Flatbed is physically demanding?

You have to waddle out of the seat.

 

Everything.

The tarps are equal to a weight of a human body. Try getting one of those up top of a 13 foot something roofing load with just a forward ladder on a freuhauf flatbed trailer. That happened to be my weakness and depended on the forklift to get it up there. Once up there, don't make any mistakes that fall is high enough to be lethal or worse. The worse part is being in a vegetative state.

Steel coil is a joy. But you get nourishment by a thousand cuts. As long you have a powerful clotting and good immune system it's all good. Sometimes that coil will settle into the rack on the deck. Don't be anywhere near it when it does. You are nothing to it. It wont even feel you as you lose your foot or part of a leg in it. Mash.

You do a great deal of range of motion type moving around. Hopefully your spine stays organized when you reach with that 30 pound chain hanging off your wrist with 100 more pounds of it on your shoulders.

Finally the weather. Loading inside logan County Aluminum in Kentucky is a very good place regardless of the weather. But once in a while enduring a 2 hour supercell with that lightning on a open deck while securing and then tarping a set of billets etc. (I don't know why I bothered that one load, it's aluminum.) and a dropping temperature towards 50 as the frontal passage goes through.

 

Truthfully, nothing about flatbedding is that physically demanding. Personally, I like that I have a chance to get some physical exercise for a couple hours when I load or unload. Its not anything a reasonably healthy person of any age could not do.

 

My neighbor has a stepdeck and only hauls wheeled vehicles, drive on, drive off and no tarps.

 

Flatbed is physically demanding in short bursts. Some tarps are heavy and some are lightweight materials.
Usually, from my flatbed experience, if you get a tall load, the shipper will put the rolled up tarps on top of the load for you, using a forklift.
The most physically demanding time I had was trying to roll up the tarps after unloading in a blizzard in Chicago. Other than that time, I never felt physically stressed at all and I'm an average size man.
A chain and binder isn't that heavy; it's not as if you're carrying more than one at a time, because you won't be.
Nylon straps are nothing either; maybe as heavy as a 5 lb. bag of sugar, if that.
Get a baggy set of coveralls to use when securing and unsecuring a load, then take them off after you're through, so you can hit the road in clean clothes. I used an old flight suit that was comshaw from the Navy.

 

Just unstrapping a load can be a medium workout if you push yourself to do it as fast as you can. Pull them off and out of the way with a brisk walk so they can start unloading. And roll them up as fast as you can so you can finish up and paperwork and be ready to roll when they are done.

 

Some folks are bothered by heights, the last little tarping try I did had everything almost completed and this huge gust of wind took a heck of a toll. Lost so much weight lately that flying at this age is not that fun anymore.

 

Not arguing on flatbed in general. Yes it's work, climbing, hauling tarps up, etc.
I do go to many drywall manufacturers. The plant puts the tarps on. All the drivers do is secure the tarps. They even have signs forbidding climbing on the trailers.

 

If you want physical demanding in trucking try moving 48 to 49000 pounds of butter or soda or whatever by the box, case or item count to the floor. Drive all night, get out and take it all back off the floor. Then you have to race half a day to load another 48000 before close of business 5PM in a city that anyone would appreciate it if you hit them and totaled their car. The payout is awesome.

When I discovered McKesson for Million dollar Narcotic loads in minimally marked trucks with maybe a tag, DOT number and a couple of other scribbles on the door and sleeper and nothing else I found trucking reduced to one problem. Get out of Memphis without getting killed and get to Detriot by 7 am next morning. Knowing they will reload me with cardboard bales and back to memphis ASAP within the HOS limitations. Nothing else was a problem. The heaviest thing I lift is myself, keys, money and a sheaf of bills for the load. They take care of everything else, drop and hook. (The one exception was 9-11 when they packed our trailer by volume regardless of weight to the max for NYC and Linfield Connecticut because they were in need of everything.)

Flatbed is fun. Not work. Refer to being fun. Thus not work. I am more of a stressor to myself than anything else. But once we got involved with McKesson, there is nothing to do but be on time. THAT is not difficult when you have a ungoverned truck that can get up and go if necessary.