Flatbed Variety

Stupid question: why haul lumber on a flatbed, wouldnt it fit fine in a van?

Stupid question: why haul lumber on a flatbed, wouldnt it fit fine in a van?

A little harder to load and off load with a forklift that way lol, they'd be loading sheet by sheet not really time effiecent.

Cody, most people aren't even aware of it but Knight Transportation has a small specialized/dedicated flat-bed fleet that strictly hauls SAPA aluminum loads. That is who I'm employed by. Here's an example of the types of loads I haul.

I meant to take a picture of the flat steel I hauled last week, but forgot in all the busy-ness. So here's a couple of pics of the toughest load I've had to deal with so far - tough not because of tarping or chaining or ice or snow, but because one of the boards under the load broke, causing it to shift. Cost me time and money, too.

Here's the wrong way to load these things when one is shorter than the others:

Here's the right way:

This lesson cost me $350, but I'll offer it to you for free: pay attention when someone is loading your truck, and tell them if you don't like the way they're doing it.

You had to pay? Are you company or lease?

Stupid question: why haul lumber on a flatbed, wouldnt it fit fine in a van?

Lumber is not all 8' long. That would be difficult to put in a van. And I believe that 8' may be too tight for a van but I have never measured one.

After dropping the preload today that I loaded the night before, I went back and got another load of 24" pipe with a total weight of 64k pounds.

Stupid question: why haul lumber on a flatbed, wouldnt it fit fine in a van?

Lumber is not all 8' long. That would be difficult to put in a van. And I believe that 8' may be too tight for a van but I have never measured one.

This lumber was 12' and 16' long, no easy way to get it on a van as far I know.

The loads this week haven't been unusual, but I did get to take my first trip over Donner Pass and the Grapevine. Tomorrow is my first trip on I 70 through the Rockies in a big truck. Gonna be a lot of fun toiling up those hills with a heavy load of steel.

Wow. The trucking Gods must have taken notice of you and said, "Hey, why don't we go ahead and expose Bud to all of the largest mountain passes in the country in one week. He's ready for it!"

Thankfully I had good roads all the way...except for a little ice coming out of the tunnel on I-70. Honestly I think I'll take either I-80 or I-40 next time, depending on weather. I'm a Coloradan, but that is not a fun grade to descend in a truck with a heavy load! I think Mountain Girl passed me in her wiggle wagon, wouldn't want to do that on a regular basis.

I meant to take a picture of the flat steel I hauled last week, but forgot in all the busy-ness. So here's a couple of pics of the toughest load I've had to deal with so far - tough not because of tarping or chaining or ice or snow, but because one of the boards under the load broke, causing it to shift. Cost me time and money, too.

Here's the wrong way to load these things when one is shorter than the others:

Here's the right way:

This lesson cost me $350, but I'll offer it to you for free: pay attention when someone is loading your truck, and tell them if you don't like the way they're doing it.

You had to pay? Are you company or lease?

I'm lease now (don't hate!), and since I let them load me that way, it's on me. Even if I had been company at the time, it would've cost me 5 hours that could've been avoided just by paying attention. The guys that load get in a hurry sometimes too, like when you're the last load on a sunny Friday afternoon.

After dropping the preload today that I loaded the night before, I went back and got another load of 24" pipe with a total weight of 64k pounds.

That looks like a whole lot of chaining! How long will it take you guys to get the whole thing moved?