Flatbed training?

Coming up on 5 years driving now. 3 as an owner/operator. I really enjoy where I'm at. I run under someone's authority for a set %.
With that being said, I've always had an interest in doing flatbed, just always ran vans. I talked to the "boss" and he is on board.

All the excitement training materials I have seen seem to be about 1-3 hours of material/classes. JJ Keller and such.

Is there really so little learning material, and it's mostly practical application? Or am I missing something?

 

I bought a flatbed, never pulled one in my life... I had a conestoga kit installed, so tarpping was not an issue. I taught myself, JJ Keller securement book so I would not run afoul of the law and hit the road. Never had any issues, just used commonsense and tended to over secure.

 

That's what I figured. Even places like TMC, and others, only seem to spend a couple hours teaching and a few days practicing...

 

I would say tarping properly is the big issue with flat bedding. The reason I bought the conestoga kit, which paid for itself in short order as I could secure very good rates. There are many products out the that cannot, or should not be tarped but need to be, that can only be hauled on a flat bed. I ran quite a bit of robotics and controls, along with some high dollar molds and tools. I could not haul over dimensional or other type things, but who cares when you get triple or more on the rate.

 

Is the Conestoga water tight? Can it be ran open?

 

It was 99.9% water tight, you may get some water at the very rear of the trailer in a hard driving ran, but not enough to worry about. And, I have seen guys run them open, but I had to much invested to do that. But yes, it can be done, but I would not recommend.

 

Here is the setup I had... Black with a clear roof. Flatbed Tarps

Very nice units, and their side rail system was indestructible, unlike other outfits which were easily damaged. You could hit the side of my trailer all day with a 2 ton forklift and it would not even scratch the rail the rollers ran on.

 

I know with vans, some companies get picky about trailer age. Like 5 years or newer.
Is flatbed the same?

What's the deal with spread axles?
Fixed vs one axle slide vs both sliding, etc

 

What did that cost?

 

Normally it is ten years for vans, GM is big on that. The spread is the only way to go on a flat, you can legally go up to 40,000 lbs back there, vs 34,000 with a tandem. Then you have aluminum, combo (steel frame/Aluminum deck) and all steel trailers. Depends on what you are hauling and budget. I went with a combo unit, as I was rarely at gross. Most of the stuff I hauled was expedite, lighter stuff, robotics, controls, car wash equipment, all sorts of odd ball stuff. I did quite a bit of LTL work with it too depending on where I was in the country. It was a money maker for sure. I could never have done what I did with a regular flat bed.