New flatbedder looking for tips

Great advice all I can say is be courteous of other drivers most places we go are tight as it is and maybe the truck behind you is actually in move or in a rush. Don’t block so others can get around be patient with the loaders don’t forget your responsible for the load 5 min of having them fix something is better than something going wrong down the rd

 

Brick screens are expensive but brick doesnt pay as good as a lot of other freight, id invest that money in a lightweight 3 piece tarp set before the screens. Tarps have paid me more than my screens. We made them from pallet rack wire mesh.

Get some old hardwood flooring strips about 6-8ft long. use strap tail scraps, woodscrews and fender washers to make some ladders for the edges.. Like a huge fabric vee board. . This will make a 18 strap job into a 10 strap by consolidating the brick packs into unitized pile. If your still worried find a tattered old thrown away tarp and strap over it to keep bricks from falling out the sides. The boards will also be extremely useful for bagged mulch with is another turd load thatll keep you moving. And the tarp is sometimes needed to keep rainwater from putting you overweight on any perforated bagged material. Only the top needs covered.

 

Keep an eye on the loading, sometimes the fork lift driver won't get the pallets tight in the center of trailer, they then move and your straps will ne loose, be careful with RR ties, they can be slick, steel bars, beams need chains X ed across the front, look around the truck stop for damage, 4 x 4 s 8 to 12 , pipe stakes for pipe, when in doubt put more chains or straps on, never cross a weight station, unless you have scaled the load.

 

Slower is faster ! Much easier to spend even an extra hour or two padding your tarps and taking the time to get it tight , rather than just doing a half assed job and 200 miles later a big crosswind tears ur tarps to shreds. I only did that one time . It aint fun fighting a tarp in a windstorm .

 

Or picking up a preloaded trailer from another driver and thinking it needs more bungee and not doing it to only have your tarp turn into a parachute in a wind storm.... yeah not fun every time I feel it needs more I add way easier to spend 5 min than an 1.5 hours on the side of a busy freeway in a wind storm!!