Tarping sucks!

I'll admit it turned out better then I thought it would. Still had the usual complainers in here but those that don't piss and moan about a little work prevailed.

Things are looking up!

 

I see drop decks, step decks, and lowboys! Flatbed loads are pretty easy to tarp, if you are hauling machinery at the same rates as lumber then you are getting screwed!
I pulled step deck/lowboy for a few years and when I had a machinery load I would just pull some carpet remnants out of the side box for softeners and tarp the load and go. Most of them loads paid real good, and that was a time in my career where I probably spent more nights in a motel than in the sleeper, because of the night time travel laws.
Basically: Flatbeds can haul OD loads which pay better than toilet paper loads, but you gotta be willing to crawl out from behind the wheel and do a little physical labor.

 

Sometimes tarping can be a pain, but most times I actually enjoy it. I look at it as much needed exercise, especially when it gets rough. Then theres that awesome feeling I have when the job is complete and looking good rolling!

 

get the smaller tarps, easier to manage and quicker to spread out and bungee down, and you'll save a bunch of time and hassle. the large OTR ones are a pain!

 

that would be all fine and dandy if companies actually reimbursed. but they usually don't.

sure, you'll see it on your paycheck. maybe after complaining for 2 months. but your paycheck is the exact same amount it always is. it just shows a reimbursement.

course, the smart guy would use his points instead of his cash.

working for small companies. and the office only works bankers hours. i once shelled out $300 for a used tire on a trailer. at 3 a.m. i did't feel like waiting till the office opened in the morning. or haveing the load an extra day becuase i wasn't going to get there in time if i had waited. which woulda meant spending the night. to unload the next day. instead of being back home that day.

THAT check had the reimbursement. but the overall amount was the same as it always is. and the pay for all the loads on that check. was smaller then usual.

if it wasn't for csa. i wouldn't spend my money for company maintanance and deal with reimbursements either. cuz you really don't get reimbursed.

i've had that scenario with 3 different companies

 

And so have I.... had one load that took 3 DAYS to pad and tarp.... ( 8 26' x 24' lumber tarps ) Just comes with the territory .. The payback was when I delivered and the end customer had followed me into their facility . asked me to not start untarping until they could get a video camera set up to document how they wanted their machines covered on future loads.

 

Sounds like if one was paid by the hour as a flatbed driver the complaints about having to tarp would go away.

 

Unfortunately in this industry that will never happen for many reasons.

1st the carrier has to give a rate to the customer and telling the customer that the line item for tarping is going to be $x.xx per hour will not fly. If the customer wants it broke down on the accessorial charges they want a set amount, not an open ended number. Much like per mile and fuel surcharge, those are both set numbers based on the miles the computer says it will be to get from point A to point B.

Now the exception to all of that is very specialized loads where it can take specialized tarps and many hours up to a day or more. Likely the line item for tarping is still a set amount but rates can be "permit routed miles", pilot/escort/high pole cars can be "actual +5%" and so on. We get paid hourly on specialized tarp jobs but there are those that abuse it and get bounced back to a flat rate - see below.

#2 the carrier has to control costs somehow and leaving an open door to hourly work is not going to fly. This industry isn't like a factory where there's a supervisor watching over productivity. If a company comes out and says that tarping pays $18.00 an hour there will be drivers that tarp a certain load in 1 hour then there will be others who will stretch the same tarp job into a full time, all day job. The carrier would have to cap the hours at some point which just penalizes the hard worker and basically makes it a flat rate for the guy/gal who stretches it out. The end result, the carrier comes up with a number and uses a very broad brush to set an amount for tarping. Some tarp jobs like a nice square load of lumber can be done relatively quickly and the driver who wants to work can make a decent hourly wage for tarping. Then there are the nightmare tarp jobs where the driver losses money tarping because it takes several hours to "properly" tarp the load.

I know someone will come along and say they can tarp anything in X amount of time and to them I say "good for you". I enjoy watching them blow by me with their tarps waving at everyone all the while shredding themselves.

Not long ago in this discussion someone commented they could tarp anything in less than 3 hours. Well I'm once again on a load that took me 5 hours and 36 minutes to tarp with help from the shipper. We had one of our "super tarpers" haul this load back in November and was bragging on FB that it only took him 3 hours to tarp it and didn't understand why everyone thinks it takes so long. 1800 miles into the trip he shredded the tarps, had to call for help to come from the main terminal 600 miles away with new tarps and redo it in a parking lot in the middle of winter. So yeah, he "broke the record" with how long he spent with the initial tarp job then lost an entire day waiting on new tarps and help to re-do it. Of course he never got back on FB and told anyone about the day lost sitting on the side of the road or the team that had to run out of the way to bring him new tarps and spend 6 hours helping him re-do his record breaking tarp job.

So with the lack of a controlled working environment combined with the industry standard of pricing for accessorial charges like tarping we will probably never see the day that standard tarp jobs become an hourly item.

 

I do it to prove a point! I'm a hard worker and I am proud! It makes me feel better than those filthy fat door swingers who cuss on the CB all day!

 

I see these flatbedders with beautiful tarp jobs and wonder how in the world do they do it?!?

I just finished untarping an unusual shaped load: 3 tall eye to the sky coils, one shorter coil placed between two of the others, and a flat steel piece in front, all of which were moisture sensitive so they had to be completely covered. How one person gets the tarps up on top and in the right place to put one flap at the end and one in the front, with enough tarp to cover the rest is still quite challenging.

And then one of them rolls off...