Load Shift On A Flatbed

There all ready several posts on this..jeez

 

most of the drivers I see hauling those just use straps, maybe the chains saved his life.

 

Lack of rubber certainly didnt help

 

Why I'm slightly scared of flatbed.

 

There is no need to be. Flatbedding when you see them secured and wrapped like a present is a beautiful thing. I show you flat bed school just like tanker school. Cup of coffee on the floor in front of your shifter, a tall cup without lid. McDonalds large to be exact. Drive until you don't spill it. Presto you are good to go.

I had one load that I will enternally be somewhat shamed of once for flatbedding where the Aluminum Plant in central kentucky (London? I'll have to double check on that ...) loaded me two fat coils eye to sky. They had literally run out of the small 1 by 4 2 foot boards in piles and nails that day. Leaving me with a problem. A unsecured load without that wood cribbed and nailed at every pallet corner just so. (One of the my favorite aspects of load securements at that particular shipper)

After some thought and being told no more wood until Tomorrow and a Anhauser busch beer plant in williamsburg that needs these to make cans for tomorrow... became something of a judgement day. If I sit and wait to tomorrow. They don't have cans and I get fired. If I don't sit and wait to tomorrow then something will have to be done.

I tossed two chain across the deck in front of the two pallets and coils. Threw all the straps I could across them. (They were 8 foot, eye to sky about 15000 pounds each, nice and fat alumium each one about roughly 13 to 14 miles worth of cans believe it or not at about 200 can lids or 140 cans per few feet)

The two chain on the deck against the front of the pallets were pathetic.

I made it just about to 3 miles before that cursed plant and some yahoo managed to peel out of his stupid driveway near colonial road forcing me to stand on the brakes. I heard the coils rumble back there as they skipped the chain destroying both pallets.

Busch yelled. And are still yelling to this day. Coils were fine but boy howdy did they yell.

Thinking back my solution would have been to unhook from load at dock in plant, find a lowes store downtown buy that stack of wood and gone back to secure it properly. Would have been something like 70 dollars in wood. But when you are standing there thinking end of the world what to do, you don't quite think that far out in terms of finding a solution.

 

I Hate those Coils. I ran two to Metal Container Corp in Jacksonville, Fla. last week. Alcoa supplies nothing to help secure them except felt pads for the straps. I do double hardwood 4x4 bulkheads in front of each plus a choker strap around the front. I occasionally get comments from other drivers for the choker but .... IDGAF.

 

Eye to the sky have to be secured in the front and back of the load to prevent movement, as well as the straps across the top of the coil(s). You can find pics in the regs book of the Keller securement book.
Pretty easy setup. Good luck.

 

Berea, KY maybe? We used to load Alcoa in dry vans at a plant north of Terre Haute, IN (off of Sky King Rd I believe). Thankfully they had all the wood & nails you wanted & didnt care how long it took to secure the load plus they had a scale near the guard shack to check your axle wts. That's my kind of shipper.