Picking my own freight baby! My journey to & of being on Schneider choice, the Adventure & Numbers!

If it were that easy to make that kind of bank, every one would be hooking up to a skateboard.

 

Perfectly frank here. It is that easy. All i did was answer the phone when it rang.
That was above average week for me. But not that far above average. They asked me for a number to use the trailer as storage for the weekend instead of returning it and then having to pay a crane to unload and reload. I went light on it cause not only are they a good customer that always looks for me to pull their equipment, and i had no plans do work over the weekend anyway and it actually saved me time by not having to to run it to their shop to unload and then return at 0dark30 to load again.

This was not an attempt to bash you guys or your carrier. It was an attempt to show how there is still good money to be made in this industry. Is every week this easy to make bank? Of course not. But enough of them are that i don't think people are gonna think im bsing on a load that pays 1100 on 200 miles. It's not every day. But it's common enough. As i said before, is about a dozen money loads per month with another 6 to 10 filler loads.

As for how to get open deck experience. Many owner operator companies will hire you with no flat bed experience. Including mine. I don't know how other companies handle the training, but here is a one day course. Half a day watching video and a couple hours in the warehouse chaining a few things down. Imo, its all common sense stuff. But if a guy just can't grasp the concept or doesn't feel comfortable, then just ask the guy that is loading beside you. Open deck drivers are a helpful bunch. Sure we got our occasional jerk, but the vast majority are more than willing to take twenty minutes and show you how to secure a load. I'm gonna take a guess, just based on the guys i see in orientation when i happen to be in louisville, that 50% of our new hires have never pulled a flat bed before in their life. It really isn't that complicated.

 

promotion load. need the product in quanity for the sale. also the cardboard pallet displays.

 

Well I stand corrected, thank you for the info. I did not think mercer would take 2 seconds looking at an inexperienced flat driver. I know I could pick it up quickly having experience chaining and strapping vehicles. I've always wanted to haul heavy equipment, not heavy haul, but tractors,military vehicles etc... Do they train for that?

 

The class is easy. I took it.. it shows you the basics but the rest you'll learn in time and with real time experience

 

The 1 day class is real basic but it does touch on pretty much anything you will haul. And you will have a book that explains the securement regs on pretty much everything. Heck I've done this my whole life and i still look in that book on occasion. Wheeled equipment like tractors and military vehicles are about as easy as it gets. A simple 4 pt chain job using the factory installed hook points on the unit in question.

It really is common sense stuff. If you have ever packed a pick up truck up helping someone move, you could safely secure 90 percent of the loads i do. The other 10 percent...look in that book they give you and google. Everyone and their brother is making utube videos, I'm sure their are videos of flatbed guys chaining stuff down.

Another idea, when you are at a truck stop for your 10 walk around and look at the loaded flats and see how they have secured their load.

 

I know...The board is freakin awful. I did book my week tho. I never do that, this is the first time since I've been here I was able to put 3 loads together with under 20 miles deadhead each.

Had a good time in Vegas, rode the heli through Grand Canyon, rode the big shot on the stratosphere, had a few jack and cokes and lost $500 at black jack all in 2 days lol.

 

I just managed to put together the best two weeks I've had all year and nothing Christmas related. Not going to count on it lasting though. As soon as the powers at be figure I've had it too good I expect the board to go blank.