Gone Fishing

I've come to realize that tarping is exactly like fishing. On your way out to the lake there's no wind soon as you get ready to cast your line you've got 30 mile an hour winds and your in a spot where you can't get away from it. With trarping no wind till you get to the shipper soon as your parked and get your tarps unrolled on your load and get ready to start unfolding them over the load 30 mile and hour winds and you can't move the truck so you get out of the wind or get the wind to blow the tarp over the load wind always has to get under the tarp. Gotta love it.

 

LMFAO yea that's about how it went yesterday. My front tarp blew off as I was getting my tarp straps spent 30 minutes trying to fold it back up in 25 mile an hour winds. After I got it back on the trailer the forklift driver drove by and asked who I was cussing at on the phone. I just laughed and said my brother's wife she's been cheating on him. He goes yea she sure does sound like a you know what.

Critters Yea wouldn't be a good idea I'd go sailing away and probably land in california by the time I came down lol. Agrivates you at the time but you just gotta look back and laugh about it. I try to stay safe was more worried about getting a hurnia lifting them onto the trailer and then onto the load. Figure them steel tarps were probably 60-75lbs a piece.

 

Flats aren't all that bad just part of the job. Don't let it scare you away most of the time the shippers will at least lift the tarp up there for you so you don't have to lug the tarp onto the trailer. If it would've been 8ft drops and they wouldn't have lifted them up there for me I would've maken them take the whole load off. I complain about it more than most drivers when it comes to tarping I'm not really built for it. (5'10" 110lbs...probably 105 now been losing weight lately) so lifting and throwing around all that weight gets to be frustrating specailly when some drivers have the odasity to laugh at you lugging them around when you're my size. Just gotta take the good with the bad and get the job done. After yesterday I'm considering a change not because I don't enjoy running flat. I love it gives me a sense of accomplishment every load having to secure everything and make sure it's safe. And there's also a sense of pride when it comes to tarping. My tarp jobs usually aren't the prettiest but they don't sit there and flop in the wind or balloon which makes you proud especially when you pass a truck that has straps over the tarps or a tarp ballooning in the wind. I did have the passenger side front corner come untucked yesterday I seen that it was going to come untucked when I was putting the last couple tarp straps on and got preoccupied moving my truck so another driver could get out and forgot about it. Didn't flap just hung off the trailer for about 130 miles till I finally found a safe place to pull off and stop. Didn't feel to good about it and my pride took a hit but at least it was a tarp and not part of the load. All and all it's not a bad job but I've just about had it with this crap of brokers lying telling my dispatcher one thing and me another. Should get used to it but you don't mess with my family you know she's doing her best to keep us running and they twist things around. This is about the 6th time I've had a broker call a customer and tell the customer when I'm going to be there BEFORE I even had the load strapped let a lone tarped. Showed up last night and it took me 2 hours to tarp after screwing around yesterday had the tarps off in a matter of 5 minutes and the customers looking at me like what took so long to tarp it? Just happens just smile and appologize and get the job done that's about all you can do. Don't get me wrong it's a fun job and it'll keep you in shape for sure but I don't like running for 2.00-2.50/mile when lately that 2.00-2.50/mile could cost me $10,000 in fines and 6 months in the state pen for falisfying my duty status to get their crap off my trailer. I ended up showing 14 hours yesterday 10.75 driving, and 3.25 on duty not driving and logged 592 miles. When in all reality I had 19.5 hours and 752 miles driving. Just rethinking everything and god forbid we pay more than $15 to tarp something. Just gets frustrating sometimes.

 

That's too easy lol. That's usually what I do. Yesterday I pulled the tarp over on the drivers side unrolled the side that the wind was out of and started unrolling the other without tying down the side with the wind. got it half unrolled realized what I did hopped down just got my side box open and heard the tarp blow off guess the wind caught part of the tarp and it pulled it enough to slide it all off. It does work well though. Folding them in the wind ALONE is probably worse than tarping in the wind. I refolded mine today folded one backwards had to roll it up and throw it on the trailer and fold it on the trailer to get it in the toolbox. I agree with AZS I HATE WIND UNLESS IT'S A TAIL WIND! 75mph flatland with a 30mph tail wind and only 2lbs of boost in the big hole...hello good fuel economy even though I lost it all coming back lol