Any Downsides Pulling a Conestoga?

The Fastrak system by Tarpstop.
http://www.tarpstop.com/fastrack_rolling_tarps/fastrak_web.pdf

 

$500 option, when I speced a Fast Trak from Tarp Stop.

 

If you want more load availability I would get a flat, Mercer is first and foremost a flatbed company, not a stepdeck or conestoga company. You get to spending some time on the load board and you will see why.

 

One other drawback. We had a Transcraft trailer with a Quickdraw tarp system at my last employer. We hauled bundles of aluminum extrusion. If the load should happen to shift, or lean, it is near IMPOSSIBLE to open the tarp system to rectify the situation. And if the supports, rollers, etc, should get bent or tweaked, then it makes the rolling tarp hard to move, or it causes it to hang up. Errant forklift drivers banging the side of the trailer, where the track is, didn't help either.
I don't know how you would pull a trailer down the road with the tarp open, the tarp bunched out, and you couldn't use your mirrors.

 

Conestogas make ur width around 108 to 109 inches wide. This is allowed by the DOT because it is a tarping device. If it is not being used as a tarping device then you would be over width.
loaded with a guy a couple of months ago who pushed his all the way forward, used straps to secure it and put a container behind it. If he would of ran into the wrong DOT guy he would of been in trouble.

 

No its still considered removable.

I have one and I went from a sidekit to a Quick Draw tarp, I went from 32,500lbs to 32,700lbs for my lightweight. Mine is only the 7' and my trailer is a 45'x96". now it is 102" with tarp.

 

Read the regs, instead of guessing.

 

Run open option pulls the folds in, not out.

 

If you frequently load at places with a 3-sided dock (Alcoa in Massena, NY...Tamko in Frederick, MD to name a couple), you may want to avoid the Conestoga. Tamko in particular has a 105" wide dock that can be a real bear trying to squeeze a 102" trailer into.