Flatbed And Driving Help Needed, Long Post

I completely agree with Turtle. You're totally new to flatbed and you had several things thrown at you at once on this load. All his tips were excellent.

As a flatbed driver you will be learning new things with almost each load you get. This learning curve will be almost overwhelming for the first three months. Get yourself prepared for it. This is trucking on steroids - that's just how it is as a new flatbedder.

This is your life now, you've got to embrace it or go back to dry vans or reefers. Each of the different trucking jobs has their own set of challenges, but as a new driver, flat-bedding can really be challenging. Continually balking at the challenges is going to land you in the dog house with your dispatcher , and that's something that can really hurt your pay. I think you get where I'm going. You really don't need to go there.

Brazen you are showing your lack of knowledge here. Please read my reply. Her load was NOT illegal.

How would I know what illegal is or not? I havent even started school yet. I was only acting on IF it was illegal, I wasnt making a legal determination because Im not qualified obviously.

An audio recorder used professionally is not a joke or a waste of time. It takes less than a minute to prepare, and eliminates all "he said she said" about any incident, period. Again, I'm not suggesting anyone did anything wrong in the story, I'm saying IF someone needs to protect themselves from any attempts to force an unsafe and/or illegal load, an audio recorder is the best option. Keep in mind, turning it in to someone in authority isnt required. Just recording can be good enough. Have a sense of humor and blame it on a less that 100% accurate memory, this isnt a confrontational act.

Brazen you are showing your lack of knowledge here. Please read my reply. Her load was NOT illegal.

How would I know what illegal is or not? I havent even started school yet. I was only acting on IF it was illegal, I wasnt making a legal determination because Im not qualified obviously.

An audio recorder used professionally is not a joke or a waste of time. It takes less than a minute to prepare, and eliminates all "he said she said" about any incident, period. Again, I'm not suggesting anyone did anything wrong in the story, I'm saying IF someone needs to protect themselves from any attempts to force an unsafe and/or illegal load, an audio recorder is the best option. Keep in mind, turning it in to someone in authority isnt required. Just recording can be good enough. Have a sense of humor and blame it on a less that 100% accurate memory, this isnt a confrontational act.

Waste of time...sorry, I’ll never agree with that. Totally unnecessary. No one can force you to move an illegal load; overweight or oversize.

Thank you everyone for the awesome replies. I appreciate every point and I know what to work on.

The money issue... Well I can't get into that here, it's personal but trust me, it's not been fun. It's definitely on the list and will be gotten as soon as possible.

Thank you and I hope your Thanksgiving is fantastic 😊

Turtle mentioned the trick of letting slack into your strap to use it as a sling to get it over a high load. I completely agree with that and if I ever run I to you I'll be glad to show you!

Also, I'll add that the width of your trailer matters. Your load is allowed to be 102" wide, (securement does not count against the width), regardless of whether it's hanging over the rub rails or not. My company has a lot of flatbeds that are only 96" wide. This means if your load is hanging over by 3" on both sides, you're still legal.

Thanks Chris.

So if my load is over the rail I should measure it then to be on the safe side?

You can do that to be safe, or just know the width of the trailer you're pulling. Most to my knowledge are 102". That's all we pull.

It's pretty rare that you'll encounter a problem like you had. Don't sweat it too much.

Thanks Turtle

Also you don’t have to go under the rub rail......All tiedowns and other components of a cargo securement system used to secure loads on a trailer equipped with rub rails must be located inboard of the rub rails whenever practicable.

landed on the product and they had no ladder. I haven't had the money for a ladder. I do know this is my responsibility if I need it

I got up early to start again. During the night the winds blew several straps off and I couldn't get them back over the load between the winds and no ladder I was pretty frustrated.

Half Pint: If you ever go through Utah, check with the Ladder Day Saints. They might be able to help you out! Also, to all you experienced flatbedders out there, what type of ladder is the most practical?