Lack of experience
 

Need some advice on what to do because of my lack of experience driving a truck. I am starting to wonder if I should go ahead and lease to someone because I have no experience. I have only be driving since March I been hauling sod only. I can’t stay as busy has I need to just hauling sod. I have a operating authority for Tx only. And my tags are farm use only. I can change my insurance and my tags for about $2k. But I have restrictions on a 200-mile radius of Crcokett Tx. but they say I can go anywhere in Tx if this happens only 25% of the time.
Questions
1. What type of equipment do I need to trap and tie down loads.
2. How and where is there information about the right way to secure loads
3. I just looked on truckstop.com and searched a 200 mile radius of Crocktt, Tx it came up with 3385 flatbed loads within this radius, some I only looked at the first two pages which were 75 miles of Crockett. Most were loads that stayed in tx. Some went out of state. My question is this for real info are they just putting up BS on the demo to get drivers to subscribe to the service.?
4. I have a fixed fithwheel on my truck should I plan on changing this?
5. If I lease to a company what will they cover as for tags and insurance.

My trailer is 45x102 and has a head board, sliding axle all steel and weighs in at 12200# fixed winches on both side of trailer and setup to haul forklift.
My truck is 2002 KW T800 with no headache rack and fixed fithwheel and weighs 16900#

I admit I am a little nervous about running on my own. But I have to get this rig on the road more and pretty soon. Please post comments I know there’s lots of experience out there in fact after reading some of the post I am thinking that maybe I should lease out for a while to get some experience.
Thanks

I just checked Internettruckstop and they have 830 flatbed loads within 100 mile radius of Crockett, TX.

If you plan on pulling a flatbed you will need a minimum of 10 straps, 10 chains, 10 ratchets, binders, tarps, coil racks, bungee's, etc., If you purchase new you are looking at around $2,500 for all of your securement equipment. I believe JJ Keller has a book which tells how to properly secure loads. They can be found in some truck stops or you can go online. Having a sliding 5th wheel would be best, but a fixed can work for you. I rarely move my 5th wheel.

Some carriers provide base plates and others do not. Most carriers won't lease you on without at least 6 months to 1 year of driving experience. Those who provide base plates usually pay low rates. Some of the percentage carriers will secure your base plates and permits, but will deduct the cost from your weekly settlement.

Running your authority is expensive. Insurance is outrageous starting out. If you plan on traveling out of Texas you will need to get Federal Motor Carrier authority. There are those who make a living just running Texas or some of the surrounding states, such as Oklahoma and Louisiana. Texas is a big state. There seems to be a lot of freight near you.

thanks Gman, you said 10 ratchets I though they were binders, what kind of tarps, not sure what you mean by coil racks. I think I have 11 or 12 winch straps on each side, is this what you mean by ratchets??

Will carriers let you lease on without experience?

I would expect to have to ride with a trainer for about a month, after that what would be the difference in driving their truck or leaseing my to them.

You can use either ratchets or binders. I use snap binders and ratchets. The ratchets are sometimes referred to as binders. I consider ratchets as those which you screw to tighten and loosen. There are hooks on each end which screw in and out. Both are used with chains. You will need at least 10 of each. You don't need ratchets and binders. I just keep both on the truck to use them with different applications. You need to be VERY careful with the snap binders. They can really hurt you. Some people only use the ratchets since it isn't so easy to hurt yourself. I usually keep at least one strap for each winch on the trailer. In fact, I normally have one or two spares in case I break one.

Coil racks are a flat piece of metal which is bent on each end and folded to cradle two pieces of beveled wood. You use two of them for each coil. You need 2 coil racks, two pieces of 4 x 4 beveled wood about 4 or 5 feet long, and 2 pieces of rubber belting for each rack. Once set up you can place a single coil in each one. I usually keep 5 coil racks on the truck. If you don't want to haul coils, you don't need to worry about getting them. In addition, you will need edge protectors for your straps and chains. The chains don't actually need protecting, but the coils do. You will need 2 edger protectors for each strap and each chain. They are designed differently. When you pull a flat bed, most haul some steel. You don't want to lose a load because you don't have the proper equipment. Like I said, you don't have to haul coils, but it can keep you rolling.

