Flatbed or Curtain side?

If you not going to haul anything wide go with curtains same goes for step deck if you dont haul anything over 14 then get the curtain you are allowed to pull dry van cargo with curtain also flatbed and best no tarping. If you get a "Utility" or "Western" trailer make sure your trucks are measured height once hooked up to make sure your not over 14' dont get the low ceiling curtains or the sliding roof tops those are a pain to fix the roof if it rips. Metal roof with doors in the back and 9' floor to ceiling clearance are best if you find one with a 10' spread even better. Good luck.

 

Out of the Milwaukee area we can keep one drop deck conestoga busy all year long with just used machinery.

 

I believe he's talking about a Tautliner....you don't want one of those. Your limited on height and length and have the side posts to deal with. What I mean my limited on height/length is with the metal roof you can't stack something like lumber to the ceiling and still strap it unless you want to get a ladder and fish it through with a pipe. Same with length, with a conestoga you can leave the rear flap open and haul longer stuff.

 

You need a rolling tarp system so you can crain load, most steel is loaded with a overhead crain.

 

Get a rolling tarp system if you are going with a curtain side. as said, they are MUCH easier to load.

Also, around here, all you would really need is a covered wagon, as the steel mills will not allow anything over 11' tall inside (doors are low and at US Steel, the RR overpass is only 11'2" high!!)

 

If you are talking about US Steel in Gary they load 136 trucks all the time. I just recommend not going under that bridge, and using the back entrance.

I have never found a steel mill that can’t load a 136 truck. Been Hauling out of Northwest Indiana steel mills for many years.

 

Clark road entrance sucks as you have to deal with the trains. However, I would totally go with that Tarp system that goes from front to rear. Dunno what they are called. But the days of whipping out tarps and this time of year frozen tarps are coming to an end.

 

If you are serious about a rolling tarp system then really do your homework. Check the different brands out as they roll down the road. You will see many of them leave the tarps loose enough to flap around. This causes excess tarp wear along with wear on the bearings and track. I ran a Fastrak system designed and built by Tarpstop (http://www.tarpstop.com/). Mine was the 2nd (or 3rd) one they built back in 2006. If you scroll through their pics of the Fastrack systems my old truck/trailer are in pic #25. Up until the day I sold the trailer I was very pleased with their work on it. The tarp was held so tight that a person could see a reflection in the black tarp whe it was clean. I suggest spending the extra money during purchase/installation then waiting for problems down the road.

The only real drawback I found running a rolling trap system was shippers/recievers. A few would not load one due to the poor reputation the early and cheap designs created. Many loads of machinery and International truck hoods were ruined by the cheap systems. Also excess width creates another slight problem. I had the system installed over the rub rails of a 102" Reitinouer. Worked great, but you really can't see much behind you when the trailer is 106 1/2" wide then.