The Truckers’ Report flatbed Hall of Shame.

It takes less time to throw a few straps than it does to try and explain why you didn't if things go wrong.
You could lose everything you own, including your freedom, or you can tie down a load.
Only an idiot or a rank greenhorn can't see the obvious choice.

 

The Westerns had sides that rolled up to the top instead of front to back, and they had a tarp on the top. They were made for hauling chips one way and lumber back. When you closed the sides you had to use some of the winches to secure the bottom edge. Not sure what the load limit was, but they’d hold chips in.

 

The freight is still strapped in that pic, I wouldn't haul anything in any soft side without securement in it, I could care less what the rating of the soft side is. It literally takes me about 15 minutes to secure a load of steel on a flatbed, that's two chains for forward movement and usually 11 straps, when it's cold out like right now it is still less than thirty minutes when I get back in the truck I haven't sat long enough for my "break" to be over. Not strapping something when the securement is available is pure laziness, no matter how you look at it.

 

I was only showing the trailer, not the freight. I know guys that pulled them back in the day that would haul palletized stuff without strapping, but that’s it. Anything else got strapped. When the sides are down and strapped that trailer is really no different than a van. If it can hold a load of chips it can hold palletized stuff just fine.

 

Suppose a pallet of freight tipped over against the curtain. Even if the curtain did contain the load (which maybe it would for all I know), you would now be driving down the road with the side of your trailer bulging out. Kind of a red flag.

Also, it would present all kinds of problems when the time comes to open the curtain for unloading.

 

A load bearing curtain wouldn’t bulge out. They’re designed to contain a bulk product. If you’ve never seen one with the sides down it’s difficult to picture how they work. They don’t have normal buckles or a track for the curtain.

Where a regular curtain is tightened front to back and the bottom buckles are hooked to keep it from flapping around, load bearing sides have straps that go through a winch and are cranked down to hold the bottom tight. That’s why there are so many winches on both sides of the trailer. The guys that pulled the ones Cliff had would mark the winches that were used for the curtain so they knew which ones could be used for the lumber. Their straps also had no hooks because of the winches on both sides.

 

You would be surprised how strong the sides are. The technology is amazing. They look flimsy but aren't. When I was doing recovery we had synthetic cables and rigging that was insane. As long as you kept the Kevlar sheathing in place and protected it from chafing it would lift rail cars. Chemists and engineers really are heroes. What they do behind the scenes touches our lives daily.

 

So they have straps running top to bottom through the curtain? Is that how they accomplish it?

 

I should know as I've seen enough of them in passing, but I should probably keep my yap shut.