New respect

It's like bread & butter to some of us.

 

Hopefully you are in direct with the mills, because if you are getting the freight from brokers, that bread has mold and the butter is stale

 

I hit the thank button because I couldn't agree with you more.Those flatbedders work hard and deserve every bit of what the cust pays for tarping.But unfortunately they only receive a small fraction of tarp pay and the company gets the rest.I don't think they get any untarp pay and they should.

 

Was at the Petro in Amarillo, topping the tanks off for a vampire run. Flatbed pulls in next to me, mesh tarp. I pay it no mind until I noticed a bee on my shirt. SLAP! Dead bee. Then I notice bees all around flying towards the lights. Drivers started running, "I'm allergic to bees!" I was around to the passenger side tank. A kid wearing shorts and wifebeater is in the next aisle over, "Sorry driver. I will move out as soon as I can."

The next time you go to sleep with your windows cracked, and a cow truck or a reefer parks next to you, be glad it's not a bee hauler.

 

Flatbed Trucking is a hard job, but it will keep you in shape.

 

Maybe on a Wheaties box? Or maybe at least on a gallon of Shell Rotella?

 

Lumber has lumber slats under it when they load it. The trailer gets icy or wet, the lumber has a tendency to shift. I always hated to have to climb up on top of a high stacked load of lumber in zero degree weather and have to put those lumber tarps on.Especially if the wind was blowing! lol

 

the only lumber I haul any more is called dunnage

 

Hmmmm, not.
Maybe company drivers take it like that, but us owner op's get 100% of the tarp charge, which is normally pretty good for me.

Martin

 

The most difficult part is the transition period. Its much like reefer work, in that you drive like you have wine glasses back there,.. but once you learn the ins and outs, pick up some tricks of the trade,.. I promise,.. after 1 yrs you will look back and never want to go back to pulling a box ever again.

Winter time is the worse and most treacherous for flat bedding. Frozen straps,.. frozen chains,.. frozen deck,.. heck,.. frozen anything,.. it will freeze and it will suck beating the ice off.

Still,.. I prefer this over any other kind of trucking. Even tossing tarps gets easier. What used to take me 2 hours,.. I can now knock out in about 20 - 30 mins. The wind gusts still get the better of me from time to time while rolling them back up. Nothing a few bungees wont help.

I hear guys here all the time,.. work smarter not harder. Nothing is more true when it comes to flat bedding.

Hurst