the question. Have you had, or are you currently in any dealing with Leonard "Rocky" Clark out of Durant, OK, doing business as Trans US?

Thanks for your help!


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[Sailor647]

Be sure to post the whole story. This is an amazing tale of "boat owner beware!" Hang in there!!!

[Cheechako]

Uh Oh. There was a thread a few years back where a trucker held a boat hostage for more money. I think in the end it was just abandoned somewhere in Texas...?. A n447 isn't going to be easy to hide but....

[Dartanyon]

The boat is back under our control. There's a rather lengthy post going over on SA, that'll I'll try to paraphrase here, and I assure you a longer post is coming.

Trucker ran out of funds, said "send more and I'll come". I said no, but I'll fly down to Oklahoma, follow the boat and fill the tanks. That's what I've been doing since last Thursday. Boat is on the trailer at the Oregon-Washington border being held up on trailer condition issues (brake trouble) and can't move until the brakes are fixed. That was as of 3PM on Tuesday (yesterday as I write this). I'm headed back over, if the repair guys can find parts.

[Cheechako]

Wow, this has been going for quite a while. Sorry it happened to you. I guess it is getting more and more common now with truckers... not just boats. I've seen a couple news stories on it with truckers holding people's entire household stuff hostage ... who are moving across country etc.
It seems there ought to be a way to document it all/video etc and get them prosecuted.

[FlightPlan]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Uh Oh. There was a thread a few years back where a trucker held a boat hostage for more money. I think in the end it was just abandoned somewhere in Texas...?. A n447 isn't going to be easy to hide but....

Similar story for me: Sent the 82 foot mast to Tampa from Bradenton to be painted. It required an escort and permit. A firm price was quoted for a round trip, but when it was time to return the mast to Bradenton, the trucker wanted more money which more than doubled the quote. He already had the mast on his truck. What was I to do? I paid.

[Dartanyon]

Flight. That was this trucker?? Rocky? When was this?


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[FlightPlan]

Originally Posted by Dartanyon

Flight. That was this trucker?? Rocky? When was this?


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I can't say because it was convoluted with the Snead Island Boat Works and JSI in St. Petersburg the painter. They actually got held up and passed the cost to me.

[Celestialsailor]

Is this guy that has your Norseman 447 an independent? If so, I had a real winner. I transported from NY to Ca. The yard that decommissioned the mast and stowed it on deck. The trucker had carriers on the side of his lowboy but was in such a hurry, said screw it. The roller furler drum bobbled all the way to Ca., bending the foil at the drum. Of course he said it was always that way. He also throw loose gear in the lazerette's, on top of the solar panels, smashing all the glass.
Shame on me that I never got copies of his insurance. In the end I gave up pursuing them.
I used Dudley and had fairly good luck with them other than a small gouge in my sitka spruce mast. They offered to pay for it but I just did a little repair myself and let them off the hook.

[Cheechako]

I've only trucked twice. Both times there was some damage that should have been obvious if the trucker was paying attention and inspecting his load. They did pay both times, sometimes you cant fix things 100% though.
Dudley and Associated Boat Transport seem to have good rep's.