My Maverick Experience

It all sounds a lot harder than it actually is. Don't get me wrong, it is quite a bit of work, but you don't have to be a competitive weight lifter to do it. I'm a pretty small guy myself at 5'4" and 130 lbs. I don't have a ton of upper body strength either.

While moving some stuff on my own can be a challenge I can still do it. The 8ft drop tarps weigh at least 100 lbs. The A-Frames for the glass trailers are at least 150lbs each. The Glass tarps are upwards of 125-150lbs as well. I can move all of them without too much problem. Worst case is you go find another driver or one of the loaders to give you a hand. Usually they will.

Today I had another Maverick driver come help me tarp my load while he waited for them to unload his. He didn't have to. He could've gone and sat in the truck or BS'd with the loaders if he wanted to. I didn't ask him to help, he just offered it.

Flatbedding is a whole different world of trucking. The door swingers generally avoid social interaction with each other. Flatbedders will help each other out because we are all out here together.

There are also many women in the industry. There is no reason a woman can't do the job. You are just as capable as the men are. Gender is not important here. If you can do the job even if you need a hand from time to time, you are welcome to join us and have a bit of fun.

Good Luck and hopefully you'll be a Maverick soon.

 

Picked up my first non glass load today. 12 Catalyst boxes going to a power plant in Michigan. They weigh a total of 42,500 lbs. Had to use both of my 8ft drops to get them covered and all 12 of my 4" straps. They have some sharp edges on the top so I'm hoping I don't get any holes in my tarps because I don't have any canvas tarps to put under there. Worst case is I will have to patch the holes. Only took about 2.5 hours to load and tarp it all. Would've gone a little faster if the tarps weren't folded backwards. Another driver helped me secure the tarps while they were unloading him which also helped save a bit of time.

Pictures:

Before tarps:




After Tarps:

 

I agree. I do have my steel tarp unrolled over the front 4 rows under the lumber tarps to hopefully keep too many cuts from happening. I have a patch kit so if I do manage to cut one I'll have to fix it on Friday or over the weekend while I'm at home. There isn't a whole lot I could do otherwise. I'm going to stock up on V-Board next time I hit a glass plant. I didn't have enough good pieces left to put over them.