To flat bed or not to flat bed?

Thanks for not playing the Female Card in your opening post. Usually, when a girl plays the Female Card, she words her post to something like, "I am a woman...do you think flatbedding is safe for women?" or "Do you think a woman can make it as a flatbedder?" And I would leave all the responses to the horndogs. After all, what's the point? She's the one that's putting the limits on herself.

I know women flatbedders, I've seen women flatbedders, I know women heavy haulers. If that's what you want to do, then by all means, sign up, put your gloves on and let's throw some chains. Can you do it? There's a black lady at ATS, company driver. Million miler, been dragging chains for 20 years. She pulls her own weight. She's not big and burly, and she's not that young. She does the job.

If your dream is to pull big loads, then look for companies that do what you want to do. If a woman couldn't do the job, they wouldn't hire women.

Just remember...you were already under a microscope. You will be under a more powerful microscope. If you goof, all the naysayers and pigs will all revel and rejoice. So, every time you play, bring your A-Game.

Luck in battle.

 

Good on you. In no time you will be posting picks and boasting of 1.5 hour tarp jobs. Unless your like mj and stay away from those tarp thingys

(Side bar) i dont use tarps. local pipe fun, gotta love it!

 

One more thing...be prepared to work your way up the ranks. They don't give big loads to newbs. Man, woman, black, white Hispanic...whatever. You will have to prove that you can do the job just like everyone else. When you go into orientation, and they have a tie down test on an open trailer, be the first to jump in. Don't say...just do. And please, for the sake of all the good hands out there, stay positive. Avoid negative talk and negative drivers.

And when you go into a truckstop restaurant, sit at the lunch counter and listen. Do not tell anyone what you do. Let them continue to think you work for UsExpress or run team pulling a van. Do not volunteer any employment history.
Let the mystery remain.

 

I cant speak for any ither company, but we rarely have to tarp, as a local guy i do untarp about 4 times a day. Personally i like are doing.labor for an hour then drive for 2 and back to labor. Harderst thing as a female i woukd imagine would be lifting the tarps ontop of the trailer. Its about 100lbs hoisted 4ft high. You'll be tested on it. If you cant do it in the class room you'll never see the truck.

 

Not everyone is using those gigantic 100lb+ tarps. My tarps weigh in at around 60lbs. dry weight. But I do have to use three of them to cover the trailer from nose to tail. Or just turn my larger lumber tarps to the side.....

 

We only have one size. Gigantic lol

 

Those arnt holes... there weight saving aro-dynamic wind pass throughs....

 

Do it! When you're walking up to your truck after going to buy a bottle of water(you'll be doing this often) you'll have a stupid little grin on your face and a thought in your head "I did that!" I've hauled lumber and LTL lumber. I cursed, I got impatient, I froze and I sweat but at the end of it, I was happy! I left it to go back to hauling heavy(Ore from the mines around here) and ended up going back to open deck(float work). It's a very very satisfying job at the end of the day. When you crawl into the bunk or get home at the end of the day, you're tired from having to think and use your body, not just mentally tired from trying to stay awake from driving down the highway!