If I were you, I would sit down and decide what I want to do. There are carriers, such as Landstar and CRST Malone who will train you in securement. CRST Malone requires 6 months driving experience. Landstar requires 1 year. Both will finance your securement equipment if you can't buy it on your own. Both will purchase your base plates and permits, but will deduct the cost weekly from your settlements. You will pay less by getting your own base plates and permits from your home state. Both have agents in Texas, Landstar has more. CRST Malone is agent based, but also assigns a dispatcher to each owner operator. With Landstar, you are pretty much on your own. There are other carriers, such as Jones, Mercer, etc., who are also agent based. Most will require at lease 1 year of experience.

Thanks again Gman, I know what you are talking about now on the rachet binders I use them to tie down my forklift. So I have 2 already my are for 3/8" to 1/2" chain. does the chain have to meet a minium of weight capicity? and I just ordered the book from jj keller it was $7.25 cost more to ship it than the book it self. What about your tarps?? How do you store all this stuff on your rig??

As far as I know, most all carriers require experience for owner operators. The exception would be some of the fleece purchase carriers. The one who requires the least is CRST Malone, as far as I recall. You may want to go by the Dallas Truck Show next week. Most of the major carriers will be present. I remember some of the Texas regional carriers were there last year.

I use the 3/8" ratchets, binders and chains. You need M70 grade, which is what car haulers use. You can make your own or buy them from many tarp shops, hardware stores, etc., They have a good enough weight rating for most flat bed applications. You don't usually need 1/2". I am glad you found the securement book.

I usually keep my tarps on the front of my flat bed or upper deck on my step deck. I just throw a strap across them. If you have side tool boxes, you can also store them there. I have 5 tarps on my step deck. You don't need that many for your application. All you really need is a lumber tarp set. Or you could buy 2 steel tarps and one lumber tarp. You can usually buy them from most tarp companies. There is a good tarp company in Houston not far from the TA on I-10. You can see them on the South side of the interstate. They seem to be reasonable. I believe there used to be a tarp repair shop near the old TA in Dallas. If not, you can go on line and order them from a number of places. Tri-State Tarp is in East St. Louis, IL, just across the river from St. Louis. They have most anything you want. If you go on line, you can see the tarp configuration of which I am talking about.

I ordered a mesh tarp for the sod hauling it is very simular to a lumber tarp the way that it is cut. I roll my mesh tarp on a spool that is mounted on the bulkhead of the trailer. Do you think a lumber tarp could be rolled on the spool the same way I thinking the weight of the tarp my be to heavy to crank it up and not sure about being in the weather all the time.

Insurance is the primary factor with carriers and their hiring requirements. Even though it is your truck, they furnish cargo and liability insurance. Rates are through the roof for those who don't have experience. Some insurance companies won't write a policy to cover drivers without 2 years experience. Some carriers require experience whether you are an owner operator or company driver.

Since you already have your TX DOT you can haul intrastate. There are a lot of brokers with intrastate freight and you may even find more farm related cargo to haul. The mileage restriction could be something of a problem, but with your location, you can haul back and forth from Dallas to Houston and probably stay fairly busy and still be within your operating area. If I were running strictly intrastate I would primarily run the triangle from Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. You are not going to get rich, but you could make an acceptable living. I have known of some who do very well. You may even pull some dumps. They always seem to need dump trailers hauled around Texas. There is a steel plant in Midlothian. It is usually cheap interstate. I don't know about the intrastate rates. Steel is nearly always available around Houston. There is also steel roofing being hauled up around the Metroplex. Interstate rates are not very good for some of those loads, but rates should be better for intrastate. Without experience, I think you are going to need to either use your authority and live with the mileage limitation, or drive for another carrier until you gain enough experience to lease on.