SO HOW HARD IS it BEING A FLATBEDDER

Not a problem, it's all in fun and I know it. Enjoy your Wensday night and have a few for me..

 

Thanks pal

 

Wish I was home drinking too many beers :/ I'm out here taking money for doing #### near nothing.

Thats how how hard flatbedding is today for me.

 

I have respect for all you flatbedders.I did it for 3 months and hated it.Just to clarify before someone gets offended,driving no but the tarping yes I didn't like because I couldn't do it.It's not for everyone.For me it was hard work fighting those steel and lumber tarps.I personally think you guys should receive all the pay to tarp and pay to untarp.But on the flip side I never had to wait to get unloaded.But sometimes when hauling shingles I had to wait to get loaded.

 

Hey Carl, how are you feeling? Got news that one of my crew had a heart attack this morning on a blade run.

 

Decades ago, I was pulling a reefer, 25% of gross, company schmuck. Had to sit and wait 48 hours to unload 3 pallets of cooking oil in Lakeland,FL. Then the company wanted me to zigzag back up and pick up produce. Takes 3 days to get half a truckload. And the stuff was C-H-E-A-P.

Van drivers have been getting beat on for so long that they all think that black eyes and a sore Uranus are positives. Thing is, it's only van drivers. When someone asks about flatbed companies that hire rookies, people mention Melton, Maverick and TMC. Bottom of the barrel companies. But they're worlds better than the entry level van companies. Why? They have the same stupid owners, same stupid dispatchers going with the same stupid playbook, same stupid beancounters setting up the same stupid setup on detuned fleet trucks. But only van drivers get beat on and accept it.

If I wasnt running an open trailer, I would pull a tanker, an end dump, a bedbugger, a carhauler, a bullhauler ...ANYTHING other than a van. Yeah, I might get a black eye in a fight, but you can bet your bottom dollar that someone else got his eye tatooed too.

 

I know exactly what you're talking about,thats why I wanna get away from dry van and reefer completely.Other then the 3 months yrs ago with SMX all I have ever done was van and reefer im long over due for a change.Have an interview Monday with a tanker company.

 

I think it's fairly hard, but you might want to ask the 90% who come into this line and are back out the door within a year. I love a challenge and that's what you get. The road is actually the biggest challenge out here, all the people you have to deal with. Once they are in the rearview I can forget them and move on.

 

Flatbedding is not necessarily hard but more time consuming. Fooling with the straps and tarps will eat up a lot of your time. I drive local flatbed bed everyday, but I very rarely have to tarp. The only time I tarp is when it looks like it may rain, and I am carrying something that can't get wet. But I personally enjoy what I do, you have to be careful and not damage the load with your straps, especially stuff like Gypsum (Sheetrock/Drywall). Coils can be especially dangerous, i'm sure you have seen and heard horror stories of coils coming off truck and killing innocent drivers on the road, or the truck driver. I've hauled several coils and I always over secure them. Anyway, is flatbedding hard? If you are lazy then yes it will be hard for you..If you don't mind a little work, then no.

 

I traded hauling live turkeys from the farm to the plant for flat bedding. I am not longer afraid to look up while standing next to my trailer. And if I forget to wear a hat one day it's no big deal. My body is soar some days. I enjoy it.