Old guys and Flatbeds

The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees to perform work.
If a step ladder is all that you may need in order to perform the work, they should be able to make that happen. Having a ladder is not uncommon, lots of drivers carry them, I have one.

 

If you can climb a ladder and get on top of the load I don't see the issue. If I need to get on top of a load that's more then about waist height, im getting my ladder out. I don't see any need to "pull my self up" on to a load. That sounds like a good way to fall and get hurt.

 

I have a 6ft ladder with me at all times and use it frequently. With a squared off load of lumber I put it on top of my cat walk so I can get on top of my load to tarp.

 

It ain't rocket science.....you'll catch on.

 

Good luck……

 

When I jumped back in the seat in 2018 I had never dealt with E-logs. My best advice is don't treat it like the enemy! Use it as a tool. I found it was easier to deal with than "writing stories" in a log book. Once comfortable with the company specifics of whatever system they are using, I love it! No coming around the corner to an open scale sign and "filling your drawers" because you haven't written the last chapter in your "travel story"! It also keeps dispatch from asking you to imitate the Starship Enterprise when they, or another driver, fails to do their job right. Just plan your trips out and you should be fine.

JD

 

Never once have I been asked to demonstrate agility. If that were the case, a lot (most) of these quarter-ton drivers would be out of a job.

Those newfangled telescoping ladders are a godsend. Small enough to fit in the headache rack, tall enough to get on top of a lumber load.

 

Being old with a flatbed never bothered me much. What got to me was the lifetime of stress that this industry dishes out. Stress is a silent killer, I thought I handled the stress of trucking, It wasn't until I sold out that I realized the effect it had on me.

But the question of being old and dragging a flat. Not that big of a deal, a little exercise is good for the body