Flatbed Vs Dry Van

Thinking About a New Career, forgive me if you've already seen this, but here's a link to a brief diary I did on a week in the life of a flat-bedder. You may find it informative in your decision making process.

What's the thing they say about flatbedders? There are only 2 kinds of flatbedders. . . one that is injured and one that is about to get injured.

Lol.

Old School,

You were less than 25 miles from me when you delivered in Otsego and I'm on home time! Wish I would have known I would have brought you some coffee and helped you with the tarps, just to meet you.

Yeah, Old School must have picked up some of those big rolls of paper. Pre-loaded and already tarped, I assume?

Tail Gunner, you are right about the paper rolls from the USG plant (Otsego Paper) there in Otsego. I had a live load this time, but usually it is a pre-loaded trailer like you said. They still did my tarping for me though and I got paid for doing it - can't beat a deal like that. This was a great load to get on a Friday because it gave me about 1200 miles for the weekend. My destination is Jacksonville, Florida.

Larry, I'm sure sorry I was that close to you and didn't realize it. I would have loved to get the chance to meet you. I keep my eyes peeled for you all the time. I'm constantly checking the number on all the Melton trucks I see, but so far I've not come across your truck. We will meet though, because I know we are running in and out of a lot of the same places.

Dang Old School. I was home as well In Grand Rapids. About 40 min from me. Would of been awesome to pick your brain over lunch or dinner. Stay safe out there man.

Man, I just completely missed out on meeting both of you guys, and it sounds like I missed a great opportunity to meet both of you guys at the same time. Well, we will just keep our eyes and ears open and maybe we'll manage to make it happen one day soon. Daniel claims I'm good at avoiding people from the forum, and I guess if I keep doing blunders like that it probably looks that way. I look forward to meeting you both one of these days.

Old School, I even made a run through Nacogdoches yesterday and you weren't there.

What's the thing they say about flatbedders? There are only 2 kinds of flatbedders. . . one that is injured and one that is about to get injured.

Lol.

I would say only if they're getting in a hurry and doing things improperly is there a significant chance of injury. But then, that's true of any job in the industry.

Tom...you are right....you learn in flatbedding, that if you don't wanna fly, when the wind catches that tarp, you let go. And if you like both your eyes, you wear safety glasses when you bungie down. And those leather gloves are fitting a little loose for a reason...those chains can catch your hand in a second..its nice to know you have the room to slip your fingers out, just in case. And those boots will keep you from slipping on that load..even tho those tennies feel better, and are cooler.

You learn to "pre trip" a load...and you also learn to "pre dress" TO load....