Why would anyone want to pull flatbed trailers?

Then the shipper can find someone else to pull that trailer. I’ve pulled trailers before that I’ll admit I shouldn’t have; or I should’ve gone immediately somewhere to have them fixed. Fortunately, the worst one was only missing a mud flap and part of the dot bumper.

I’ve gotten better at identifying trailers that need to be fixed immediately. I’ve also picked up preloaded overweight trailers; I didn’t continue on my merry way after scaling, I went back and had the shipper rework the load and got detention based on my original arrival.

edit: ####, I just realized I left my spare mud flap under my bed on the truck. If I’m out for more weeks I’ve got to get the rest of my stuff to be safe.

 

So in order for your anecdotal evidence to be true, then his must be false.

Just cut to the chase, and tell him he's full of ####. No need for kid gloves. We all know what you're thinking. Or you could set the shovel down for a minute, and stop digging the hole.

Look at it from our point of view - many flatbedders could never bring themselves to pull a van for the very reasons you find it attractive. Just like many van haulers could never bring themselves to pull a flatbed for the very reasons we find it attractive. For example, I could never sit at a dock, waiting for some minimum wage schmuck to stop browsing Facebook long enough to give me a door. I get stir crazy just trying to take a 30. Flatbedding is freedom to me.

 

Hey, don't lump us all with him. I am and know many door slammers that will gladly go out of our way to get the job done.

 

There are many that will. Problem is, you're outnumbered ten thousand to one, and thus stereotypes are born. Like the guy on the way to town today. Panther dry van. I guess he didn't want to get "stuck" behind two school buses, so he yanked it into the left lane at a stop light so he could be first in line. Then he got his ### handed to him by both buses, and a line of pissed off traffic, all because he's a selfish dick head, and doesn't mind adding to the cliche. I turned to my wife and said: "See, that's why everyone hates truckers."

 

Man he was trying to be expeditious. Panther is an expediting company. Don't you know, he's got #### to do. Ain't nobody got time for that. /s

 

When I saw him pull it to the left lane, I thought he was an expediting straight truck. But it was just a dry van being pulled by an old shaker. Even rolled a little coal. Problem is, the truck wasn't near as fast as the owner thought.

 

I suspect what many of us do is when we see a car approach an intersection we just assume they’re going to pull out. In anticipation of that we begin to slow down, and are already in the process of shaving speed off and when they do pull out we’re down to 45-50 instead of hammer down with the cruise still set at 65.

You learn different driving habits as you begin to pull different trailers and haul different products.

I had over 1 million miles at the flatbed company I drove for. No accidents. No “shifting” loads. Lots of drivers are safe and attentive and don’t cut corners when it comes to securement.

If you find yourself constantly in hard braking events due to cars maybe it’s time to reevaluate some of your own driving habits.

 

IMO. Flatbed teaches you better driving habits. Van drivers drive the truck, we drive the “load”