Flatbed Drivers Here!!

[Texasspider]

Well I'm figuring that freight is slow for all the companies nowadays, but I was wondering if there are any places they seem to be worse than others.

I drive for PGT and sit for about 24 hours between dispatches when I'm out of Texas. The worse was this week were I sat for about 40 in E. St. Louis after unloading in Carlington, IL. They then found me a load from Jeffersonville, IN down to Laredo. But it's always been iffy getting loads for us outta Granite City, so I wasn't shocked by the wait.

And I sat for about 20 hours last week in Toledo, OH. Which used to be a hotspot.

So where are you guys sitting the most? And for how long?

-paul.

[ELGAUL]

i also live in houston and my normal week is houston to either okc or tulsa and back to hou,home every other night and weekends,sat last wed in hou,but so did everyone else,truckstop was packed and about 75% were flatbeds ,from small companies to the big one's...with 3 holiday's so close together it's not going to get much better untill after the first of the year.

[Texasspider]

I've sat in Houston for a few hours at the Pilot. But that's usally just to see if there is anything going up to the USS mill in Lone Star. If nothing goings, I'm deadheading up there to leave out.

I'm not complaining about the wait. It wasn't a whole better last year this time. I was just curious to see what everyone elses wait time were.

[DaveP]

I never even slowed down this time last year...(PGT also)

I'm on a pipe load out of South Houston bound for Chapel Hill, NC (for Tuesday?)...Went ahead and stopped at the house though as they've already hinted that we MAY be stuck in NC over Thanksgiving.

We'll see....

[Texasspider]

Hey Dave. I'm the old downsouthdriver.

The only time I slowed down last year was the first weekend of Nov and then the week of Thanksgiving. Unloaded in Detroit and sat for a day and a half before they found a load outta Zanesville going to Laredo. The day before T-Day.

[DaveP]

Oh...hey there!

Last Thanksgiving they deadheaded me from Laredo to Houston...then towards New Orleans...then halfway there they told me to head on home.

1086 miles to the house (in the wee hours of Thanksgiving Day).

I've already mentioned that to Perry (He took Kay's place in B'ham) and he said he didn't think that was going to happen this year but that they would be "busting ***** to get us all loads home for Thanksgiving out of NC"...

[Texasspider]

Well that beats my biggest deadhead by a longshot. Hopefully they'll get ya' home this year.

I told Mark (in lonestar) that my gf is cooking Thanksgiving dinner for both mine and her families and that if I wasn't home for it, I might as well not come home again. I got this load the next day.


Are still getting home on weekends or are they keeping you out?

[Bug]

Ive sat as long as 5 days in denton Texas just last week.

[Texasspider]

Five days might have me thinking about just driving home. That sucks.

[repete]

Ive sat as long as 5 days in denton Texas just last week.

5 DAYS!! and your going to stay with CRST! You my friend must have the patience of a saint

[INKTOXICATED]

Its really slow for us. Gaf hauling roofing supply. Weve been getting days off rotating. Its only late november to. Were all going to try and collect partial unemployment for the winter being all our hours got dipped from 60 to 25-30

[heavyhaulerss]

I used to haul into & out of jeffersonville IN, (eagle & voss/clark )the last month I've been sitting at home.. I am not going out unless there is a real good chance I'll get a load out. sometimes all that waiting is just not worth it. idleing & cheap loads just to get out, in the end will not net any money. just cover cost, while wearing out your equip.

[GMAN]

It is slow everywhere right now. Some areas that are usually good are no longer doing much. Rates are very low. Brokers and some shippers are really taking advantage of the situation. You are usually better off staying in the middle of the country.

[IronRydr]

I'm a newbie to the forum and a trucker wannabe, so forgive me if my question doesn't belong in this post, but I'll ask anyway. I live in VA and am starting school next Monday with a Sage school in NC to obtain my CDL. I'm strongly considering trying to get into flatbedding, as opposed to dry vans, primarily because of the money, especially with freight and mileage down these days. My question is this, at 49 years old, can I handle the work of strapping and tarping? I've heard good and bad. I'm a building contractor now, so I'm used to carrying heavy loads, humping 80lb. bundles of shingles up ladders, etc. I'm also used to being out in all kinds of weather, sometimes all day long at 25-30 degrees. Compared to what I'm doing now, is flatbedding really that much work?
Thanks,
IronRydr

[devildice]

