It still looks great for a guy who just started. I also agree with Notarps. Like our safety guy says it only takes one rookie DOT officer to cost you money for something like bunggie's only around lumber sticks across landing gear bars. On my headache rack there is a spot for a ladder to slide into.

Yeah; don't get me wrong I didn't make that sound like I intended to. Not a bad tarp job at all. I have had loads that looked worse. Seems like sometimes you seem how to forget how to tarp and need a remedial tarp class..

__________________
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

GOOD LOOKING TARP JOB!!!--looks like its shrinkwrapped or painted on, And almost all of the bungees are INSIDE the rub rail !!! Bravo, Bravo. Golf clap even (ever so softly) *clap, clap, clap* I've seen drivers that have worked for years with worse looking tarp jobs. I've never met or spoken with RC but a pic is worth a thousand words. One can tell he takes pride in his work and likes to do a good job. I'm proud to have him as a coworker.

I saw RC wife's post/pic before yours. Another great looking tarp job. Gotta love when the D-rings go right down to the rub rail. I did a swap with an older driver who didn't like when drivers hooked inside the rub rail cause it hurt his arthritis to take them off. Never thought about it until he mentioned it. I then suggested when removing the bungees from such a tarped load, inside the rub rail, that the driver removing the bungees should take the hook off from the D-ring 1st rather than from off the rub rail. I myself hook inside the rub rail as much as possible and had never removed them the way i suggested. We both tried removing a couple of bungees the way i suggested, from the D-ring first, and were amazed on how much easier it was!!! and without the annoying knuckle pops!!!

If anyone could give me some detail on the specialized side of maverick i would appreciate it.... Thanks in advance, cactus jack

Latest update.

Redcoat made his way to Waverly, OH, without incident and got in line at the consignee to be offloaded the next morning. He was 4th in line and in the morning it worked out because they take groups of 4 trucks at a time. He got his lumber tarp folded without too much trouble and hoisted it up onto the trailer bed. Bad idea. He almost busted a nut doing it so he knows better next time.

His next dispatch was to bounce to Aurora, IN to pick up a load headed to Darlington, SC, and this trip shall be known as "The Tire Trip."

Made it to the shipper in good time and got loaded. While he was maneuvering the truck in the yard, someone noticed that one of his inside tires on the trailer was flat. That meant he had to call breakdown to come out and see about the tire. Turns out there was something wrong with the valve stem and after replacing it, they aired up the tire and Redcoat was good to go. Unfortunately, he lost 4 hours of driving time messing around with the tire and didn't get back on the road until 1500.

He made it to a Pilot on I-40 in Tennessee and spent the night then got up early to see if he could make it to the consignee by noon. If he can't make the noon deadline, he has to wait until the next day to deliver.

When he started up the truck and pulled out, he got a warning light that one of his drive tires was low so he made the circle to get to the place to air up the tire. Once he was on the road, he kept an eye on it. He knew he had 111 psi in the tire when he left and normally the psi goes up in all the tires as they heat up but this one was staying right at 111. There is a slow leak somewhere. So now he is at a T/A on I-40 in North Carolina waiting for them to have a look at the tire to see if they can find where he's losing air.

So much for trying to make it to the consignee today. <sigh>

He is still waiting for his first complete dispatch without any drama but I say, "What's the fun in that?" Just kidding. Gotta have a sense of humor to survive.

__________________
It's not how bad you screw up; it's how well you recover.
Do or do not. There is no try. --- Yoda
All men are not homeless, but some men are home less than others. --- Henny Youngman
When you come to a fork in the road, take it. --- Yogi Berra
Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. --- Charles Kuralt

Liked reading your posts. I sure hope that Maverick does not turn out to be just another big otr company. I hope they take care of their drivers better than the last company did.

Good luck.

Breakdown pay at Maverick is $88 per day (24 hours)

Ah, good to know. RC probably already knew that but I didn't.

As it turned out, RC was delayed another 4 hours. This time it was a nail in the thickest part of the tread. RC was of the opinion that the tire could be fixed with a plug but the T/A mechanic said it needed a new tire. So now RC is hauling a tire around with him until he can get to a yard to drop it off.

Anyway, he made it to Darlington last night and checked in with the consignee. They told him where to go to spend the night and he had a devil of a time getting turned around. He saw a truck coming down a road and thought maybe if he went that way he could get turned around but ended up in a car parking lot instead (or as RC would say, a "carpark"). He couldn't see where the truck had come from so that was a mystery. Fortunately the parking lot was empty and he managed to get headed back the other way to the truck parking area. It was a roomy lot and he's supposed to monitor his CB at 0600 for the call to come in and unload.

He told me that while he was in orientation he was told that when backing up the trailer the front wheels were supposed to come up off the ground to make turning the trailer easier but so far he hasn't seen it happen yet. He had a look under the trailer and didn't see anything that would make it work. Can any of you shed some light on this subject for me? I'm probably not describing it right but I'm figuring y'all will know what I'm trying to say.

__________________
It's not how bad you screw up; it's how well you recover.
Do or do not. There is no try. --- Yoda
All men are not homeless, but some men are home less than others. --- Henny Youngman
When you come to a fork in the road, take it. --- Yogi Berra
Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. --- Charles Kuralt

Yeah, on a spread axle trailer, like Maverick has, there should be a "dump valve" located pretty close to the front axle of the trailer, underneath, mounted on the frame rail or possibly mounted on the front of the trailer near the air lines (gladhands). When he flips that valve, the air is released from the front axle and it then raises up off the ground to relieve the pressure it encounters when turning tight (u-turn or backing into a spot.) If he turns tightly enough, he can pop a tire, plus there is premature tire wear. Tell him to remember to flip it off when he is done turning.