Flatbed Variety

Hey Bud and Pat where are all the pictures? I as well as probably many others really enjoy the photos of all the really cool loads you all take on those flat beds! Just wondering.

Hey Bud and Pat where are all the pictures? I as well as probably many others really enjoy the photos of all the really cool loads you all take on those flat beds! Just wondering.

I had open heart surgery just before Thanksgiving, so still waiting for my sternum to heal before I can be medically certified. The rules say I have to wait three months to drive, so I'm hoping to be back at it by March.

I'm a little concerned that I may have completely forgotten how to drive a big truck while I've been sitting around all this time. I wonder if I'll have that "seat of the pants" sense of where my trailer is when I get back in a truck. Probably will have to spend a week or two as a second seat when I get back at it. I don't think I'll have to do a full refresher, but honestly that would beat sitting around or going back to an office job.

Maybe some of the other flatbedders here will post some pictures. Pat's are great, but I'd like to see more too!

This thread has pretty much been the catalyst in my decision to go flatbed. I start my heavy equipment operators course in may, then do my CDL school in June.

I hope the heavy equip. course can give additional insight and hopefully impart some beneficial skills to my flatbedding career. I understand that kind of training isnt necessarily required in the field, but Im taking the course for personal reasons anyway and at the worst its just something to make my resume stand out a bit more right?

I hope you're good to go Bud, hope you get your medical certification and get back out on the road hauling new and existing loads; so we can live through you vicariously haha .

Nothing too crazy, just a couple of small stainless steel coils. The tarp and securement isn't the most well lit and I was pushing my 14 hour clock so I wasn't able to get pics before getting it all tarped up but there's 2 - 3/8" chains and 2 - 5/16" chains on each coil. They only weigh 18k each so I went a little overboard on the securement but better safe than sorry.

Robert that is some awesome looking tarps. Do those tarps do a good job?

They do. You just have to think about anywhere and everywhere that air can get under it and turn your decent looking tarps into a giant balloon lol. I am by no means a master of tarping but I'm getting better. It's a good physical and mental exercise too because you have to think, ok, where is air gonna make it lift, what edges are there that might rip the tarp and even, what's the weather on my route? If you're heading somewhere expecting high winds, you have to make sure it's not going to move unless you want to try and pin it all down in high winds. It's fun though, I wouldn't want to do anything else.

If you look under my photos you will see some of mine.

Brett, can we get something to make it easier to get the photo link. My phone will no longer copy the image link. Have to open the image in a new tab and grab the link from there.

Not posting as many photos because it is kind of a pain.

Yeah thats what they told me but im not discouraged. May move back south in a couple years. But still waiting on western express to call me back and tell me if theyd be able to get me home or not.

Brett, can we get something to make it easier to get the photo link. My phone will no longer copy the image link. Have to open the image in a new tab and grab the link from there.

I'm not really sure but I'm going to look it over. On a phone you have such a tiny screen to begin with, and so much going on with javascript already in the photo gallery that I'm not sure it's going to be feasible to create a "copy link" button that works well on a phone. Opening the image in a new tab and copying the address might be the fastest, easiest way to do it. Because it literally takes less than one second to open it in a new tab. So I'd have to create something that would work faster than one second and yet integrate with everything that's already going on. I'll take a look at the situation and see what I can come up with.

Here are some of my latest loads. 10'9" wide Legal but a pain to secure. 11'5" wide.. me likes wide loads, they pay more. First six loads has recouped the 5k plus in start-up costs and put 3k in my pocket before taxes. On paper anyhow. Money for the first load will not arrive until Friday. I have not seen a paycheck since before Christmas and first payment has already been made on the truck. I will not lie, it has been rough. Back home for an oil change and lube. Oil alone for this is $120 for delo 400.