question about companies

You have'nt lived till you get that wonderful chance tarping in the freezing cold and wind.I did flatbedding for 3 months.But if you have the right clothing which I did not,you should be ok..Also many of the customers will let you tarp inside.Then you get many cusomers that load and unload outside..But like I said with the right clothing that could make a world of difference.

 

I did flatbed for a couple of years and I loved it. I did not like the tarp part of it but after you do it a couple of times you get used to it and get into a routine of how to roll tarps and learn a couple shortcuts and it becomes easier each time. But it will keep you in shape. Just have the right clothes for the weather.

 

Had to tarp a high lumber load in freezing high winds single digit temps with 8ft drop tarps. Blew off my tarp 2 times. One of the hardest days I've had in my trucking career. I'm a pretty strong person but that whooped my butt. Trust me you'll have days like this. You won't get to pick where you want to go as a company driver. On a positive note if you like a little physical work and not sitting on your butt all the time it's job for you. Not all load suck but you get them.

 

Actually that's not true. I pull flatbeds about 75% of the time (the rest,van) and we don't tarp at all. If a load needs to stay dry we put it in a van. What do I haul?? New pallets. And love it every day. Straps are already thrown, we just have to tighten them down. Now when we pick up lumber on the way back to the plant we obviously have to strap ourselves, no biggie. But never thrown a tarp and never will. So look for a small company that doesn't need to tarp if you really don't like it and want flats. Our company has two plants, 10 trucks/drivers. I got on with them, they weren't advertising for a driver but I applied anyhow. Turns out they were wanting to add a new truck and driver. Luck had it, that was me. Brand new truck from day one. Look around, don't settle for mega carriers my friend. There are other options, you just have to hunt for them.

 

I am SO GLAD I looked before asking a question that has already been asked. Thanks for the info on Melton..

 

Another training company is Prime Inc they have Flatbed/tanker/reefer training programs for New folk and experienced drivers.