So, How About This Weather?

[other dog]

Load of steel I took to Bristol, TN. one time. Picked it up in Richmond and accumulated this much ice along the way. 

Load of lumber, I had 4 straps on each stack, and a belly strap on the highest stack.

Load of beams I took to sunny Florida. I had a chain looped around the top stack in front that went in front of the bottom stack, and an extra chain or two on the bottom stack.

I've seen more pictures and videos of trucks that had beams or pipe go through the cab in the last 10 years or so than I did the whole time I was driving, 42+ years. And the one thing that every single one had in common was that the beams were strapped, no chains. I think now the thought is "I'm not going to chain this, I ain't got time. I'll throw a few straps across it and ride".

[other dog]

2 minutes ago, Geoff Weeks said:

Up in Canada, they carry aintifreeze in a spray bottle to spray on the tarp to keep it from freezing together when folded.

 

 

I've folded tarps and they had a little bit of snow in them, and unfolded them weeks later and the snow would still be there, hadn't melted even when it had been above freezing for days.

[cruiseliner64]

46 minutes ago, Mark T said:

You won't find a workout like that at Planet Fitness.

Oh boy do I remember that so well. Drive 5/6 hours...spend 4/5 hours ropeing and tarping a load then 5/6 hours driving back.Its no wonder the Curtainsider took over.Open curtains, load,strap the load Close curtains.On the way back in 1/2 hours......

Paul

[cruiseliner64]

1 hour ago, 70mackMB said:

l don't remember which one was more fun. Folding frozen stiff snow and ice covered tarps or trying to cover a load with frozen stiff snow and ice covered tarps. And trying to stay standing up on top of the load while doing it!  lol

No ropes over here Paul. Rubber straps with "S" hooks on them. The colder it gets the less elasticity they have. And the load straps frozen onto the winches with road spray. OH back when it was fun. 

When l drove for Georgia Pacific (lumber and building supplies) we would leave with 8-12 stops under two tarps. Seems there was always something that needed to be covered right to the last stop of the day.  .....Hippy 

It was all ropes and dolly knots when I was doing it.If you "found" a strap or 2 you hid it and told no one🤣 1 thing that amazed me was how tight you could tie down a load with a half inch rope and dolly knots....

Paul

[cruiseliner64]

13 minutes ago, Geoff Weeks said:

Up in Canada, they carry aintifreeze in a spray bottle to spray on the tarp to keep it from freezing together when folded.

 You can carry a lot more stuff on a flatbed that you can with a curtinside or consatoga kit. 

I have pulled all three. The last two are great for uncrated machinery, which is like tarping an octopus with rigamortus.  However you can't pull OD loads or hang stuff off the front and/or rear of the trailer like you can with flatbed.

Not that I like tarping, but it is part of the job.

When I was operating, there  places that would not load either of the "covered" flatbed, they didn't want to work around the covers.

OD loads is about all flats are used for now over here but yes tarping sure was part of the job.Not now though, I know some of the freight companys pulling out of the port where we are have to turn down or delay taking loads untill a driver who can rope/chain and tarp a load is available.Indeed I have been asked a good few times would I do some runs for them.Unfortunaly I cant as the company I work for would dismiss me on the spot if they found out.The reason is I would not have enough of a rest peroid to do my next turn of duty for them ......Sure would like to do some to keep my hand in practise.....

Paul

[other dog]

1 minute ago, cruiseliner64 said:

Oh boy do I remember that so well. Drive 5/6 hours...spend 4/5 hours ropeing and tarping a load then 5/6 hours driving back.Its no wonder the Curtainsider took over.Open curtains, load,strap the load Close curtains.On the way back in 1/2 hours......

Paul

I got to pull a Conestoga once in a while. This is bags of sand going to US Pipe in Lynchburg. 

Steel going to N.B. Handy in Davenport, Florida.

I always put at least one chain, usually two, on these stacks of sheets, plus belly straps. Most of the other guys threw 2 straps across the top and called it a day.

This is one of my favorite pictures. Zina took it from her car, we were on the bridge on 295 in Jacksonville, FL.

[mowerman]

Geoff I have also thought of the same thing around here these days I still see quite a few flatbeds not many curtains, but most of loads I see also don’t require tarping  ever since they come out with the curtains I was thinking that right from the start they look like a pain in the ass to load

[other dog]

2 hours ago, Joey Mack said:

Another missed oppotunity..  dang-it..

If you wait long enough you can come get it with a tanker. The down side of that is that it'll be much harder to put together.

[Geoff Weeks]

For the right load, they are the best. Moving production machinery from one plant to another, that can't get wet, there is no equal. On the other hand, general flat bed freight they are a mixed bag. 

When conastoga's first came out, there were states where the width was a problem on 102" width trailers. It took federal ruling that the tarp system wasn't considered  the trailer and could be wider.

 

[other dog]

Yeah, there's that. It's very hard to see behind you. One place we went to in Greenville, S.C. had a very tight door you had to back into. It's hard to back into the dark out of the bright sunlight anyway and the Conestoga made it that much harder. The hole was barely wider than the trailer to start with, with the wall on the right side and the dock on the left. They drove the forklift on the dock right up to the side of the trailer to unload the material.

[Geoff Weeks]

Seams like those docks were made for railcar unloading. Been in a few like that.

I was delivering a "drop table" to a railyard (drops the motors and axles out from under the locomotive) . They were insisting that I back in an 11' door when the load was close to 14" wide! Ended up on the old turntable and backed in on the tracks. Drove onto the turntable then rotated and back into the shop.

[Joey Mack]

This is about to be the most snow I have seen here in the 20 years Ive lived here...