Loading unloading flatbeds dangers, tips, tricks and procedures

That's it, great place to load and fast. I also loaded jumbo sacks of lime in Henderson, NV. That was some nasty stuff to load and had to be tarped. When I got done tarping I was white as a ghost.

 

Never loaded there.

Super sacks are a pain for any product, no matter whats inside.

For some reason was loading Moly in them out in NM. for a long time, going to Long Beach port. Yep a full tarp too. Nasty.......No showers for 100 miles.

 

I only loaded their once and it was late evening before I got loaded and it was like August and still over 100 degrees at 8pm. I was so tired, sweaty and dirty when I got done I drove south to that Railroad Pass casino and got a room.

 

Yea but what if you wear a size 16 boot like i do there not real easy to come by lol

 

commen sense goes along way,something alot of people dont have anymore

 

I just loaded I-beams last week and no one but me used choke chains. I had 2 layers and used 4 chokers. 1 front, 1 rear on 1st layer and same on 2nd. I cranked the 2nd layer together a good inch and a half. The bottom layer was tight.

THEN I started throw chains and straps over the top.

Everyone else just tosses some chains over the top and thinks it's good.

I thought about mentioning choke chains to the guys near me but figured I'd just get a stupid look.

 

always let the customer unload there freight unless its a drive off machine ,all you do is unstrap or un chain and stand back out of the way.let them do there job!

 

"I think I'd still like to have some experience doing flatbed. Just not make a habit of it."

If you ever flatbed, and like it, you won't want to do nothing else..

 

Dont you love how those guys who just throw the chains have them spaced out about every 8 or 10 feet. I guess those must be those "super truckers" I hear so much about LOL. Morons.....

 

always keep your head to the side when loosening a snap binder.....I can tell ya personally, it in no fun to get smacked like that when the binder pipe slips off.

instead of wrapping a chain around the pocket and hooking it into the pocket, hook it back into the chain above the pocket. That way you have more adjustment if you are using snap binders, you can take 1/2 a link up or give 1/2 a link to get the binder down.

make sure you wear good oil resistant work boots. I used to haul bars and tubing out of Republic steel in Massilon, Ohio and the last thing they did after they loaded the trailer was spay the load with oil. Needless to say, the load was a skating rink to work around and if I had been wearing cowboy boots or sneakers I would of probably fallen on my butt many times.