Tandem or spread axle on new flatbed?

Or you just know your equipment and where to load it ... Some of us dont let the forklift guys do whatever they want. You load it where i tell you or you take it off the truck.

 

also a good flattbedder can eyeball a piece of freight and make a guesstimate of how much it weighs.. Also a spread axle comes in handy when u can run over 80k if ur registered for the max weight. Ie. Idaho montana... This would not be legal with a tandem... A set of scales on the truck is all you need if u understand your equipment.... But that would require thinking for yourself, which goes over alot of peoples heads sometimes.

 

I loved pulling a spread axle, I never had to worry about being heavy on my trailer. I hauled a lot of lumber out of the NE always 46-49k and never got pulled into a scale. As long as the air gauge in my cab was under 62 I was good to go.

Every load of lumber I've hauled has taken up the entire deck, sometimes more than that. All I ever had to.do was jump in the cab and look at my air gauge, if it was under 62 I was all set. It's not that I'm bad at math, I just enjoy simplicity

 

……And how easy would it be with a heavy trailer and no gauges ?

I’ve been doing this for 4 years and never once with the luxury of air gauges. To compound the issue we’ve had trailers significantly heavier than what most flatbed companies use these days. They’re steel / aluminum combos because the local company that provides the base freight doesn’t want an arched deck. Their freight typically wouldn’t have enough weight to flatten it out. What’s going to bend is the product.

With a typical trailer and a half a bag of fuel, I’ll weigh empty at 32.5 k. I don’t have dedicated lanes. I run all over America and every shipper is going to load me just like they load you. They think we all have lightweight trailers and a little wiggle room. In fact I don’t. I’m up against it every week with only my own wits to make it work. If I go to get reloaded with more than a half bag of fuel I’m running a significant risk of being over gross.

Now consider running into California…..and back out. You don’t want to fuel there if you can help it. It takes planning to run with my equipment. BTW, good luck getting out of California dodging a scale.

I have a load of stone on my deck right now that I picked up yesterday in Tecate, CA which weighs 47,973 lbs. I was 1500 feet from the border. Picked up there a number of times. You think those guys loading you down there can be trusted not to overload you ?

The nearest scale is about an hour and forty-five minutes away, either going all the way back into National City / Chula Vista or taking the scenic route along CA-94 until you get to I-8 heading East to El Centro. CA-94 is about as fun as a western Pennsyltucky two-lane. Over the hill, through the woods, past Grandma’s house…. You’ll get several good views of Trumps wall along the way. It’s a thing of beauty.

 

So are u like some gods gift to flatbedding because u pull a tandem and the rest of us peasents pull a dumb spread axle? Im heavier then u empty. And have run all over the country and never had a problem being overweight.

Its your world were just livin it . makes sense. You were the same guy with like 20 straps over your tarp and a deck that looked like a dogs leg in your mirror. So by all means. Do what you want . ill do what i want . but just cuz u pull a tandem and the rest of us peasents pull a spread dont make u any smarter or more equipped to do the job.

 

Nope, just noting that I’ve had to do it without the benefit of seeing what it weighs and where it weighs as it’s being put on my trailer.
The reason there were straps over the tarps in that photo is because that was an 8 foot lumber tarp, there weren’t exactly any D-rings there to attach a bungee. How would you have secured that tarp ?

 

In that long speech all you have done is prove my point that a spread axle makes life simpler... It sounds like you don't have a choice whether to pull a tandem or a spread axle, the OP does

 

I would buy a real tarp because im a professional who cares about my customers products.

 

Good to know. I was maybe a year into my trucking career, a company man at the time using the equipment the company provided. There are only two rows of D-rings and the only way that tarp is staying put is to pinch it down against the rub rail with straps

“Because you care.” …..Love it. I’m sure it had nothing at all to do with reasons of personal convenience. That’s certainly the reason I eventually acquired my own steel tarps and better 8 foot lumber tarps than Senn’s.

I posted those picks with a reason in mind but apparently that reason was lost on you. People come to this forum not just for the social aspect but to gain information as well. I know I did. Probably for the better part of a year before I even got started, this is the place I came to ask questions, get answers and learn. I lived and learned from that experience on the road. If I post the pictures it’s so that others can look and learn. As evidenced by the initial responses, the phenomenon as well as the cause of it the wasn’t exactly common knowledge.

But I digress, if I can be judgemental about guys who have an extra 6000 lbs to play with back aft as well as effectively a scale incorporated into their trailer, then I guess you can be judgemental about a rookie who ###### up loading then owned up to it.

 

Preach it brotha