Flatbed pros and cons

good

- exercise, some loads a little, other loads a lot
- usually no waiting at receivers, they're waiting on you to get your equipment off
- get to be outside in the nice weather
- learn a skill that can be used to get into other trucking areas such as oversize/heavy haul
- get to take pride in what you do and how your load is secured
- typically better pay than van drivers
- longer distance loads are more frequent, not as much having to drive down into cities to deliver either

bad

- tarping in the wind and rain, rolling/unrolling frozen tarps
- have to do laundry more often than van drivers, dirt happens
- might have to buy tools for the job at times (hammer, nails, etc)

 

The good... More of a challenge strapping and tarping.

The bad... Having a bunch of pipe come through the cab of your truck.

 

That depends entirely upon who you are working for. Some companies haul 99% pipe, others haul whatever they can find.

Usually lots of miles, pretty hard work when your not driving, steadily behind schedule and consistently away from home.

You'll either love it or leave it. Few seem to find middle ground.

Tarping is a pain, forget about staying clean, and ALWAYS throw an extra strap or chain on your load.

And I don't think they could pay me enough to pull a van or reefer.

 

The two quotes I highlighted arent quite true. I go into lots of cities all the time and have waited long times to get loaded oe unloaded. I was just at carry on trailers in winnemucca, nv and spent 8 hrs and 15 minutes there trying to get loaded.

 

if you are as described in your description - wannabe - then go work in some place that hauls equipment before trying to do flatbed as one has to be able to stand 20 degree blowing wind and chain a boomer or strap the load with ice on the trailer deck which is 5+ feet off the ground with some supervisor or whatever watching that is sorta mad and has to get it loaded and do that without slipping off the deck on the ice = it can be done but that is not for wannabe's ~ try city delivery to start if you seriously wanna be a trucking professional,....the work of city traffic is not what flatbed operator sees a lot of but when it is there that can be the risk none of us wants

 

You get outside in the fresh air with flats. Pay tends to be higher than pulling a van. Pulling a flat means that you will usually get dirty when you tarp and at least 50% of all loads will need to be tarped. Some carriers require ALL loads to be tarped. It can be aggravating to be tarping when the temperature is over 100 degrees or below freezing and it is snowing, raining or sleeting. You will take on more responsibility pulling flats. It will be up to you to learn how many chains or straps are required by each load. No two loads are exactly the same. Those of us who have pulled open deck trailers for a while would not want to do anything else. I can't imagine going back to pulling a van. Some people are not cut out for flats. It takes a little more thought and time to load when you have to tarp. On the other hand, I do less waiting to get loaded or unloaded as a general rule. There have been exceptions. People are more interested in seeing you than if you pull a van.

 

Cons or a plus you can still get that 400lb physique. No im not joking around

 

lets not forget the chaining and tarping in 95 degree 100% humidity weather either!