About Being A Female Flatbed Driver...

Down below, there is a comment from a reader about his girlfriend becoming a flatbed driver.  Okay, I'm gonna give my take on flatbed driving...  Read on, dear reader! 

For me, it's the perfect job.  We don't deliver except during daylight hours and no appointments.  If we do have appointments, "I" am the one who makes them, not a dispatcher (who wants you there yesterday and thus gets a bonus).  I'm usually the one who tells the customer when we can be there and they are 9 times out of 10 happy that we are coming.  Home Depot does appointments and you have to call early in the morning to get them.  Then again, I've shown up early and still got unloaded.  Just depends how busy the unload guys are.  I'm trying to think of who else does appointments but names elude me, but there aren't many at all.  You can count them on one hand!! 

It is a dangerous job but when you are happy with your job and have confidence, you don't think so much about it.  The key is to always have safety in the back of your mind.  My hubby and I watch out for each other.  *We don't take shortcuts nor hurry so much that things go undone or unsafely.* 

As for actual logistics, here's what hubby and I do.  Hubby throws the straps and I pull them through the binders.  I go all the way through, not just fold them and then crank them, but all the way through.  A lot of places now want the straps all the way through the binders.  Also, they want real tarps, not any Wal-Mart cheap tarp stuff.  If it's a tarped load, hubby does the climbing.  I'm afraid of heights and he's pretty spry, so, that's his job.  Then once the tarp is unrolled and hanging (we have the heavy lumber tarps, dammit), then we have a system of doing the back end, then the sides of the back tarp.  Hubby unrolls the front tarp and we do the same as before, only the front end.  The front and back ends are done differently, due to keeping wind out.  If it's chained, hubby puts the chains on and rachets them down.  I tie off the ends with bungee cords. 

Once, hubby got ill and I had to do everything myself, I gotta say, I did it.  I did the whole thing!  I did have to have some help from other flatbedders to throw the straps over (I throw like a girl) but I did the rest. 

My experience has been that I knew the basics and then as time went on, we talked with other flatbedders, got ideas and tips, improved our way of doing things and then just did it.  I don't know any way in the world to shortcut the process.  You have to just do it.  Hopefully, the girlfriend has a trainer who gives a damn (mine didn't, BTW) and will show her the proper way to do things. Also, when she goes out on her own, hopefully the trainer will still be only a phone call away if she needs help or has questions. 

Flatbedders are a strange bunch.  We may not like each other personally but we've found that if you have a problem with your flatbed load/trailer/tractor, another flatbedder will help you.  I've had other flatbedders tell me of a problem with my load, over the CB.  Just try getting a refer or dry van driver to do the same!!  Ain't happn'in'!  When we started out flatbedding, we didn't know exactly how to tarp properly and a guy showed us how he did it.  We tweaked his ideas to suit us and 'voila', we pass info along to others. 

We had a brain-fart one time and went back to pulling refers and that was the biggest mistake we have made, trucking-wise.  Coming back to flatbedding was like coming home.  When you're in the right place, job-wise, you'll know it.  We are in the right job. 

My suggestion is to give flatbedding a try, try refers or dry vans and then stick with it. 

I hope I've given some good information out about flatbedding.   As time goes on, I'll think of other things.  For long posts like this one, I like to use the internet, not off my phone.  So, it might take a bit for me to get more thoughts down.  I hope you enjoyed this post!!