I'm a newbie to the forum and a trucker wannabe, so forgive me if my question doesn't belong in this post, but I'll ask anyway. I live in VA and am starting school next Monday with a Sage school in NC to obtain my CDL. I'm strongly considering trying to get into flatbedding, as opposed to dry vans, primarily because of the money, especially with freight and mileage down these days. My question is this, at 49 years old, can I handle the work of strapping and tarping? I've heard good and bad. I'm a building contractor now, so I'm used to carrying heavy loads, humping 80lb. bundles of shingles up ladders, etc. I'm also used to being out in all kinds of weather, sometimes all day long at 25-30 degrees. Compared to what I'm doing now, is flatbedding really that much work?
Thanks,
IronRydr

Contrary to popular belief, flatbedding is not all that hard. Yes it can be physically demanding at times (not to mention a real pain in the you know what). There are times when I absolutely hate it as I am fighting a tarp in the wind, chaining or strapping down in frigid temps or in hot humid conditions, but overall it really isn't that bad. In my opinion, a person will either love or hate flatbedding.......there's no middle ground. I am one of those sick people that LOVE it. In addition the the physically aspect, I love the fact that you have to use your brain when it comes to securement as each load can be different.

[jimifoad]

your all killing me. i've been with this company 3 months (Gambler Express) that's all i do is sit. when i say something they say i have an attitude. spent 7 days in laredo last week.

[thbogle]

If all you do is sit how do you make enough to pay the bills?

[Jumbo]

I agree with DD. Alot of guys think that pulling something other then a van or reefer is just too hard. I just tarped my first load in six weeks. It was a big one too. 3' wide, 10'long and 4' tall. I feel bad for the guys who have to tarp just about everything they put on the trailer.

[GMAN]

I'm a newbie to the forum and a trucker wannabe, so forgive me if my question doesn't belong in this post, but I'll ask anyway. I live in VA and am starting school next Monday with a Sage school in NC to obtain my CDL. I'm strongly considering trying to get into flatbedding, as opposed to dry vans, primarily because of the money, especially with freight and mileage down these days. My question is this, at 49 years old, can I handle the work of strapping and tarping? I've heard good and bad. I'm a building contractor now, so I'm used to carrying heavy loads, humping 80lb. bundles of shingles up ladders, etc. I'm also used to being out in all kinds of weather, sometimes all day long at 25-30 degrees. Compared to what I'm doing now, is flatbedding really that much work?
Thanks,
IronRydr

I am older than you and I don't have too many problems with a flatbed. The only real difficulty is handling the tarps, especially the lumber tarps. It isn't usually a big deal but can be challenging when you have to get up on top of a tall load with the tarps. Most of the time you can get the fork lift operator to put them up for you. Pulling a flatbed is mostly common sense. The work part comes with the tarps. You get into heavy winds or high heat can make tarping much more difficult. It mainly takes time. Once the tarps are in place all you need to do is put the bungee's on to hold the tarp. If you haven't been accustomed to lifting you might have a problem if you need to throw your tarps on the trailer. If you can carry 80 pounds up a ladder I doubt that you will have a problem lifting a tarp. It takes time to learn a job.

[devildice]

I am older than you and I don't have too many problems with a flatbed. The only real difficulty is handling the tarps, especially the lumber tarps. It isn't usually a big deal but can be challenging when you have to get up on top of a tall load with the tarps. Most of the time you can get the fork lift operator to put them up for you. Pulling a flatbed is mostly common sense. The work part comes with the tarps. You get into heavy winds or high heat can make tarping much more difficult. It mainly takes time. Once the tarps are in place all you need to do is put the bungee's on to hold the tarp. If you haven't been accustomed to lifting you might have a problem if you need to throw your tarps on the trailer. If you can carry 80 pounds up a ladder I doubt that you will have a problem lifting a tarp. It takes time to learn a job.

BINGO! It is mostly common sense (although there are many drivers out there that I wonder about). For me, one of the best parts about flatbedding is the "mental" challenge you get when securing a load. Meaning simply that every load, for the most part, is different and requires the driver to use his brain to figure out how to properly secure it. Sometimes the challenge is extremely simple and other times it has you stepping back and scratching your head. Tarping is the "hardest" part of the job but yet isn't that hard when you get used to it or know what you're doing. As gman said, most of the time you can get the forklift driver to place your tarps up on the load which helps eliminate or reduce the "hard" part of it.