Van O/O to Flatbed

Swift does a 5 day securement class for o/o and van guys with experience, they sell you and install anything you need at a fair price, headache/boxes/all equip. You use their company trailers. The rate is low, $1.40-$1.50 with fsc, but a good way to get experience I suppose.

 

Driver a lot of load securement is common sense. And when in doubt as mndriver said more securment is needed. Knowing where to secure without damaging the load just comes with time. And knowing how tight things can be without bending comes with time as well. It all just takes time and common sense. Naturally if you have a 50000lbs of pipe on stacked 4 tiers high you don't want 5 straps all over the top. Common sense would tell you the other layers can slip or shift because they're not secured. The oddball loads are what cause the most problems. Things that shouldn't be put on a flatbed for convienence of loading. Also remember there's a lot more to check when running a flatbed you have to make sure everything is tied down. And you have to make sure somebody didn't stick something under or over something else that you didn't notice that can fall off. Always make sure if there are doors that they are locked and they are secured from coming open. Make sure nothing can catch wind and be ripped off etc etc. Some people make a big deal about flat bedding being complicated on load securement but its really not. The hardest part of flat bedding is the time it takes on your body not load securment.

 

I too pulled a van my entire career, until making the switch. Like everyone is saying its a lot of common sense. Get the securement regulations book and read it and understand it!! Look at flatbed loads in the truckstops. If you see the driver out of the truck ask him if you have a question. If I can do it you can too.

 

Ridgerunner,

The Bill you speak of is BigBadBill of Farm2Fleet. Many people on this site are leased on to his company. I would look him up on this site and ask away. He is a nice guy and would be willing to point you in the right direction.

KH

 

F2F is a good place to cut your teeth and figure out what you want to do.

If dry box / flatbed is what you want in the end, it's as good a place as any to call home. You pretty much have free run to do what you want. As little or as much.

He'll help you get a trailer, fuel card etc. May just be as easy to google the website for the number and call them sometime.


I used to be leased there, learned some stuff, then bought a reefer here last February. He doesn't do reefer so I found a new home.

 

flatbedding can be a joy sometimes. you get to actually learn something besides pulling a trailer.

on the downside. your out in the weather. either freezing your butt off. or sweating your butt off. or playing in the rain. or the wind.

tarps are a real joy in the winter. so are your straps and winches if you roll through a cold storm.

i'm not looking forward to playing on the east side. with all teh humidity. but as long as i'm not tarping. it'll be fun to get away from the west.