The Prime Flatbed Thread

skellr · Mar 8, 2015

Worst load ever.

You see that little bit of snow there? The company delivering the lift to unload it shut down for the whole day because it snowed the night before. Oversize loads and single screws were out on the highway so it wasn't bad out... A day and a half later the fist stop comes off.

Then another stop shuts down for 5" of snow and half of the next day trying to melt the ice off their lot with a garden hose so they could drive the lift out on the sloped lot without sliding. Apparently they don't need rock salt in the "south".

Reycer · Mar 8, 2015

skellr said: ↑

Sure they are, maybe not always, but I wouldn't say they aren't. :smt064

Might need them for those tiny scissor lifts or small equipment from places like JLG. I know a full load of bobcats don't take that many and I'd hate to find out what does.
Click to expand...

Those JLG lifts take 4 chains and 2 straps.

Unless your getting those little ones, and they STILL don't require 20 chains

McCauley · Mar 12, 2015

You guys ever get one of those steel tubing loads that aren't squared off but are rather an assortment of many different sized tubes? God bless if you do or have.

First off, it takes almost three hours to get the load on because they overhead crane all of this assorted crap piece by piece. Came to find out this would be the least of my problems.

Imagine a box of dry spaghetti noodles when the noodles start coming out of the package and they are at all different lengths. That's what the front and back of my load look like. Getting on top of the load is like walking on a balance beam because the height variation going down the load is almost just as bad.

There's a lot of sharp burrs and thingies on the ends of the tubes from where the tubing is cut and it will chew right through your tarps. If you have a squared off load, you can put some moving blankets under the tarp at the front and back and that's great. If you have this load I have, you don't have enough moving blankets to do it. But the shipper provides rolls of plastic car draping that you can put over it!

The rolls are 70' x 26'....

So I throw this thing on top of the load, start walking the high beam and unroll it. It unrolls down the 26' length. I now get to spin it 90 degrees. Once I get it covering the load, I walk around the trailer with my knife cutting the ridiculous amount of slack off.

Time to throw my own tarps over top of it. It's now dark and raining, my tarps are very much full of tarp juice, snow even still rolled up in them from the last load. Get up on the high beam, which is now covered in the plastic draping, to start unrolling the tarps. Just a really dangerous thing and sure enough I stepped in a hole and #### near rolled off it.

I made a pact right then and there that I was switching to reefer, then I remembered I owed 3k on my flatbed equipment.

One way or another, tarps got rolled out. I hung up the sides. I'm not sure how the tarps on the front and back of the load got secured. I had the fury of a dozen burning suns at that point and it was an out of body experience. It's on there and it's on there good, I know that.

After I was done with everything, I was covered in tarp juice and mud and shame and didn't want to sleep in my bed until I could shower, so I slept in the passenger seat with my feet on the dash and my face on the window.

ironpony · Mar 12, 2015

McCauley said: ↑

You guys ever get one of those steel tubing loads that aren't squared off but are rather an assortment of many different sized tubes? God bless if you do or have.

First off, it takes almost three hours to get the load on because they overhead crane all of this assorted crap piece by piece. Came to find out this would be the least of my problems.

Imagine a box of dry spaghetti noodles when the noodles start coming out of the package and they are at all different lengths. That's what the front and back of my load look like. Getting on top of the load is like walking on a balance beam because the height variation going down the load is almost just as bad.

There's a lot of sharp burrs and thingies on the ends of the tubes from where the tubing is cut and it will chew right through your tarps. If you have a squared off load, you can put some moving blankets under the tarp at the front and back and that's great. If you have this load I have, you don't have enough moving blankets to do it. But the shipper provides rolls of plastic car draping that you can put over it!

The rolls are 70' x 26'....

So I throw this thing on top of the load, start walking the high beam and unroll it. It unrolls down the 26' length. I now get to spin it 90 degrees. Once I get it covering the load, I walk around the trailer with my knife cutting the ridiculous amount of slack off.

Time to throw my own tarps over top of it. It's now dark and raining, my tarps are very much full of tarp juice, snow even still rolled up in them from the last load. Get up on the high beam, which is now covered in the plastic draping, to start unrolling the tarps. Just a really dangerous thing and sure enough I stepped in a hole and #### near rolled off it.

I made a pact right then and there that I was switching to reefer, then I remembered I owed 3k on my flatbed equipment.

