The money we made in the 70's and 80's bought more than it does today. We lived a much simpler lifestyle.

People were nicer and there were fewer distractions from cell phones, pagers, computers and the internet. I didn't even own a computer until about 1985. Even that was only used for my business. There were problems, but attitudes of people were different. Cars were more fun to drive. People were not terrified to see someone with a gun.

We didn't have cell phone bills, internet connection bills,satellite radio bills, satellite TV(in truck) bills,health insurance was cheap,..............................

How did you stay in touch with the family and friends when trucking? Write postcards? I think cell phones and Internet made life much easier for long haul drivers. We are not as isolated from the society as we once were.

Pay Phones, maybe one call a day. In the 50's and 60's company's would send teletype messages to drivers at truck stops where they new they would be stopping, when I started in the early 70's the company I worked with still used teletype machines between terminals. Ill sent our oversize permits via teletype.

Here's another load where a 10'1" spread might work better... I'm waiting to hear from the Agent and I'm picking up steel plates. All are 37' long, 9.6' wide, and 2 inches high. The weight is 45,201 lbs. I hope I can distribute it equally between the trailer and truck axles by some creative use of the dunnage. I need to put more weight on the truck axles.

Seems to me, that when I hauled a load similar to that a few years ago...I had the plates spotted right up against the drop and the weight worked out just right. 32K on the drivers...36K split between the trailer axles. IF my memory is serving me correctly today. There is a break-point on the lower deck where the weight makes the shift just right.

If I remember correctly!

I was too late loading today (too much snow in their yard) so I am coming back tomorrow morning after the shipper removes the snow. Meanwhile I have the exact measurements; turns out I'm picking up 5 steel plates and they are:

(1) 27' x 7.4'
(1) 31' x 9.9'
(3) 37.6' x 6.5'

This is length and width. The height is about 1 or 2 inches, it's the same for all the plates. The weight is about 45K. I multiplied the footage, and the first one is 199 sq.ft, the second one is 306 sq.ft. and Line 3 is 244 sq.ft. Which means the oversize one is the heaviest! I think I'll start with the longest, and then stack them as close to the front drop as possible, with the shortest on the top.

load up tight against the drop if possible, and put something like wood between the plates and use lots of chains

plates are sometimes a nightmare, they always want to keep shifting around.

i guess you could use straps as well, maybe a mix of chains and straps.

I'd definitely use dunnage as my floor is aluminum with 4 nailers only. I know the very rear of such a load usually tends to shift. I'll probably put at least 2 chains on the very back and use my new RATCHET binders to make sure everythign is tight. The run is 2,000 miles long!