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

Them tarps don't fold and unfold so easily when it's that cold.
Think throwing tarps in a wind is a chore, try it on a windy day in sub arctic temperatures.
Cuss, swear, rant, kick, punch, jump, freeze, shiver, swear some more, sit in the truck to warm up, and repeat!

 

TMC definitely has a persona that emanates from its owner Harold. He founded the company and drove 50 years ago building it. Some say he was real hardcore back in the day. There are a few old timers left working that knew him back then. Mostly in the office now

Don’t know if Randy is still there. V.P of training, but he was a real piece of work

 

I haven't looked into their actual requirements but my friend calls them tarp more cargo cuz they appear to be mostly stick and brick loads, I call them trained monkey company because drivers have told me some stupid expectations the company has and yet the drivers comply...but they seem a miserable whenever I see them.
And they haul out of the less driver friendly places, not sure if it's my imagination.

 

Sticks and bricks is their bread and butter. They make a killing off tarp charges. Drivers get about 25% of what they actually receive

 

Brick is always fun. There is a shipper in the east of York roughly above Red Lion or near there where you drove 3 miles each way off road over the hills, through the meadows, between the trees and across the rail line twice on a old flatcar for a bridge not much wider than you.

Then when you get loaded and back onto pavement there is that one brick that escapes the pile, skitters to the edge of your deck and waits to bounce off and smash someone's windshield and cave their jaw in.

 

Some drivers have to add a lot of flair to make a pretty easy job sound really grueling.

I was in the marines during a war.

Ive surfed 10ft faces in hawaii and been sure i was gonna drown a few times.

I can do 12 hours breaking and stacking flagstone. I actually like it.

Ive been homeless, and ive shot at people. I have been a logger, mechanic, welder and a bunch of other stuff. Have had my face pounded and stomped on (which really sucks btw!)

I am a flatbedder. And its easy. Sitting still in a seat for 500 miles is harder than securing for an hour. Yeah i mean it can be really dangerous like trying to walk on the edges of pallet racking or marble countertops up on edge with a tarp, looking down 15ft above tar and not have your shoe slip. But i climbed 3rd shift ladders onto rooftops in the winter rain with an electric motor in a headlock many times. I wasnt tough then or now. Probably just too stupid for a better job. Need the money too bad to quit might be mistaken for tough.

The hardest thing in flatbed is getting yourself motivated to put on rain gear and get out of the truck for a suck load in suck weather. The rest of it is just thought. Do i comply with the regs? Is everything tight enough, is it all edge protected, will it resist a panic move from this direction? What about that direction? Am i too heavy on the drive and do i have enough dropins to put that pile over the spread tires where i have no winches? Its a think a few steps ahead kinda thing thats all. You dont need to be a powerlifter or bar brawler. Just show up and think.

 

Now.. In very tight urban hood environments, you will need the backbone to take up two lanes and block the intersection to make a right and clear the telephone pole while pointing your finger at the carload of gangsters making it impossible, yelling "BACKUP.. BACKUP!"

If you can put on a good enough 'im not scared of you act' they will obey. But that is in any truck, not exclusive of flatbed.

 

Normally I don’t reply, but I was in your shoes once. First trucking experience was flat bedding. I lasted three months. If I were to ever do it again it would have to be with a conestoga where tarping is done with the push of a button. I absolutely hated tarping.

 

And that is why you are successful. Your appearance; attitude, and how you presented yourself impressed those who helped. Your being a worthwhile candidate for their spending the time to share with you pays off big time in
all areas of employment.

 

Tarping is tougher than the securement every time. But I think that the biggest difference between a tarping driver and a Conestoga driver is an average of 40lbs.... Just saying
For some people a challenge overcome is a great day.
For some people a challenge 'survived' is motivation to get a different job LoL.
Flatbedders are the former. As my teenage kid used to say... challenge accepted!! Face it, a 9-10 hour day all driving is exhausting, but not in a good way. Using up all the energy in your body, knowing that (if you are younger) you are getting stronger all the time, or (if you are my age) you are fending off Old Age one creaky day at a time... for me that's a most excellent day!!!
It uses the part of my mind I liked very much when I was a steel designer, I love puzzles.
I sleep well. I see awesome products and plans and people, not factory workers but creators and innovators. A dude who built a fresh water fish farm in the woods of NJ. And then was building a salt water one too! How cool is that?
This is a great job!!!