Confused About My Change

I just made my first company change and freight change in my young trucking career. I'm going from dry van to flatbed. I'm official with Melton but I'm not getting any real world securement training and it has second guessing myself. I am afraid to make a mistake. Then today the other company I spied with at the same time as Melton, called and gave me the green light for their flatbed division and I get to go with a trainer for real world securement training. But I just finished Melton's orientation and will be assigned my own truck after Christmas, so would I be wrong to jump and go through with the other company?

Melton has spent time and money on you at this point. They will most likely not like you leaving at this point. Why did they not give you any securement training??? That just sounds odd to me. You don't want to develop a job hopping history. It can jump up and bite you later. Nothing is forever and any future employers will not be impressed by you jumping ship after orientation and a training period. I would let melton know your concerns in a respectful and professional manner and request some additional securement training. Now if they don't work with you on it after you inform them then its a different ballgame. Just my opinion.

Keith, you've barely got three months experience! You are as green as they come my friend. I can't believe you want to jump ship again after one week of orientation! How soon after that will it be until you spot another patch of green looking grass? That's a serious question.

You have got to be confused about Melton. They don't send people out without training them on securement practices. In fact they have excellent training on it. They do orientation first, then they put you through their securement training class. If I were you I would ask them to put me with a trainer after the class. You really should spend at least a couple of weeks with a trainer doing hands on securement and tarping.

Come back in here next week and let us know how it goes, but please try to stay put for a minimum of one year. You owe that to yourself - it is the only way you're going to get the hang of this career.

Thanks for the replies, I am not wanting to jump ship. I was more or less confused by the nerves. Melton is a great company and a company have wanted to and am excited to work for. They gave us a 4 hour class on the unique securement items, such as suicide coils, shotgun coils, flat steel, slinkys, and stacked loads. I was also given a thorough book on how to secure most freight. I have a mentor to reach our to and a few friends to help me when I need it. And hopefully this site too. I reached out to them and I expressed my concerns. But, in the end I was letting my nerves affect me. I take it serious and don't want to make any mistakes out here on the road. Flatbed is a challenge and one I am excited to face head on.

Keith, you've barely got three months experience! You are as green as they come my friend. I can't believe you want to jump ship again after one week of orientation! How soon after that will it be until you spot another patch of green looking grass? That's a serious question.

You have got to be confused about Melton. They don't send people out without training them on securement practices. In fact they have excellent training on it. They do orientation first, then they put you through their securement training class. If I were you I would ask them to put me with a trainer after the class. You really should spend at least a couple of weeks with a trainer doing hands on securement and tarping.

Come back in here next week and let us know how it goes, but please try to stay put for a minimum of one year. You owe that to yourself - it is the only way you're going to get the hang of this career.

Thanks, Old School, I truly look up to you and heed your advice a lot. I read a lot of your articles and posts even before I got my CDL. I know I am green and very wet behind the ears. I was great in my first 3 months, I stayed at the top of my fleet the whole time. But flatbed is a whole new animal. And I don't want to make a mistake and in flatbed it's a lot of responsibility on me as the driver. I want to be that driver that secures everything right and is known for doing everything safely and gets the job done. I love being a driver they can count on.I really don't want to leave Melton, I am truly happy and excited to have the opportunity to work for such a great company as Melton. I can go with a trainer but it will change everything that I have been given by Melton. I was given enough by Melton in orientation to help me get through the serious learning curve ahead of me. And I only made the change to Melton because of long conversations and serious thought about my first company and my first company wasn't what was best for me or my family. But I am very thankful to them for the time I had. I plan to be with Melton as long as possible, at least a few years till my boys need me home on the weekend more.

I understand being with a trainer might put a glitch in your plans, probably even strain the wallet as well, but if safety is your top concern. Ask and see if they have a trainer the pulls locally out of the terminal. See about going out for a week with him. It is 1 week and should not be that big of a hit to pay. You will get a chance to see and do securement "in the real world".maybe that will settle your nerves some.

I think Patrick has a great idea. Perhaps because of your 3 months experience they expedited the training.

I too agree that a few hours of training along with a study guide isn't really enough. It's a little surprising that a big outfit like Melton would do such a thing.

Some hands-on training would definitely be the best option. I had the benefit of 7 weeks of training, and even then I still didn't encounter all the securement situations that we run into out here.

BUT, once you learn some basic principles, you can apply those principles to nearly any situation you run into.

Do yourself a favor and check out YouTube. There are unlimited videos on every securement topic you can think of. You may have to weed through the rookies and wannabes to find the real professionals who are doing it right. But at least it'll give you a visual reference to go by, vs a picture in a guide.

At the very least, never ever be afraid to ask someone. The shipper , loader operators, other flatbedders at the shipper, will all be happy to help you.

When I first went solo, I was nervous as a mofo. But with some common sense and careful attention to securement, I made it. You will too.

Let us know how you make out. It would be great to have a Melton flatbedder around here.

I definitely will keep y'all updated. Melton has a lot of resources for rookie flatbedders. We have access to Melton securement videos, a mentor, and they have a 24 hour securement team that we can call if we need help. I'm excited and most my first post was just an internal thought, not something I would ever do. I am very excited to be with Melton just nervous as hell.

Where are you picking up your truck? I'll be at the tulsa terminal on the 27th to get my keys.

As for load securement, my trainer told me there is no such thing as an overly secured load. Out of all the shippers we went to, only once were we there alone, and more times than not there were other Melton trucks there. Even if I didn't ask another driver how to secure a certain load, I could atleast look at their trailer and get a good idea. That may not always be the case but if you apply the basics to every load you will do fine I would think.

For example, on the above photo we used 3 straps and 2 chains on each pump head. That is a total of 20k lbs of securement per. Each pump head only weighed 8k lbs. It is what made my trainer and I comfortable running it down the road.