So let me ask an obvious question...

It would be great if all you hauled was plastic pipe.

 

I'm a klutz and my wife worries enough as it is. I used to pull 40' frameless and she worried everyday that the trailer would tip or that I would fall off the ladder climbing into the trailer to clean it out. Then she hears the stories of the guys trying to tarp a load in the wind and getting thrown over the trailer like a rag doll. She's already stressed, I don't need to add to it for a few extra pennies a mile.

 

+1 on this, some people just dont wont the add labor

 

When I drove class B trucks I did a lot of flatbed work. Some flatbed loads can be very difficult to load and secure safely. Many times I would find myself driving down the road looking at the load in my mirrors and doubts would start to creep into my mind about whether the load was indeed secure. I'd often stop and check the straps and wind up racheting down the straps a little tighter.

And of course there's tarping. If you spend 2-3 hours a day securing and tarping loads, that's 2-3 hours a day that you are not driving. The more accessorial work there is involved the more it cuts into drive time and the more hours you consume off your 70hr clock. As the old adage goes: time is money. So any extra cents per mile you might get is to offset the additional unpaid time spent doing non-driving duties.

I did around 5 years of straight truck flatbedding. When I got my CDL class A I was like "vans are good, no need to flatbed for me any longer."

The only flatbed I wouldn't mind is hauling lumber in a Conestoga trailer. Loads of plywood and 2x4s are easy to secure and a Conestoga enclosure makes tarping unnecessary. I had some Conestoga experience with the Class B and thought it worked pretty slick.

 

Tell her that's how they invented Hang Gliding and look at how much money they make off that.

How about the guys who get all turned around on top of a load of lumber and try to rappel down the side while holding onto the wrong end of the strap.

Or when chaining up, press down on the chain binder while leaning over it.

I enjoyed my years of flatbedding because of the challenge involved. No two loads are alike for securement. Plus you seldom "peddle" or do "downtown" deliveries.

 

I wouldn't even get out of bed for less than 40 cents per mile...regardless of what type of trailer was involved.

I have done both (van and flat bed)...and always made a lot more $$$ with flat bed.

 

Flatbedding is sensitive to the economy especially when construction drops. The flatbedders are first in the truck stops for a reason.

 

At least with the flatbed guys at my carrier it seems to be more closely tied to the state of the economy. When the economy takes a dump, their settlements take one too. I can't say if that's generally true across the industry segment though...