Am I Cut Out For Flatbed?

If you have to ask...

 

It's only as hard as you make it, I've seen 65yr olds throwing tarps still. You have to have the mind set for the job, you gotta wanna do it. You'll either hate it or love it there's only one way to find out. I've been doing it for yrs along with oversize and still enjoy it.

 

Critters is right, you have to have a "get it done" attitude, you'll be outside strapping/tarping in all kinds of weather, rain, snow, heat, humidity, wind and sometimes a mix of those. Sometimes you'll strap and tarp multiple times a day. But no matter what, the job has to get done.
The only way to know for sure is to get out there and do it. For me, open decking is the only type of trucking that ill ever do.

 

Flatbed work is only rewarding when you do it with your own truck.
I will never ever tarp a load of freight for $50 Not even if I was 600 Pounder flounder I need to loose weight or die
When you tarp or have to do more work It Better be so you can put more money in your Pocket Not someone else
and the responsibility for shredding your tarps is yours Do you want to pay for tarps out of your check?
How a bout damage? tighten your straps around a load of drainage pipe & see what happens.
Try and tighten your straps around a load of crates like a load of house hold crates Tighten too much & you just busted the Box,Tighten a little & your Crates will end up on the hwy
What about those Steel Mills waiting all day without pay ( Part of the job? )
What about when they tell you the load weigh is 48,000 but when you scale the crap it is more Like 51,000 you really think you can Slide your Axel?
Wana try & Haul a Load of onions? & feed the critters all a cross I-80 I-40 & they say Can you haul (scale 900 bags driver)?
And you say how much wight is a bag of onions Boss & the lying sack of doo doo looks you in the eye and say the bags weigh 50 pounds each
They don't make onions in a Man Made Factory you know so when you are hauling 900BagsX50 LB = 45,000 right?
What if you ended up hauling 55 Lb Bags X900 Bags now you are talking 49,500 LB OOOOOOOOOO SSSSSSSheeeeeeeets over gross
But you try to go back to the shipper to take some off right?
Guess what it is after 5 pm and they went home better yet its Friday & it's a 4 day weekend
10/10 trucker friend need to lose wight or set in your crate @ The Chicken House
Hello Come in

 

I'll do nothing but tarp all day for 50 bucks a pop. I'll even untarp it for free.

 

You have a conestoga, huh? I'd be right there with ya!

 

I am thinking of flatbedding also. I have found a lot of stuff for trucking on your tube. Some are fairly long, you might give you tube a try

go to you tube and type in flat bed trucking are what ever your trying to look up there is a good chance someone has posted something.

 

i agree you will either love it or hate it, i love it and I am only 5'1" tall I have modified release hooks to hold bungees to place on tarp, although you cannot ever have a lazy day it could cost someone's life if not your own. you will have good days and bad like any other job. I like it because I will never be that fat driver in the truckstop, although it does suck when the tarp and straps are frozen to the load and weigh fifty pounds heavier due to the ice build up/rain. but like critters said you will either love it or hate it. the pay is better than dryvan, just remember there are no walls to help keep load on trailer, only you and how you secure the load keep it there, Although I will not haul coiled steel, no matter how tight i put the chains never tight enough, plate steel and slinkies are no problem. you just have to secure correctly, I have seen lately a lot of incorrectly secured loads and you try to help the people and they think your over cautious, or crazy. just remember your responsible for that load and the damage you may cause for not proper securement