Tips and Tricks of flatbedding

Yes typically. Most of our guys just use short 4” straps to where I have my ratchet binder hooked. 4 per pallet. It works but I prefer ratchet binders because I can actually shift the load around to get it perfectly straight. There’s also roughly $1M worth of freight on each pallet, I’d hate to have a piece of road debris or a sign cut all my straps on one side.

 

Think you addressed it in your following post, but hooking to the steel rubrail is at least better than the aluminum ones, deformation vs tearing...

Like the way you grab the winch with a short chain though. For my preference, i like the tie bar thats *sometimes* bolted or welded past the LL track though

 

Try putting the chain all the way under the frame and around a pocket or a couple spools with the binder connected to or close to the load

Consider steel corner softeners on the framerails.

 

I carry 6 40’ and 50’ straps. I needed 8 for this load, so I took a 30’ strap and one of my short 8’ straps, taped the hooks together and put each end in a winch. The tape just keeps the hooks together incase the strap gets loose.

 

The Macgyver of flatbed!

 

Have ratchets and snaps as I used both.Smoke tarp comes in handy as does a sad tarp and...a coil bag.Live and learn.38 year's on this wonderful highway.

 

What kind of time are we talking about to tarp and strapdown a difficult load ? An hr. ?

 

Depends on several things.
1.) Your age. (Older slower, though more knowledgeable, so less flailing)
2.) Your experience or ability.(the more you've done, the easier it is)
3.) Your available equipment (ladders to get on the load, or having to climb up some how, bungies, rope, etc)
4.) Weather (colder/hotter harder, more moderate, easier)
5.) The load and it's configuration. (Odd shaped, needing padding, etc)

Except for similar loads, such as coils, flat steel etc, approx times are completely dependent on the number of times you have done it, and if you learn how to figure out what you need to do, and then the above numbered issues play a role. Just learning and starting out, you know nothing, you don't even know what you need to do the job, nor even the foggiest, about how to tarp, to start with. So word of advice, take your time, think the job through and then try it. Trial and error is your friend if you have no one to show you how, and even if someone shows you how, that's how they do it and whether or not you can duplicate it, is dependent, again, on you and your ability.

 

An hour is a short time. Some of these guys will spend a better part of a day tarping and securing a DIFFICULT load. It’d take me 45 minutes to an hour to strap pad and tarp a relatively squared off low stacked load of metal tube. In the weather and out of the weather can add time as well. Get a windy rainy day and you’ll be hating life

 

Thx for the reply , ive got 2 things against me i guess . Busted up a bit from 33 yrs of plumbing and i dont know jack sh t about trucking let alone securing a load . Trying to figure out where i might fit in .