Safe way to tarp a flatbed

Unfortunately, liability waivers have a way of not standing up in court.

 

This is something I have wondered about many times while at shippers loading, I am amazed that shippers will allow me to climb around 10 ft. in the air on top of some irregular shaped machine or whatever dragging tarps around on their premises with the legal system being what it is.
Just yesterday I was inside a plant loading, and where they had me park was a large puddle of oil and water that I had to slip and slide through to secure the load, I thought that was just dumb as hell on their part from a liability stand point.

 

Have your employee's trained to tarp the load. Truck drivers will love it, and will return to your operation.

 

You do know that's how they invented Hang Gliding dontcha? Watching a driver tarp on a windy day.

Old Schooler story time: I was once loading sheet rock at a plant in Montreal (sorry, don't remember the name but it's over by the tunnel). You hadda tarp using the fall protector harness. In the bay beside me was a set of B-trains tarping his load(s). Driver was a French Canadian standing about 4 feet tall. Finished his lead trailer and decided rather than climb down/climb up he's jump from one trailer to the next. Uh huh, you guessed it, the rig fetched him up halfway in between. There he dangled; couldn't reach either trailer. Talk about hot, that little Quebecois was cussing in more languages than I knew existed (I think he hit Latin more than once and maybe Sanscrit).

Now he was in no danger, but everyone was laughing so hard nobody could rescue him.

Eventually, they used a forklift and pallet to get him down. But not before several pictures was taken and some girls from the office had a look (evidently he was well known locally).

Be careful what you do or you could be everyones entertainment for the week.

 

BTW, after being sucked off the topof the trailer by the tarp a couple of times I invented me a little aide that might help somebody. I put together a couple of old aluminum tent poles, welded a little fork shaped thingy in the end of one.

Then I mounted a bungee cord in the second ring row in the tarp that stayed when the tarp was rolled up. When I spread the tarp out over the load I could catch the bottom end of the bungee with the fork and hook it on the rubrail. That prevented the tarp wall from flipping back up if a breeze caught it.

Also worked well for placing belly straps on a multi-tired lumber load, etc when the loader op wasa a hotdog who wouldn't give you time to place em as you loaded.

 

safest way to tarp a load? Oxymoron.

best way to tarp a load? don't get a tarp load.

Got taken for a ride with a box tarp in Ocala FL. That was not fun coming off the load. Tuck and Roll.

I loved getting extruded aluminum that was still so hot you couldn't even strap it down till it cooled.

 

I like these better than the platforms, they kinda get in the way, and probably less costly for you.

 

Never seen anything like that when I was hauling in the early 90's for tarping a load.

I'd go with a fall arrestor long before setting up platforms. Platforms would be good for loads you just can't walk on. But the fall arrestor just makes more sense. Reaching and putting yourself into a position of off-balance is inviting a fall.

Fall arrestors allow you to be in a much safer position.

 

Tarping Stations:







Ii hope those picts give you some ideas.....

 

There was more common sence back then.