Ramps for Flatbedding Applications

Hurst, Hope your brother is going to be ok.
Got a phone call today about one driver I know and had worked with passing away in his trk. last evening and then a good friend of mine his wife passed also last night. He got home in time to spend 4 hours with her before she passed. She had been sick for awhile and we all knew it would be coming, but it does not make it any easier..
Be safe going home

 

So it seems that for flatbedding applications ramps make little sense. I didn't realize they were so dadgum expensive. Holy canoli.

 

Like Danny said... unless you have a specialized need for them, then yes.. they would most likely just be added weight.

For steps, the ramps serve 2 purposes.

1: To load equipment and vehicles with out the need for a loading dock.

2: The ramps can also double as load levelers (aka - a bridge) for long loads coming off the top deck. Steel, pipe, crates etc. This allows the step to be more versatile then a regular flat. I've yet to come across anything that I couldnt load and secure, that other wise could have went on a regular flat.

The advantage a regular flat has over the step is weight. Set up properly.. a regular flat can typically scale 47 - 48k no problem. I had a 386 Pete and an all auminum 48' trailer. Even with all my gear I could scale a 50k load full of fuel.

I have a 53' Fontaine hybrid step with aluminum deck. Empty tare weight is 11, 400 lbs. Now add, ramps, gear and tools, headache rack.. With my FL Columbia.. I'm 34, 400 full of fuel. So 45k is pretty much my limit, unless I cut back on fuel.. then I could max out with 46,500.. but it needs to be loaded correctly or risk being over on an axle.

Problem now days is more and more guys are buying steps.. so the step trailer isnt as unique as it once was. So more and more guys are taking step specific loads that once carried a premium rate and doing them at regular flatbed rates.

Its just like anything else.. you get into a niche.. make really good money. Guys like to brag about their good fortunes. Other guys want to get in on the action. The niche is no longer a niche once everyone and his cousin are doing it.

Hurst

 

Correct, sir. I really enjoy the flatbed niche and feel good when someone calls because the customer asked for a 53' flat. I've had this trailer since October and it's happened several times.

I, too, have a 53' Fontaine. It's a Revolution 52. The arch is insane lol. Though my next trailer (several years away) will probably be a tri-axle Doonan step.

 

Ya I never get why guys post the rates they are getting for the whole world to see. Most of the time it is to brag up some great rate they got. Seems like it would be wiser to keep quiet about it and maybe their niche market may last for awhile.

 

No doubt they're usually padded anyway! Sometimes guys post outrageous rates and I'm like WOW that's pretty good then when I get in the same area. Bam! Not ####. Oh well right?

 

Charge what you charge to be profitable. I have yet to put a load on my step that pays any better than if I put it on my flat. None of my customers need a step at this point. They'll load one, but it has no benefit over a flat for them. Several people have gotten proud hearing the $ I get from some of the work I do. "I wanna get in on that" Til they hear what has to be done to get that money. " o I don't do NYC, I don't do more than one stop, I don't do jobsites, I don't tarp, I don't use chains..." The list goes on.

Idk that ramps with a high flat would be beneficial-but to make money in this industry you find out what the majority of people can't won't or don't do....then do that and charge a bunch more. If you find something that needs particular equipment that very few people have: make sure it's worth the investment before launching into getting said equipment.

 

Ain't that the truth?



So, this explorer goes missing in the jungle. For years.



Until a second explorer goes to rescue him.



And after much searching finds him. And also finds a land of plentiful food growing from the trees. All the free water he can drink.



And the first explorer, it turns out, now has 12 beautiful wives, all half his age, who do all his work for him. Even built his house for him. All he has to do is sit there, and watch the beautiful sunsets.



So, the second explorer writes home, after being missing himself for 2 years.



“Cough, cough. Dear Family. I am so sick. Cough, cough. Don't come here. This place is terrible. 've been just dying for 18 months. I've had pneumonia, and fever and jungle sickness. There are lions and tigers that drag people out of camp and eat them at night. Cough, cough. And spiders bigger than a man's head. Please don't come looking for me. Save yourselves. Warn everyone how bad it is here. Run away. I'll be fine. Just forget me.



P.S. Please send money.”



So, all the young guys back home think, 'hey, I'm one tough dude. I could handle all that.' So, they all run to rescue him and see for themselves.



And they find him with his 6 wives. And the house they built for him.



And the wives think, 'Hey, hundreds of cute new guys. I want a divorce, you're too old.'

'What do you mean, you get half the house, I built it?'

'And why should I do all the the work, when there are hundreds of guys here?'
'Here's a match. Go cook your own dinner, old man.'
And they tear down the forest and build a strip mall.

And thus paradise was destroyed, they built a Borders bookstore, which went out of business, and it's a parking lot now. And they all lived –


And the first explorer, the grumpy old man, is standing there, thinking to himself. 'Dumb kids. Thank goodness I was smart enough to hide my other house with my 18 other wives behind that mountain years ago. This time, I'm buying a big dog."


Oh. I was supposed to stop at 'Please send money.'





Anyway, you can't win either way.

 

I post my rates from time to time.. mostly to find out if I did good from that area. Maybe to see what other guy are getting so next time I might hold out for more or remember what rates in the area were going for so I wont sound too greedy if other guys are also asking what I'm asking. I know what my bottom line is. I've held my ground since Jan and have not done anything so far that I didnt profit. The only thing is sitting for a day or two and listening to brokers lie to me saying what rates other guys are doing his loads at really tweaks my nerves. I get so angry sometimes I want to break things.

Keep in mind... I'm still learning. March will make 1 yr as O/O for me. You guys are pro's and make it sound so easy. I look up to you guys. It gives me hope that I can do better. That there is a future for me to work towards. Work smarter not harder I hear you guys say all the time. So true.

Maybe I should keep my mouth shut when I get a good rate.. but on the flip side.. if I got it and someone else knows what was paid.. maybe he will hold out for the same. To me if more guys did that instead of taking something just to get into a better lane.. maybe rates will go up or remain stable at least. Thats my thinking.

Hurst

 

Thats a nice trailer. Mine is the Infinity. I'm still on the fence.. but leaning toward either a Benson or Doonan all aluminum 50' - 53' step. I have to do some more research to make a final decision. Thats at least 1 - 2 yrs away for me as well.

I'm in the middle of so much I'm trying to make happen right now. I dont want to get in over my head.

Hurst