Do all flatbed companies have a tough guy chip on their shoulders?

Traditionally flatbeds require the most responsible and deciplined people to handle them. If not loads fall off. You cant close the doors and forget about it and a bad kept load is out there for the public to see. That is were the military like mindset you speak of comes from.

 

I am retired and to be honest with a VERY few exceptions have no real experience with flatbeds. I would, however, remind you to think about this from the carrier's perspective. You need to be selective from the beginning because it is rather expensive to recruit and train a driver to do this work. It's best to cull out BEFORE, not after. With all this said. I do know several NOW active drivers that yank flatbeds that you would never guess do this work.

 

I've been involved with flatbeds and flatbedders most of the fifty years I've been in trucking.
Except for a few isolated cases I have never had the impression that they carry a "chip on their shoulder".
What I have seen is a group of people who take pride in what can be a very arduous, not to mention dangerous, job.
Sometimes this pride is seen as arrogance but only to people who don't know any better.
The very nature of the job requires people who can think on their feet, solve innumerable problems that are never quite the same every day, and work outside in all weather.
The flatbedders who haul general freight have to be a better than average rigger just to tie down some of the messes they're dealt. Not only do they have to tie things down, they have to be sure that the load doesn't shift or fall off. That is a skill not to be idly dismissed by someone with no real first hand knowledge of the job.
So..."chip on their shoulder"? Not really. An assertive manner and a sense of purpose? Absolutely.
If I'm hiring a driver and two applicants have made the final cut, one with flatbed experience and one who just closes the doors on a van and hopes for the best, all things being equal I'll take the guy with flatbed experience. I know he can think.
If your feelings are so tender as to be offended by an imagined attitude you might be well advised to seek a different occupation.

 

Toughness isn’t physical, it’s mental. You can’t look at a photo and determine whether or not someone is tough. How do you determine whether or not someone is mentally tough? Simple: tough people avoid the path of least resistance. Pulling a flat doesn’t make you tough. Doing the job day in and day out without breaking indicates toughness.

It’s interesting that you are looking for chips on shoulders. I don’t see any chips, but then I am not looking for them either. Every time I see a skateboarder, I look at his load placement and his securement. I appreciate it when a driver takes pride in his craft, not just flats, ANY trailer. The thing about the flats is, you can see the pride in the securement.

 

Western Express will hire you. They seem to hire anyone. You don't need to be tough or smart. I think they actually prefer functionally retarded.