Post flatbed load photos here V2.0

In videos looks like lots of what we call curtainsides running around on the other side of the pond, is that correct?

 

And depending on the country flats with modular systems similar to what is used to transport flatbed freight on container vessels.

 

That makes sense, mine is actually going to another landfill. They want it tarpped to protect the plastic covering from ripping in the wind and damage during the winter months.

And after all what would their safety guy do if they didn’t have that trapping station lol.

 

Its all the european stuff here Daf Volvo Scania MAN Mercedes Renault and Iveco , automatics rule the roads , we don't manufacture tru ks anymore even though DAF run the old Leyland site and produce trucks there. Very mundane , anyone can drive trucks here now or its getting that way there's a big shortage of drivers so the wages are going up but standards are dropping big style. We run at 44 tons max here with mainly curtainsider trailers, tipping trailets or tankers , there are still flats around but mainly on steel or brick work.

 

I was told that those mats can and will absorb 3 times there weight in water once they are exposed and become useless because the can't be rolled out. Any small rips in the plastic during handling can let water in, rain, snow and even high humidity. The rolls are very dry when bagged and only handled once after bagging before loading and although they have improved handling procedures since I hauled them the product still remains basically the same.

 

Loaded mats and sacks out of Lovell quite a bit.
Land fills were common destinations, mines as well. I did take several loads to a coal power plant. They were making a new ash storage/drying field. Used to take super sacks to some place in Texas that made drilling products.

 

It’s getting similar here, I was fortunate enough to live in Scotland for a few years in the last career, and it’s crazy to see how quickly we are brining over EU tech to the trucks here.

Maverick now is testing mirror cams, and the next round of Freightliner Cascadia’s will have the Mercedes glass dash. We won’t do cabovers, but even the Peterbilt 389 has gone away from the traditional dash. And man it’s getting hard to convince a company of any size not to transition to automated manual transmissions.

Just waiting for the American Trucking Association and the FMCSA to implement something like GM’s Supercruise and use it as an excuse to increase driver available hours to drive…they’ll get us to 12-13 hrs somehow to improve productivity.

 

I don't know how it is now but I worked with a British guy in the early 80's just fresh over here and he was puzzled by us using 9 straps and 3 chains all with corner-boards to secure a load of 18 pallets of brick to haul it 160 miles to a retail brickyard. He said they might have used the corner-boards but would have secured them with 3/8 or 7/16 rope over each pallet and then sheeted (tarped) them and the tarps would have been roped not bungeed. He taught me the truckers knot that I still use to this day even though I have been off the road for 3 years.

 

Not sure if fortunate is the word i'd use if i had to live in Scotland but you are right the europeans are getting a grip everywhere , thank god for brexit. We have had the european domination here since the late 70s. Scania and Volvo are leaders but American owned Daf are getting better but from my point of view they are a far cry from the old 13 speed Fuller days , i hate autos in trucks but would never buy a manual car