Flatbed drivers

I got laid off when it got to the slow season so I'm back to doing fluff work like chaining and tarping now.

 

Note to self .. don't mess with chaoss...lol

 

At least the flatbed drivers that I have met, seem to have more of a confident air about them than most of the door slammers that I have met. Call it confidence, call it pride, but there is something different about an open deck driver.

Heavy haul drivers are a notch above that even. confidence and pride ooze out of them just standing there. They laugh to themselves when someone says they were loaded heavy at 79k and think "Hell I weigh that much empty."

Each type of driving has it's own skillset but open deck drivers get more of a variety. Door slammers will talk about tight docks or truck stops but they are the same width and length all the time. They can slide their tandems where we can't. Our axles are normally at the back of the trailer and usually we have longer tractors.

Unless you have done it, you really cannot understand what an open deck driver encounters on a daily basis. I have been some places where I just look at where they want me to get the trailer and think "What the #### you talking about Willis?"

Then there are places like the job I am currently on where I pick up and drop off in a yard.

There are also more DOT and other regulations that you have to contend with, especially if oversized. Right now I have pulled 5 loads on this job and 4 of them have been oversized. I have to contend with Colorado Springs and Denver curfews. I have a window of 9 am to 3 pm to leave Colorado Springs and get through Denver.

I had a load I picked up on Thursday that I had to flag and light because I was going to be running in the dark. All of that for one freaking inch, it was 8'7" wide. On top of that each state has different rules for oversized loads. In Montana for instance I would not flag the load if it was under 10' wide unless running at night but would get nailed in Colorado and Wyoming for that.

 

I would have thought the lightning bolt would have gave it away.

I transfered from Central/Swift Refrigerated to Swift Flatbed. And of course now I wonder why I didn't just start in flatbed 2 years ago. I was made for this line of work.

 

Don't rag the door slammers to hard Patt .
Haven't noticed you pull out of dakota city ne with a load meat with 36 hrs to get to the Bronx market .
Pulled a lightly loaded van thru Livingston lately ?

 

Do you ever have a load vibrate so that it is hanging over just like an inch? And what do you do in such situation.

 

Nope but I have pulled 100+ foot steel bridge beams through there when the wind was howling. Pilot kept telling me how he could see the beam bow in the middle... LOL I told him to shut up, I could feel it in the truck... LOL

 

Talk to me after ya been to nyc a few times lol

 

Nope, never have had that happen. I have had some concrete pipe start to walk on me but there is enough space so that when it does start you can tell if you pay attention to the load and stop it before is becomes too wide. My old boss had one walk on him and it was sticking out 1.5 feet and he did not notice until the cop pulled him over.

In that situation though you just cross your fingers and hope nobody notices. I did pull a dozer one time that was 12' 6 1/2" wide. I was pulling a 9' wide trailer and decided to chance the 80 or so miles. Supposed to have a pilot at 12'6". Exited the freeway and as I crossed over the bridge there was a DOT officer sitting there. Drove right by him and he never even blinked. I was sure I was going to get pulled over but we can go up to 2 miles from the freeway without a pilot so I came up with an excuse about meeting my pilot in the wide spot 1/2 mile down the road.

 

Yep, this is me most of the time. Amazing how no time/place for a shower after tarping two days prior affects the mood. Time to break out the baby wipes...again.

I'm pretty sure if I wasn't "roughing it" with the self-imposed flatbeddin' then I'd be self-destructive in other ways?

I like to think I feel like I'm earning my money, or I need something physical to break up the monotony, or my ego doesn't allow me to do anything less "manly"?? Enough psychology...I just like it!