Flatbed is not for noobs
 

There are a lot of things to worry about and learn when you are a new driver, a lot of noobs are very stressed just by running the truck to where the additional headache of securement is not reccomendable until you have at least 6 mos. or mastered a few key things:
-knowing your trucks limitations by how it feels when going through a turn
-shifting at the right speeds/rpm AND at the right point around turns.
-knowing how to deal with dispatch
-trip planning and time management
-HOS regs (hours of loading+securing are ON DUTY NOT DRIVING!)
-weight distribution
-keeping a cool head in the event of danger (relatively)
-stress management
-space management pretaining esp. to following distances
Companies that train new drivers in flatbedding are suspect to me because they cannot possibly train you in all those things according to your needs and in securing all loads properly. The only way to learn how to secure specific loads is to have a vet. show you on that load. No textbook or pic will teach you unique considerations for specific loads and your equipment. You must first master the above points with ease, so you are not stressed or pressed into cutting corners, forgetting or miscalculating. I pulled a flat for only a few months and liked it, but I must tell you some loads felt like I was balancing them on my head.
Everyone stresses steel coil securement- I actually think they are easy because they are simple to secure and are small enough to where you have the ability to 'take a step back' to look at the big picture and realize mistakes. A lot of common sense is needed and 3d thinking really helps! I think there are a whole lot more mistakes to be made when hauling pipe, flat steel lumber, drywall and pallets.
HOS regs work against flatbedders more than dry 'vanners' because if u pull a van you can show loading time in the sleeper, not so in flatbedding :lol: No DOT man will believe you if you show only 30 mins securing a load of lumber and tarping it! The first coil i secured, I worked for 4 hrs and was exhausted afterwards. You think I drove 11 hrs after that? :?
As to space management- several times I found myself stepping on the brakes real hard and had drywall and flat steel move forward on the trailer :shock: Why? Inexperience! This is less likely in a dryvan because you load them all the way to the bulkhead, eliminating space to slide forward to. Therefore its more important that you read traffic well and anticipate than in a dryvan. Those are skills learned over years of driving, not a 3 wk. course or a video!!!

Im sure i left out a lot of points i wanted to mention and surely vet flatbedders can amend to this. I hope this helps!!

One, I have never pulled a flatbed, but I think you are probably right. Same goes for carhaul, but not quite as much. In car haul, once the car is properly strapped down, you shouldn't need to worry about it shifting (though you have to check it a lot). But that's a lot of responsibility when you are a new driver- too much new stuff all at once and SOMETHING is going to get overlooked.

I would think that a flatbed- from what you say- is similar to a tanker. I have also never driven a tanker but it would really freak me out for the liquid to push me into the intersection...

Good post. I think it's always a good idea for a new driver to get some good DRIVING experience before they add to their trucking- flatbed, o/o, car haul... anything. Driving is our #1 job, and doing it safely and skillfully takes experience.

All good points. I've been running a flat bed & trailer {26,000 lbs} for eight months. The thing that keeps me and others safe is my experience {from 9 years of OTR driving}. It allows me "time to think" about the load, that is never the same, requires thought and know how to secure so its safe to travel.
The thing I notice while driving is vehicles that are speeding, tailgating and changing lanes a lot, its bad news. They are intent on what is in front of them and not looking down the road to the slowing traffic. Empty or loaded big trucks cannot stop.

During school I made a commitment to myself that I would be the best driver. I work on it EVERY day {don't care to be on the "6 o'clock news"}.

-"HOS regs (hours of loading+securing are ON DUTY NOT DRIVING!)"

If thats how you wana log it. I always load entire houses into my trailer in 4 hrs too! :lol: :lol: 8)

I learned to drive a truck flat bedding winching my cargo up a and rigging up gin poles stacking pipe racks it was a pain the butt and we used the old style boombers that u boom with a cheater pipe that crap would wear u out. now im hauling forklifts and backhoes flatbed. I dont see how it requires anymore experiance than van to me tanker requires more than both

shifting at the right speeds/rpm AND at the right point around turns.

:shock: :P

Excellent post, One. When pulling loads like pallets, especially used pallets, you need to be very sure about the height. It may mean climbing onto the load and measuring down to the ground. And, it's not just the edges, but make sure the center across the width of the trailer is the same height.

Back when J B Hunt had a flatbed division, (cabovers and all) one of their drivers failed to check the top of his load. The result was the back two stacks of pallets left on I-94 in Detroit along with about 20 feet of 4-inch strap still hanging from the overpass when I went by. The two top pallets from each stack were jammed onto the lip of the I-beam of the overpass. The angle of the pallets up there would suggest that if the load was 13' 6", the center of the back 2 stacks must have been about 14' 2". Much too high to clear those bridges.

Sometimes, you'll haul equipment. First impulse is to throw the strap over the top. But to do that would mean destroying the equipment. Light sheet-metal on top will not secure 4 inches of solid steel at the base.

Throwing a strap over those large sheets of stone that come from AZ will only cut the strap in two. Many times, the guys loading will tell you how to secure your load, but suppose you've got a drop-&-hook. And they have all gone home. You're on your own, and you'd better know what you're doing.

Or, a load of machinery with all sorts of sharp corners sticking out all over. And you have to tarp it. You'd better know what to do with all those corners so that you don't have to patch 6-foot holes in the tarp when you deliver the load.

Multiple tarps on a single load can be another challange. Don't do it right, and the wind will pull all your tarps off the load when you start driving. More than one driver has been parked on the shoulder of the road because he started tarping from front to back.

Whats your point? I dont see anything wrong with that...

WOW ! Thanks as a newbie to the trucking world, I have read several of these, but I just hired on to a local flatbed company, and never thought about it all that much but you are right, I have my work cut out for me and just hope I can catch on and get it. They have a 5 week training program but after I read this I'm not sure if that will be enough.

Points
 

One, what Fozz is saying is shifts aren't made during a turn. And BTW, I started pulling a flatbed, 7 weeks with a trainer, when JB had their flatbed division (later Charger) and wouldn't have done it any other way. I saw nothing going on with a box. BOL