What Are The Disadvantages of a Conestoga

Depends on where you run and what you haul. I pulled a hard top curtain van for about 8 months and would have no desire for one again. If your load has sharp edges and is anywhere close to the outside edge of your trailer you still have to pad edges just like with a tarp unless you enjoy patching holes.

You’ll always be dragging a 13’6” x 108” kite no matter what your load is. In the wind I’d take an empty cow trailer over an empty curtain any day.

The rest of my time with a flatbed and regular tarps I didn’t have much problem with wind. We had box end tarps and once you dropped the ends over they weren’t going anywhere. As far as folding them I could always get next to a building or bunk of lumber for a wind break.

 

Biggest con for me over the years has been how severe winter weather makes using the thing a pain in the ###.... keeping snow and ice off it when it sits, having to open and close when it's stiff, using more washer fluid in the tracks than on the windshield. The fine snow works it's way into everything

The wind definitely sucks, but it does more so dealing with regular tarps

I don't worry about the fuel efficiency because the added productivity more than makes up for it. My conestoga has opened a world of opportunity to me with customers who require or prefer a covered wagon vs open w/tarp... and most pay a premium for it.... or it gives a significant edge over competition when dealing with those who won't

Some mills won't load them... oh well. There was a tugboat 5 years ago I had to rent an open deck for, and a transformer I had to turn down last year... oh well.

If the majority of your freight is tarped, it's a slam dunk in my opinion