The Truckers’ Report flatbed Hall of Shame.

I got rear/ended by another truck in the old days of being able to X 2 chains on each coil and all the chains snap but on the rear coil I had put a 4in strap across Bev. wood to keep tarp from flapping and the wrecker driver had to use a axe to cut that strap and that was all that kept coil from hitting the road off the back of trailer?

 

What kind of roads are you driving on that your coils are flexing?

 

Ur right i do go by what looks good to me. A strap is always going to break easier than a chain will. Like i said its just my opinion not saying its right or wrong

 

You don't use extra securement in case the others break, you put stuff together and it works together.

A coil in a rack does benefit from direct downward pressure the same way any other load does, it helps to prevent the coil from rolling up over the dunnage and it helps provide additional downward force increasing the effectiveness of the rubber mats preventing sliding.

I always threw one strap over every coil, it helped secure it and held my edge protection in place while moving the tarp.

I always loved when someone told me I should never use straps on steel, it told me I was talking to someone who couldn't use their brain and just mindlessly repeated drivel they had previously heard.

Somehow no one could ever tell me how the straps were going to hurt anything.

 

It is not about straps hurting anything.. It is about them things can break at anytime... hey i dont wanna get into the straps vs chains debate , its a topic beat to death for hundreds of years.. And yes i do put an extra chain or extra strap when i get that voice in my head. U never know when its gonna save ur life

 

Chains can break too, in fact straps have a higher wll than 5/16 g70 chain. If they are protected from cutting straps can be just as effective as chains.

Normal flat straps do not do well at angles, they are designed to pull down, not so much forward or backwards. Chains do well at pulling towards the front or back, though they can do the straight down pull just as well.

 

Indiana and Michigan.

 

Hey by all means do what u do. Ive had enough straps get cut even with edge protection that i dont trust them. Never had a chain break . There aint one way to flatbed , just because we do things different or have different opinions doesnt mean either of us is right or wrong. As long as we get it down the road safely and legal is all that matters

 

Im not trying to pick on you bud. You remind me of young me where cosmetics ruled my life. I hope you take it more as a helping hand than as a criticism of you, when i say that it was a mindset that cost me a lot of heartache.
As you get grayer, what other people think of what youre doing will matter less.


But boy i sure had a lot of great fights with a lot of hot women!

 

The old saying that it takes steel to haul steel has stuck with me from day one. When I hauled aluminum, I'd use straps over the top, but that was just to keep from marring the finish. Steel is a whole different animal and you will never see straps on my wagon when hauling it. Matter of fact, I only have one four inch strap in my trailer and it was for belly wrapping steel bars when I hauled them. I don't even have winches on my winch track. Lol