New driver here - flatbed question

Flatbed sucks sometimes especially during the winter and bad weather. Or like last week. Rain every single day. Rain jacket and rain pants keeps you dry. Still beats sitting in a dock.

 

Flatbedding isn't hard at all. Everywhere I have ever loaded ever that required 8ft tarps has put them up for me. I've never carried my 8ft tarps farther than one side of my trailer to the other. I have put up my 4ft myself most of the time. However, the forklift guy almost always asks to help. The hardest thing I do is throw straps over a tall load in the wind and hope I don't bounce them of the side of the load....lol.
So, the forklift puts up the tarps, I unroll them, and Bungee it. Big deal. It's not the same as walking back 60ft to open/close doors then sit on fat ### until someone else is done in the trailer. I don't get why folks whine that this is hard. Frustrating .......sometimes, hard ....no.

 

Yes anybody that thinks flatbed is hard work has never worked before.

 

Yeap, problem is, that is the majority of folks these days.

 

Most of them don't even have enough upper body strength to move their turn signal switch. And there's the "I need an automatic cause a clutch makes my knee sore." Like seriously?

Remember when you was lucky to get rack & pinion steering and a spring assist clutch? Then they came out with the air powered windows, man we thought that was something.

 

Hold on, you have rack and pinion Steering? I have the airpower windows....not that I use them.

 

At one time, actually a couple times, years ago. You had to be big time to get power steering. My first truck was a binder with armstrong steering. Old flattop with a crawl in coffin sleeper, 350 Cummins and 9 sp Eaton I think it was. Don't ask what model international it was, I don't remember.

 

I drove a Mack b model for awhile. Horrible experience, I don't recommend that. The r model wasn't much better. They rode like crap, made alot of noise and didn't get anywhere very fast.

 

ha! My first truck I drove was a 2 axle spring ride peterbilt day cab with no ac no power anything and 350 Cummins with a 13 spd

used to pray for a bump or pothole just as I was turning to bounce the front end up to get that “easy steering”

cured me of all peterbilts there after

 

Yeah, used to be a new driver didn't start off with luxurious accommodations like A/C and air ride or power anything. Those trucks were reserved for the experienced hands that had proven they wouldn't tear #### up.