My flatbed experience with W/S

http://s1326.photobucket.com/user/HeinJ1/profile/
Ok letssee if this link works

 

Ok so an update, it has been a very busy week so far. From tangent or. I went to kalispell mt. With a load of miracle grow potting soil, it was the heaviest load I've had so far. It ended being 83,600 lbs gross. Luckily my truck is registered for 84000 in wa. Or. Id. And Mt. I delivered to a Kmart in kalispell then went and picked up my next load in Columbia falls mt. Going to Neenah Wi.
After loading I went to Missoula and had my oil change done and the abs fixed on the trailer. Luckily it was just a bad sensor so it didn't take long to fix.
I have been running on my recap now since Tuesday so it's going to be tight. If everything works out right I should be able to get to my destination tomorrow or at least within 100 miles and have a fresh 70 on Monday morning when I deliver.
So I am spending the night in sterling North Dakota tonight at a little hole in the wall truck stop and ill get rolling about 1:30 in the morning to get there in time to get a 34.
Completely slipped my mind to take any photos of the potting soil load but I will have one up of this load of lumber on my photobucket account here shortly.

 

Got the load of particle board delivered in Neenah Wi. Today then deadheaded to Davenport IA. To pick up a preloaded trailer of John Deere equipment. It took awhile to get all of my things transferred to my new trailer and to figure out how to tie everything down but I got it figured out and am pretty happy with the results.
After loading, I drove to the Iowa 80 truck stop in Walcott and will be spending the night here. This is my first time here and I never realized how Huge this place is! Really cool place to stop, if your ever rolling across I-80 definitely stop by.
This load I picked up has four stops all together, one in Minnesota, North Dakota, and then two stops in Oregon, the final being hermiston.
And no luck posting a photo on here but it is on my photobucket account

 

Well it has been a hectic week so far. I have had a light blow out every single day this week so its been constant lighting and wiring work on this trailer i picked up in davenport. Other than wiring, this trailer is in pretty good shape, it pulls nice and straight and has good brakes on it. It also has a few extra running lights on the side so that looks pretty good going down the road at night.
I got all of my stops off on time, actually I was early on this one in Hermiston, it wasn't supposed to be delivered until monday but they took it today. Again I hadn't even set my qualcom down from sending my empty call and had my next load already. I am picking up a load of used bailing twine in Ellensburg, Wa. monday morning and taking it to a recycling center in Albert Lea Mn.
So tonight I am hanging out in a hotel in Hermiston, Or. just enjoying a night out of the truck and some free wifi. Tomorrow I will drive up to Ellensburg and take a 34 because I only have 5 hours left on my 70. This was a good week, just over 3200 miles and used up almost all of my 70, hopefully it continues this way all through the summer so i can stockpile cash to see me through the slower times during the winter. So far I am loving the switch to flatbed and dont have any intentions of switching back to pulling a van.
As far as the paycheck goes, i havent really noticed to big of difference on the switchover. The first few weeks were slow because of switching over and just taking my time and making sure I was doing everything right. But now that I'm getting my system down and figuring out how to make myself more efficient at securing and tarping my paychecks are back up in the same range I was in doing the dedicated route to canada.
I now make .31 cents per mile and get $20 for each load/unload. Tarp pay for a full tarp is $35 and for each re-tarp is an extra $10.
So for example, my paycheck today had 2,798 miles on it plus two full tarps and one retarp and three load/unloads on it payed out at $1007 gross.
And it varies from week to week, say for example I pick up a load on a friday and dont deliver until thursday, that trip envelope is not going to make it back to missoula in time for next weeks payroll. It will be two weeks before I see that trip. So if your thinking about driving keep that in mind that you dont get the cash immediately, the trip envelope has to be physically in their hands before noon on friday in order to go on the next weeks payroll.
Hopefully that answers the questions about payroll.
Until next time, safe travels

 

Good info thanks, I am planning on purchasing a truck within the next year and leasing on with them. I've been talking to dispatch and getting the rate for each load I pull and keeping track of my expenses on the truck such as fuel, maintenance, and repairs so that I have a good baseline to start from. Basically running this company truck like its mine. So far it's looking like I should be able to bring in more than enough to make a good living off of.
Good advice on the straps and chains, the visual I always have is if a giant came and picked my truck up and shook it upside down will everything stay where it's at.
Im in billings right now, I'm going across I-90 to Minnesota so hopefully ill miss the bulk of this storm. It looks like its moving pretty fast but is dumping a lot of snow all along my route. When I head out in the morning it should be fairly decent.