One way or another, tarps got rolled out. I hung up the sides. I'm not sure how the tarps on the front and back of the load got secured. I had the fury of a dozen burning suns at that point and it was an out of body experience. It's on there and it's on there good, I know that.

After I was done with everything, I was covered in tarp juice and mud and shame and didn't want to sleep in my bed until I could shower, so I slept in the passenger seat with my feet on the dash and my face on the window.
Click to expand...

Three hours, huh? I don't want to hear no mo biotchin' about long wait times at a door hooked to no reefer trailer no mo!

skellr · Mar 12, 2015

Tarps are made from the same stuff as a slip-n-slide.

thaistick · Mar 13, 2015

Any you guys running the Texas regional on company or lease side????

Reycer · Mar 17, 2015

thaistick said: ↑

Any you guys running the Texas regional on company or lease side????
Click to expand...

I ran it before training on the lease side. One of my former students is doing it now. Goes home EVERY weekend and still makes very good money.

bentbiker · Mar 26, 2015

Guys, I am headed to Sprimo to begin PSD 13 April. I am most interested in the flatbed side. I have a question. 1) Is there many people that team in flatbed? Reason for asking - right now there is a shortage of trucks in Sprimo and I definitely do not want to wait on a truck once I test out. Things could change from now to then, but my question still stands. The way I figure it, and I know you all will correct me if I am wrong, if there is someone willing to team for .17-.18 cents a mile and can make an average 5500-6000 miles a week, would not that be better than driving solo. The side benefit to me would be the extra experience I could obtain and obviously the upside to the experienced driver would be the extra miles and pay. I could even use someone as a referral if anyone is willing to accept the challenge.... Send me a PM on here if any of you are interested. And I know that it could work out that you are not in the area when it is time to test out, but I am willing to take the chance that someone will make the effort to request a trip through to pick up a TNT grad when the time comes....THANKS!

mx302dad · Mar 27, 2015

I will be in SpriMo on 4/13 as well.

n3ss · Mar 28, 2015

McCauley said: ↑

You guys ever get one of those steel tubing loads that aren't squared off but are rather an assortment of many different sized tubes? God bless if you do or have.

First off, it takes almost three hours to get the load on because they overhead crane all of this assorted crap piece by piece. Came to find out this would be the least of my problems.

Imagine a box of dry spaghetti noodles when the noodles start coming out of the package and they are at all different lengths. That's what the front and back of my load look like. Getting on top of the load is like walking on a balance beam because the height variation going down the load is almost just as bad.

There's a lot of sharp burrs and thingies on the ends of the tubes from where the tubing is cut and it will chew right through your tarps. If you have a squared off load, you can put some moving blankets under the tarp at the front and back and that's great. If you have this load I have, you don't have enough moving blankets to do it. But the shipper provides rolls of plastic car draping that you can put over it!

The rolls are 70' x 26'....

So I throw this thing on top of the load, start walking the high beam and unroll it. It unrolls down the 26' length. I now get to spin it 90 degrees. Once I get it covering the load, I walk around the trailer with my knife cutting the ridiculous amount of slack off.

Time to throw my own tarps over top of it. It's now dark and raining, my tarps are very much full of tarp juice, snow even still rolled up in them from the last load. Get up on the high beam, which is now covered in the plastic draping, to start unrolling the tarps. Just a really dangerous thing and sure enough I stepped in a hole and #### near rolled off it.

I made a pact right then and there that I was switching to reefer, then I remembered I owed 3k on my flatbed equipment.

One way or another, tarps got rolled out. I hung up the sides. I'm not sure how the tarps on the front and back of the load got secured. I had the fury of a dozen burning suns at that point and it was an out of body experience. It's on there and it's on there good, I know that.

After I was done with everything, I was covered in tarp juice and mud and shame and didn't want to sleep in my bed until I could shower, so I slept in the passenger seat with my feet on the dash and my face on the window.
Click to expand...

Sounds like bull moose tubing... Or any of the other tubing places, really... at any rate, it's onyl really fun when they give you a 8' tall load and you have to throw three tarps up on top of it.

Flatbed can be frustrating..stressful... physically exhausting... and a lot of fun. (usually at the same time)

Look on the bright side, you didn't cut yourself. I have a ~2.5" scar on my arm from a load of lumber...

Protip: buy some 'wet ones', baby wipes, and plenty of extra clothes so you can clean up when you can't get to a shower.

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