Comments By BugSmasherOne (Paul K.)

Congratulatns Steven! You have definitely come a long way, literally, to get here.

Great work, Daniel !

How about an online version of Hangman, for consenting adults.

Joanna,

The flatbed division is fairly new and still very small and basically haul a dedicated account. There are currently 20-30 flatbed drivers with Knight. The largest number of this group are in the north Louisianna area and a few in eastern Pennsylvania.

Knight has several schools for CDL training, unfortunately Phoenix is the only one in the west.

Hi Starcar,

I have measured every angle on these trailers. It is exactly 102" from rub rail to rub rail. The track for the sliding tarp bolts to the outside of the rub rail and adds exactly 2 7/8" to each side. Here is an excerpt from the Federal Highway Admin. that covers us.

LENGTH AND WIDTH EXCLUSIVE DEVICES

States must allow certain devices to extend beyond the 2.6 m (102-inch) width limit of CMVs on the NN and reasonable access routes. These include rear-view mirrors, turn signal lamps, handholds for cab entry/egress, splash and spray suppressant devices, and load- induced tire bulge. Also excluded are non-property carrying devices that do not extend more than 3 inches beyond each side of the vehicle.

The sliding tarp falls under the non-property carrying device.

Now, there is a bracket for securing the rope that holds the rear flap raised. It is one inche wide and as such, makes that one small spot 3 1/2" wide. It hasn't happened to me, but I have heard it mentioned that there is a state that will write an over width because of that.

Also, worse than having the hyster driver bend your rub rail, a slight bump or drop on the light weight aluminum track will jam the rolling mechanism. You cannot move these trailers unless the tarp is closed and secured. I learned that first hand when a careless forklift driver dropped a rail car stabilizer (about 2500# of cast iron) on one. Took a little time with a sledge hammer and some creative forklift work to straighten it enough.

Joanna,

Hope I'm not intruding here. I switched to a dedicated flatbed account with Knight and about 80% of our loads are on sliding tarp trailers. Here is a picture with the trailer load covered.

And, here it is open and the load is being unloaded.

With these trailers, we still have to secure the load and meet all the other requirements of hauling flatbeds, but there are no tarps. You also never have to haul an over size load, as it must fit within the cover.

One draw back is reduced visibility around the trailer with your mirrors. The flatbed trailer is 102" wide, the standard width, and the sliding tarp mechanism adds 3 inches to each side to total 108". Just adds a little challenge to backing and keeping an eye on traffic approaching from behind.

On our open flatbeds we use two, 28' lumber tarps with eight foot drops. These are the large tarps that Old School is referring to, and they are heavy. As Starcar said, there is a forklift around to get the tarps to the top of the load or back onto the trailer when our empty. Just have to wrestle with them to fold and roll.

I'll be passing there Tuesday.

Mountain Girl,

There are only 2 answers to the question "Will you hire me to drive your truck?" Yes or no. If you never ask the question, the answer will never be yes. While it may still be no, you also give them the chance to explain what you may be able to do to change that no to a yes at a later date if you are still interested in working for them, I.e. one year experience, re-apply next month as they don't have any current openings, etc.

Also, I agree whole-heatedly wit Old Schools advice about discussing your training, the school and trainers.

Now, go ask your question to the company you are looking for a yes from!

With our electronin logs, QualComm, I put myself on line 1/off duty and then log out of the system. When I return, I log back into the QC. A message comes back with the past 8 day log, showing line one for the entire time I was off. I then just approve (sign electronically) the 8 day log and I'm done.

Lazar K.

One economic concept you need to know; Every company in the entire world is using their employees to make money!

When you are learning, the company is losing money by having you on their payroll. The have to pay for equipment, maintenance, insurance, etc. The company is also losing income because your trainer, who should be an experienced driver, will not be able to complete as many loads/miles when he is training you.

When you go solo and start hauling your first loads, you will not be as productive as an experienced driver. As you become more efficient and can better manage the driving and work requirements your pay will increase. I am now in my 8th month driving solo. I went through a company CDL training program and made $400/week while with my trainer. I then started out with making $0.28/ mile and had one of the oldest, highest mileage trucks in the fleet. I am now up to $0.40/mile and was handed the keys to a 2014 with 5,000 miles.

There are basically two ways to get your CDL. First, if you have the funds available, you can pay for it up front, or with a loan, and go to a private school. Unless you go to school and have other employment, there iis no income until you start work. Or, you can attend a company program, be paid a small amount while you are in training, then go to work for that company.

There is no right or wrong way to get your CDL. It just depends on which path best fits your situation. Either way, at the end of one year, you will be sitting at just about the same position whichever path you choose.