My Tarped keep dry load

Good thing they don't store 'Dangerous when wet' hazmat loads.

 

Some shippers have a certain date range that they require tarps to avoid road salt getting on the product. Could be the case with that one. In any event, always take pics of it being loaded to show the condition and weather it was loaded in just to cover your butt.

 

Tarp requirements vary from customer to customer.

While a product may be stored outside in the rain, the surface rust on it is not that bad and usually is cleaned off the product in some form. Most likely an acid wash of some form.

In the winter, a number of states use various chloride compounds for deciding the roads. These compounds can work into coils, between sheets and other wise coat the product.

These compounds have two basic problems.
They are corrosive to a number of bare metals. When concentrated in places, it can eat up, stain or other wise destroy the product.

Second, these compounds can and do contaminate and destroy the cleaning chemicals used to desmut, degrease and remove surface rust.

The cost of having to clean and neutralize the systems, plus dispose of the dead chemicals and replace with clean chemicals, is a lot of money and time.

 

Many loads require tarping to keep road grime, grease and oil off, even in warmer seasons. I am confused by them specifically saying keep dry, when its already wet. If it were me, I'd take pics, and if it looked as if it was gonna continue to rain, I'd tarp it. If the weather looked to be clearing up, I might run a bit to dry it out. I currently have a similar load. Steel plate, 9'6" wide x 56' long. Got it from outside storage but still had to tarp. Fun flatbed fun!

 

I do whatever the contract says. If anyone says any different I have my dispatcher call the broker. So much of what we do doesn't make sense so I just go with it.

We just had a driver pick up a load of green lumber. Rate con and his dispatch said to tarp. The shipper told him it wasn't necessary. He took it from California to Michigan and the customer refused the load as it had gotten soaked.

 

Receiver is the entity to ask if a load needs a tarp or not. When the broker has Tarp on ratecon. I always tarp. I don't have and never did have, Keep dry tarps. No such thing.

 

I had a load of pipe just about like that and dispatch said tarp I called broker he said no tarp required had no problem.
My dispatch seems to have a tarp everything so I call receiver or broker when I think it a waist of time and follow what they say.

 

That would be a bad situation. If it were me I'd do what dispatcher says. As a company driver it'd be tough to go wrong following your company's directions

 

They straight up told me a while back they put it on there because they have several that just don't use their heads for more than a coat rack.

Sometime they toss me a load of quickcrete they say tarp it drops 110 miles away I asked why tarp it on such a great day that short he's like because we have some that would try to not tarp it on a cloudy day with 80%+ chance of rain so we add trapped load to all loads from there for them. Lol
He said once a Brooker has a need to tarp load their system adds trapped load to any dispatch from that Brooker. I don't know I trap if it does need it and ask if I think it may not.