Flatbed drivers please respond

Flatbed work is mostly common sense. There are tricks of the the trade that you will learn with time. If your loading some thing and your not sure how to secure it ask other flatbedders there loading. Ask the forklift driver how most others secure it. Common sense will get you thru most any load securement problem.

 

Just what Heavy Dude said, common sense and after awhile of doing it and
watching others it becomes second nature. No company, or a half decent one,
will just throw you out on the road without showing you basic securement.

Different loads require different securement but it is all basicly the same. And like
he said if you don't know how to secure a load or not sure ask other drivers who
are there or a forklift operator and they can tell you how others do it.

I think the concensus would tarping is one of the harder jobs with flatbedding.

 

I pull a Heavy Haul trl now and don't tarp much any more but, I when I see a tarp thats tight and right I think to myself:Nice job!

 

Yeah I pull mainly a step deck, but I also pull a regular flat, and a stretch flat.

Most everything I haul is oilfield equipment and supplies so we don't tarp any
loads. I've been driving oilfield 3 yrs now and I"ve only tarped two loads and
that was for a friend hauling hay back from Arizona, hell I don't even carry tarps.

 

Work smarter not harder...I see to many handling tarps wrong and throwing straps awkwardly...if you use your body correctly, you dont neep a lot of strength. Keep your straps straight and tarps tight, dont look like a lazy idiot driving down the road with twisted straps and flapping tarps....DOT attention getter! BTW I love flat-bedding.

 

hardest part of the job? staying clean. Get used to being dirty, if you shower, they will just send you somewhere where you will be in a dusty lot wrestling with tarps in 95 degree heat.

how long does it take to get good at securing loads? pretty quickly for securement, tarping is the pain. strapping isn't that hard, once you find YOUR way of getting the strap across the top of the load.

tricks of the trade that i know. baby wipes are "almost" as good as a shower when you need to wipe the rubbed in grime off your arms.

cordless drills with allen keys in the chuck wind up straps FAST, better than the wire rod kinedyne ones.

if you aren't good at whipping the strap over a tall load, roll it up and throw it like a football, it works much better.

if you know you are going to go pick up rolls of paper for gypsum, roll your tarps, it makes it much easier when you are up there. everything else, such as lumber or drywall or shingles, its just as easy with folded tarps.

 

The worst part was folding up the non-lightweight 8' drop tarps in the middle of January. They never made it back into the tool box that time of year.

 

nope, all iced up, keeping the shape of the load. usually end up balled up on the deck with about 4 or 5 straps over it, hahaha....