Accepted My First Job

Hey man - I totally hear ya. But I promise you - flatbedding is not that big of a deal. Strapping stuff down isn't rocket science. It takes some time to get the hang of it. You'll find ways to make things easier and faster as time goes on but it's not that bad. The actual work involved with the tarps, straps, and chains might get old to you. Some people love it, some don't. But I think the flatbedders we have here in the forum - and they'll be here soon - would agree with me - the worst thing that might happen is that one day you'll decide that flatbedding is a pain and you'd rather haul dry van or refrigerated. No biggie.

But you almost certainly won't find it too difficult or too stressful or unbearable in any way. You might think it's more trouble than it's worth, but that would probably be the worst case scenario. I think the experience will be priceless whether or not you decide to stick with it for the long term. So don't sweat it. It will work out just fine one way or another.

Hey man - I totally hear ya. But I promise you - flatbedding is not that big of a deal. Strapping stuff down isn't rocket science. It takes some time to get the hang of it. You'll find ways to make things easier and faster as time goes on but it's not that bad. The actual work involved with the tarps, straps, and chains might get old to you. Some people love it, some don't. But I think the flatbedders we have here in the forum - and they'll be here soon - would agree with me - the worst thing that might happen is that one day you'll decide that flatbedding is a pain and you'd rather haul dry van or refrigerated. No biggie.

But you almost certainly won't find it too difficult or too stressful or unbearable in any way. You might think it's more trouble than it's worth, but that would probably be the worst case scenario. I think the experience will be priceless whether or not you decide to stick with it for the long term. So don't sweat it. It will work out just fine one way or another.

Thank you that just helped me a lot. Calmed my nerves a little bit lol.

Yeah, you wanna do it.

Yeah, you wanna do it.

Lol thanks.

Troy, Brett is right, this stuff isn't exactly rocket science. You'll have your moments at first where you'll be doubting yourself, but for the most part it will start coming together for you real soon. I felt I had some really great training on this stuff and if you ever have any questions I'd be glad to help you.

If you like math there are some fairly easy ways to calculate your working load weight and your working load limits of your straps, chains, and binders. This stuff helps you make sure you've got on there what the D.O.T. requires. If they don't teach you these things, and you want to know, I'd be glad to help you out. But really, after doing it for a few weeks I wasn't thinking in terms of the calculations anymore, because I had done enough of it to know what I needed without doing the math in my head.

One more thing, you're gonna feel like you are really slow at the securement and tarping thing at the beginning, everyone does. Just keep at it, and soon enough you will develop your own ways and methods of doing things that you are comfortable with, and it will start moving along at a much faster pace. Of course you are starting right in the winter months which always makes our job interesting, but at least you'll find out if this is the direction you want to take. And if it's not, you can always change after you've gotten a little bit of experience under your belt. I've found that flat-bed experience is respected no matter where you go and apply at later on.

Thanks Old School, will def prob have questions.

Well I'm halfway through first day of orientation. A lot of paperwork and videos about hours of service and log books. They ordered us pizza for lunch and accounting is coming in after. So far everyone is really nice and I'm once again excited about getting going. Thanks for the support. It helps a lot.

TroyD

Day 1 is done and it was a lot to take in. Lots of paperwork and lots of people from different departments came in to talk to us. The most interesting one to me was the senior dispatcher. He was really nice and he runs the whole dispatch department. Awesome nice guy and an honest guy. He preached honesty. Tell us whats up and everything will be fine. Bull**** me and we will have problems. I love it. It was a lot to take in today. Found out today as well that they couldn't get us scheduled for skid training Friday so they will do it soon. So Tomorrow we will be learning about securing loads and actually get to go out and strap some things up on the flatbed which I love because that is what Im most worried about. To get to go out and practice will be great before I had out with the trainer. So far Im glad with the choice I made and everyone has been great here so far.

Troy,

Like Old School said, any questions don't hesitate to ask. We are here to help any way we can (within reason of course).

I have been doing the flatbed thing since August & having a blast with it. It is a lot different than pulling a box I can tell you that.

Ernie

Day 2

Well day 2 was filled with leaning how to secure cargo. How to read the chains and straps to tell how much weight they can hold and how many we need to use and good things like that. Also told us how much weight we are allowed to carry and how to secure coils as well. This was all done via a slide show but since we couldnt get scheduled for the skid training tomorrow he is going to take us out in the yard and they have fake coils and stuff that we can use to get some hands on training on how to secure them. I didnt expect all the work that is involved in getting the metal sheets and coils secured. Its not a lot of work but the little things that need to be done like the 4x4's and the rubber padding that goes under there. Also the paper that we have to use to cover it. They told us even if it comes wrapped in paper already we still have to put our paper on there as well. If we get loaded with something that only "legally" needs one strap we are required to use 2. So pretty much its a 2 strap minimum. They also bought us an amazing lunch which was some authentic Mexican food. Wow was it good. We then took a written test after lunch to show what we have learned and also had some questions on there where we had to use a map to plan a route. We got done with that and then they took a picture of us individually which will be used for our company ID. The amount of info we are getting is crazy so I cant wait to put it to work tomorrow to see if Im understanding it right lol. Main thing though will be Monday when it will be time to go out with my trainer who I will also find out about tomorrow.

They also showed us some crazy videos of crashes, mainly flatbed ones with coils. I think they do this to scare the heck out of you and it definitely worked.

All in all it was a good day and they continue to be very nice and helpful. Enjoying it so far.

TroyD

Ahhh the coils...I"d rather nail chicken feet to the trailer and head for Tyson... There are 2 names for coil loads...Shotgun, and Suicide...and those names ain't no joke. Coils are tough to get tight, and I ALWAYS added an extra chain front and back...CYA..