flatbed

You can answer this question yourself quite easily. Start watching the drivers who get out of truck with flatbeds attached. My guess is 99 out of 100 you'll see a guy or gal jump out of that truck who is fairly physically fit.

You'll be waiting a long long time to see a 450lbs fat bass tard sweat pants wearing slob jump out of a truck pulling a flat bed. Guys like that wont last a week in flat bedding.

Im not saying its that hard of work, its just work.

 

What I do if it is very windy is throw at least three straps over the load...usually not coils, but steel, or lumber....
I then roll out the tarp under the straps. I then unfold it and get the ends secured and then the mid section.
The straps keep it from getting away from me.
It takes a bit longer but not as long as chasing a tarp and trying to get it back up on the load.

 

Also here are a few pics of what you may have to put up with in the winter time. These were taken in Denver after a 3 foot snow in less than 24 hours. In the third pic in snow on the front of the trailer in front on the load, it had to be removed before I could get unloaded. No cozy unloading docks to bump for me.

 

Glad that works for you, that was far from the whole load, I just didn't waste time with a camera when there was work to be done. For the record, the load was too long for my steel tarps. The majority of the headache in eye to the sky coils is winch placement when you don't have enough sliding winches to properly "X" the straps over the top. Has to be my only real gripe with Swift's flatbed operations... the dang trailers. But I hear they're working on that, so we'll see.

As for the butt pucker on the suicide coils? Increase your following distance and it won't happen. Just saying. Never had a problem or questioned a coil on my back because of what a car was doing.

 

On them baby skidded coils X the front and back and put one in the middle on the rest if there setting next to each other or if there bigger baby skidded coils stacked 2 or 3 high X chain the front and back and single chain the rest.
Could the load been shorten up by stacking the coils higher?
I've loaded thousands of times there in Middletown and me and the loader would study how I wanted the load loaded on skidded loads.

Oh and the increase your following is great advice, tell it to the tailgaters. The pucker factor comes into play when the car on the far left decides the off ramp your going by is there exit and takes it. Remember, there no old stupid coil haulers.

 

That wasn't even jfaulk99's truck, he can't drive something with a sleeper on it...... It was most likely his trailer. He just hooked the big truck to it for a photo op....

For goodness sakes did that guy have enough chains on it? I don't think I put that many of a 65k coil....

Everytime you hit the brakes you butt should pucker if you're using straps on coils, skidded or not!

I may be wrong and its been a while since I looked at the securement books, but if you would've used chains you would have only had to put one chain over the coils except the front and back one. I may be wrong so someone feel free to correct me..... Or maybe that law is only good for covered wagons...?

I really wish they would outlaw straps on steel loads! Flatbedders waste more time screwing with straps than if the would've just used chains. Sad part is they ain't figured it out yet...

 

I use straps when I run out of chains.

And it was only 7 chains, you went to Laredo and seen how them Texans drive.
You can get by using 3 chains, you only go across town!

 

Yes it took me awhile, but IT WAS DONE CORRECTLY. I always put on more securement than is actually required by law, no such thing as over securement. I'm still learning how to do all this.

Well got my load, 2 aluminum coils, eye to the sky. X strapped, tarped, in strong winds, in just over 2 hours. Had to use my lumber tarp because my black one wouldn't cover to the trailer. Total weight is just over 48,000. Heading for Colorado. Hope it doesn't snow.

 

What does "I'm assuming they will be suicide" mean?

 

Wait a minute...... you got two aluminum coils that weight 48k and you only used two straps on each? You do realize that isn't secured properly don't you? I guarantee them are some very big coils, size wise.

This is exactly why straps should be illegal on anything metal!