Flatbed Variety
Topic 4373 | Page 49
I am headed out to orientation on Saturday, to start on Monday, with a flatbed company in their quad division. So far I've pulled dry van a short while, then belly-dump and finally hopper-bottom doubles. The doubles were by far the most fun so far, especially when the hitch is stretched out to the full 100' (overall length of rig) and you're on some tight turns or working your way through towns with traffic. Overall though, I'm excited to go flatbed because I'm not one to just keep a seat warm all day long. I find the notion of strapping, chaining, and tarping pretty interesting since I can put my hands on things. Some folks thought I was being ridiculous to want to go flatbed, but some folks don't want to do much beyond opening and closing a tarp once or twice a day with a crank handle. I sure am excited and hopefully I can get some pictures up.
Doubles:
Refers to pulling two trailers at the same time, otherwise known as "pups" or "pup trailers" because they're only about 28 feet long. However there are some states that allow doubles that are each 48 feet in length.
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
Welcome to the brighter side of trucking Dustan
Been a busy week... Started out with the bridge beam Monday and Tuesday, then 2 skidders on Wednesday (no photos) and a delimber yesterday. Then comes today and I delivered a 330 CAT excavator and picked up this 350 John Deere and took it back to the shop. After that I went and picked up a baler used in metal recycling. The baler itself weighed in at 93k and put me at 118k overall. I only got a pick of the 350 and baler, kept forgetting to snap some photos.
Just a few of the loads I've been hauling during training :) Most of them we tarped before we snapped the picture but future pics (when I'm running solo) I'll try to get before my tarps go one.
Paper Rolls
Genie from Terex
Mixed Lumber
Aluminum
More aluminum
Also hauled some air coolers the other day that were pretty cool to secure. Kind of like sewing with chains :) Sorry if the pictures are enormous. Don't know how to resize on my phone.
Looks like you're rockin this flat bed gig Systa!
Great to see your work in here!
Looks like you're rockin this flat bed gig Systa!
Great to see your work in here!
I am absolutely in love :) I can't wait to challenge myself these winter months! I hope to feel as tough as you look in your profile picture, Old School, when I'm fighting those tarps up north in a couple months....or next month...My luck I'll feel like a drowned, frozen rat the first time! Ha!
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Love the pics, Little Syster! Glad you're enjoying flatbed!
My PSD student tried tanker for a few days and hated it, so he's back on my truck as a TNT student. Our first load while training him on securement turned out to be a bit of a puzzler. He got to watch me call a couple of friends who have hauled these before - but it turns out they've never hauled these exact loads. They had nice convenient eyelets to chain through. We finally figured out how to secure them with their help, though. Good training exercise for both of us.
Here's the load:
The big yellow one is a Cat 3516 marine engine. It weighs almost 23,000 lbs, 16 cylinders, 4210 cu in displacement, around 3000 bhp. We're taking this to a port to be shipped to China, so eventually this engine might power a Chinese ship or maybe an ocean-going tug hauling iPhones or something back to the U.S.
The smaller engine is a marine generator, 583 cu in. It weighs 5600 lbs.
If I think of it, I'll try to get some pics of them offloading from my trailer onto the ship. And a pic of how we ended up securing it too, if the hurricane has passed and it's not raining too hard when we get there.
PSD:
Prime Student Driver
Prime Inc has a CDL training program and the first phase is referred to as PSD. You'll get your permit and then 10,000 miles of on the road instruction.
The following is from Prime's website:
Prime’s PSD begins with you obtaining your CDL permit. Then you’ll go on the road with a certified CDL instructor for no less than 75 hours of one-on-one behind the wheel training. After training, you’ll return to Prime’s corporate headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, for final CDL state testing and your CDL license.
Obtain CDL Permit / 4 Days
- Enter program, study and test for Missouri CDL permit.
- Start driving/training at Prime Training Center in Springfield, Missouri.
- Work toward 40,000 training dispatched miles (minimum) with food allowance while without CDL (Food allowance is paid back with future earnings).
On-the-Road Instruction / 10,000 Miles
- Train with experienced certified CDL instructor for 3-4 weeks in a real world environment.
- Get 75 hours of behind-the-wheel time with one-on-one student/instructor ratio.
- Earn 10,000 miles toward total 40,000 miles needed.
TNT:
Trainer-N-Trainee
Prime Inc has their own CDL training program and it's divided into two phases - PSD and TNT.
The PSD (Prime Student Driver) phase is where you'll get your permit and then go on the road for 10,000 miles with a trainer. When you come back you'll get your CDL license and enter the TNT phase.
The TNT phase is the second phase of training where you'll go on the road with an experienced driver for 30,000 miles of team driving. You'll receive 14¢ per mile ($700 per week guaranteed) during this phase. Once you're finished with TNT training you will be assigned a truck to run solo.
Moved this little pug mill today.
Back to a more normal load today...
This is the coolest thread going! As someone who is headed off to CDL school next month and is currently researching flat bed companies, I am totally digging all these picks! Please keep them coming. Working my way through High Roads before school starts. Thanks again!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
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As promised, here are a couple of pics of the building in Pueblo where I pick up slinky coils from time to time. I got the short end of the building today. The other two aisles are about 100 feet longer.