Nickname or Lingo for a Flatbed Driver...

that is why i'm going flatbed lol i can't back a van, i over steer it. i'm not talented enough.

 

How talented are you at
tarping
in high winds?
Whip those chain binders out.

I'm thinkin' backin' a van would be easier.
And wouldn't require a pilot's license to
git 'er done.

MERRY CHRISTMAS,
Lady_Medusa.

 

For those that say flatbedders do not have to back. We have to hit some tight holes. Look at this dock. My running board is about 1 inch off of this yellow pole.

 

###### driver!!!

 

YeAH!
Try backin' ANY trailer when your steer tires only drag along when you turn them, and don't alter the course of the backing trailer quite the way you predicted and/or anticipated.

Flatbeds see a lot of construction sites with VERY tight clearances, and SOMEtimes, a trail has to be blazed, --- just to git 'er done.

IMO, if y'all go flatbeddin' only to avoid backin' --- it's a mistake.
Avoiding learnin' a NEEDED skill, won't teach y'all what'cha NEED to know how to do.

I would think y'all would WANT to learn how to back
a trailer.
It's called Big truck truckin'.
SOMEtimes Big truck truck BACKIN'
Up.

 

backing is my favorite part of the job. it is sometimes challenging which i like, it takes skill, which i enjoy learning/applying. no better feeling than hitting that nearly impossible dock the first try!!........then going awwwww crap i forgot to open my doors!!!!!

 

I have never done that,
once.

 

If that's the only reason you're going flatbed, I wouldn't advice it. When ever I picked up a glass load, I always backed into a tight dock. Tarping takes 45 minutes to an hour, assuming you're going to crawl under the tarp and put corner protectors where the load might tear a hole on the tarp when tension is applied with the rubber bungees. Truck stops fill up fast, so if the load requires tarping, its prudent to drive over to the truck stop, secure a good parking spot, then begin tarping your load. If it starts to rain on the way over, you'll need to find a bridge overpass to park under and begin tarping your load. Problem is, other flatbed drivers are doing the same, so its a race to catch the first available overpass. From what I've seen, a lot of ex-van and reefer van drivers who couldn't handle tarping quit flatbed and went back to van or reefer vans. When I was a trainer, I always looked for a large vacant parking lot and let my newbie trainee practice his backing skills. When he got fairly good at it, I introduced him to blind-side backing. On a conventional truck (with a sleeper), when backing on your blind side, you momentarily get up from your driver seat and look out the passenger window (windows rolled down) while reaching over and steering, and the engine is running at idle speed. The only time you'll find it necessary to back on your blind side is when the docks was intended for bobtail trucks, and the shipper insist on having you back your 53 footer into it. When a shipper witnesses a skillful driver do it, he assumes all drivers are capable of blind-side backing. Myself, I regularly pickup frozen seafood from Fish King, on the corner of Ducommun and Center street in Downtown Los Angeles.

 

I have seen mirrors in truck stops that go on the passenger visor. With the visor down it shows looking into the mirror which reflects the outside mirror giving you sight on the blindside. Not sure if they work. but the concept is there.

 

I found Moto-Mirrors to be a
HUGE help, too.

When I was in drivin' school, and my next final test was blind-side backin' --- I was sweatin' bullets.

It was then that one of the instructors told me to
IMAGINE there was a picture window in the back of the sleeper.

I thought he was nutz!
But, I, having a rather vivid imagination,
thought What the heck?
And tried doin' that.

It WORKED!
I passed!
WithOUT a Moto-Mirror, either side.
Imagine THAT!
And go figure. :smt017:smt102