Is 47 viewed as too old by Flatbed Carriers???

I learned securement from a 73 y.o. man. He could have a load secured and tarped before most of the twenty somethings had all their chains out. You just have to use your head as much as your back.

 

No we get paid per mile and they use rand McNally tariff miles

 

I am speaking from my own experience with percentage pay, I was paid percentage pulling tanker and it was a toss up I made great money with it but at the same time I would lose money when things were slow and no one close had any loads so long dead heads were inevitable same thing happens in flat bed, I had a 600 mile dead head just last week and if I were getting percentage I wouldn't have been paid for that. So it comes down to preference and whether or not the carrier you choose has a strong customer base where you operate at.

 

any % of 0 ='s 0

 

Sounds like your travel agent failed you.

 

Sure seemed that way but I checked quite a few of the load boards and there just wasn't hardly any loads down where I was at. At least not any that would be worth hauling for little more than fuel cost.

 

I am almost 50 and started flat bedding a couple of years ago and love it. I met a driver yesterday at Red River Army Depot who has been trucking for 57 years! He is a flat bedder and doesn't look a day over 50.

You will need to take care of yourself. Don't go jumping off of the flat bed, buy yourself a ladder that hooks to the side of the trailer (Innovative Access Solutions makes a nice one), a folding ladder to climb high loads and a pair of comfortable work boots with steel toes.

 

Your travel agent should have been looking for a load before you got anywhere near delivering. If there were no loads, he would have known beforehand and would have told you to bounce as soon as MT. Then again, you don't run into a dead zone for the same rate you run the freight lane either.

If you were checking the boards after getting MT, it is because your travel agent failed you. If you make more money on mileage than percentage, it is because your travel agent failed you.

There are lots of loads that will have detention fees, reposition fees, NYC fees, New England fees, patient trucker fees, and stuff built in. You get a percentage of that. If you are on mileage, you get nothing. If you were on percentage and didn't get anything like that, your travel agent failed you.

 

I lost 30 pds after going flatbed a year ago even if I wanted to go back my girlfriend wouldn't let me I knock it out of the park when I get home. The advantages to looking good and feeling good would make it worth it but I will take the extra money as well.