Flatbed advice
Discussion in 'Flatbed Trucking Forum' started by Drpparker95, Feb 9, 2017.
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Never pulled flat pups before, did vans for Consolidated Freight, the original corn flakes, & the same for Watkins. Can't be any real difference to doing flats other than securement which is the same as any other open deck.
I believe there's a real good chance that I am the only driver to ever pull a set of triples in Texas, most definitely the only one to do it through downtown Houston. That was back in my wilder, younger days, before CDLs & back when there wasn't any local DOT cops.
That would also have been my last day with Watkins, by my design, had enough of their BS & was walking when I got to the terminal. There wasn't a chance in Hades I was making a second trip across Houston to get that third pup at 10 PM on a Friday, especially since I was quitting.
It was so worth it too. -
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No harder than anything else I've pulled.
Length is a perceptional thing, what's long to you may be short to others, depends on what you've pulled before. My tractor is longer than a pup trailer by itself at 33'.
How do you make turns with a longer truck? Make wider turns for the most part. You have to learn the "feel" of a setup, then it becomes second nature. Some learn faster as it is already pretty much second nature to drive anything.
Having more pivot points helps in some situations & hurts in others.
Backing a set is pretty much out the window, known some that were pretty good at straight line backing them, I was fair at it.
The second & potentially third trailer are going to wiggle going down the road, nothing you can do about it, so don't worry about it unless it is trying to pass you.
Watch the weights on the different trailers & hook the set up accordingly. if the company hooks sets up so all the road driver has to do is hook the set, check the weights & how they are positioned in the set.Crusader66 and johndeere4020 Thank this. -
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johndeere4020 Thanks this.
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Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.
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