Which Division, Van, Flatbed Or Reefer?

I recommend flatbed; let me just say, that I have never pulled a flat, but I have pulled reefer and van. Flatbed offers you varied freight, which you will have to secure, whereas van and reefer freight will rarely need to be secured in any special way- unless you haul something like tractors in a van, then they will be blocked in with nailed in wood blocks and 2x4s.

And if you find that flatbedding isn't for you, you can make the move to van very easily (just need to get used to sliding tandems) or reefer, which has its own quirks: You need to 'pulp' produce (check its temp to make sure it's not hot), get washed out after hauling meat (esp chicken), make sure (if you D+H) that your trlr's insulation is in good shape, along with the chute and the floor (and it's got fuel).

 

Vulcan, what is TAH? Time at home?

 

There is still team flatbed freight, just most of it is specialized in some way: For example, airplane engines, are hauled on dropdecks (usually a conestoga) and a lot of it is team.

There is also the option of driving for (gulp!) Prime, they do have teams running flats.

 

Hauling aircraft engines is a very specialized area, and very hard to get into. No company doing that takes on newer drivers. Machinery hauling or general flatbed freight companies take on new drivers.

 

Thanks burky, I should have made that clearer.

For new flat drivers (looking to team) Prime is the only one I know of, I am sure there are other ones out there.

 

The problem is that very little time sensitive freight moves by flatbed, and that is the primary reason for having a team operation. If the schedules don't require it, most outfits use a solo driver. Most time sensitive loads are carried in vans or reefers. The aircraft engines are a rare exception, and they use teams because of the value of the aircraft's time. When they need to have the plane parked for an engine change, they park it for as little time as possible due to the earnings potential of the aircraft. And they don't have spare aircraft just sitting on the lot they can throw into the flightplan for a couple of days while maint is being done on the other aircraft.