Need to work on your quotes a little better Fred. At first I thought you hadn't posted anything until I started reading through it. :lol:

In TMC-land it's one coil rack per 10,000 lbs of weight. Bad idea to use only two for a 40,000+lb coil. It has nothing to do with the width of the coil. Once you see your oak 4x4's starting to bow you know something's wrong. As far as chains, TMC says one chain (10,000 lbs WLL) for each 10,000 lbs of weight, plus 50%. For a 45,000 lb coil, that means, what, seven chains? Minimum of seven anyway. Put one laterally, then six progressively spaced front and rear. No X-chains, regardless of TMC's policy. That was outlawed several years ago by the federal goverment. That middle one is kind of iffy though, as you won't have much room for your binder. Either way, it's still a good idea to throw one or two straps over the top. Each TMC strap has a WLL of 5,000 lbs. One strap is the equivalent of half a chain. Two straps is one whole chain right over the top. Could save your azz in a tough braking situation. True about loading suicide for 35,000+ lb coils. More than that could upset the balance of the trailer and increases the potential of a rollover. TMC's trailers are designed in such a way that a suicide coil will be balanced perfectly over the framerails, whereas a shotgun coil will have most of it's weight right in the center. Not necessarily the safest method.

 

I don't know about you guys but a lot of mills I go into don't want you to put a chain or strap over the top. Too many guys damaging the coils by tightening the top like it's the only thing holding it on the trailer. I'm with snowman 30 to 60 minutes tops. If I put a strap/chain on the top it's only for decoration and usally hand tight (no cheater bar on a binder) I use 9,000 lb rule and have been checked/inspected numerous times and have never had a problem. Don't forget DOT guys have eyes and can count too If they see you on the road with seven chains and they know most guys go on the 9,000 lb rule how much do they think that coil weighs? Why do you think those local guys put the bare minimum on? Talk to some old-timers about chain tie-downs if you want to scare yourself. Common sense will save more lives than extra chains ever will.

 

:shock: i have been pulling a dryvan for 13 months now and that is how long i been driving big trucks, to read some of you folks i better stay where i am at. well now, i managed to get new york coils endorsement which only means i read the book. how many of you drivers started pulling flats without any flatbed experience? from some of the posts i get the impression that the only way to safely pull flats is to have years of flat experience, i don't have the luxury of starting with years of flat exp. so since the topic is sorta about helping us rookies why don't you just give the help i am sure you got early on in your rookie days and keep in mide we all started without exp at some time. thanx

 

I agree with the original poster on this....I think to learn flatbedding with no prior truck driving experience might be too overwhelming for most new drivers. A recipe for disaster, in my opinion. Of course, there could be exceptions, like Goldiesplating, and others who might have a knack for it.

I pulled dry vans for 6 years before getting into flatbeds. I currently do both, but lately mostly flats. With 6 years experience, I was still nervous as hell about my flat loads at first. (still am sometimes :lol: ) I didn't have any classroom training, just a few days out with a driver to show me how its all done. I've learned a lot on my own, and by talking to other drivers.
When you start out flatbedding, you'll find yourself watching the load in your mirrors more than watching the road ahead of you. At least I did.
Not a good thing for a new driver to be worrying about the securement of the load, and being distracted with that. A new driver needs to focus more on just driving the truck safely. Just my opinion.

Here is a link that will be helpful, for vets and newbies alike. It's about cargo securement, from the FMCSA website. Lots of good info in there!
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul.../cs-policy.htm

 

Is this the "ostrich syndrome"? Dry van loads can be just as dangerous, the difference is you can't SEE the load. So you're telling me if you can't see it it won't hurt you, or it's safer?? At least if something starts going wrong on a flatbed, you can see it and fix it before it kills you.

 

OMG, hehehehehehehehehehe , sorry but I just have to laugh.... you all crack me up

 

Most of the freight in dryboxes is not nearly as prone to 'growing legs and going sightseeing' on you. Yes, maybe the odd pallettized coil or a pipe or two in my LTL trailers but mostly boxes...One thing you have to consider are the laws of friction: It takes way more energy to get something sliding than it does to keep it sliding- therefore if in the rare occasion a dryvay does haul a small coil or small coils on palletts, even if its 20 palletts of pallettized coils, they are nowhere nearly as dangerous as a single large coil or pipe on a flat.
Some reasons I think this is so is first of all the palletts are pushed against eachother from the bulkhead back, so the friction surface is exponentially larger than the few square inches where the coilrack and lumber touch your rubber-mat and deck on a flat- therfore it takes a good bit to get all 20 palletts moving at the same time and then you still have to consider the strengh of the bulkhead where the palletts touch. If one of the front one leaned over it would likely not muster enough momentum to go through the bulkhead.
There is not much possibility for securement in a drybox, some have e-tracks for loadbars with are strong, but most dont. loadlocks with rubber pads pushing against the walls can only help prevent something from tipping over and are used mostly on the end of the load where forces can only push backward.
I really think that the big difference is the friction surface and the fact that in a van you have more high volume items and MORE items than in flatbeds...All in all there is a whole lot less to worry about in vans than in flats, and that is what the point of the tread was b4 it turned into another 'How to secure a coil' thread we have so many of..

 

I would concede the fact on friction and the ability to move forward in a van due to the bulkhead. Although a bulkhead or coil block used on a flat is much stronger than the sheet metal front on a van trailer. The huge difference to me is the ability for a skidded coil, or anything heavy for that matter to, to bounce in a dry van. There is nothing to secure it to the floor at all and the coils are only held to the pallet by small bands which are not meant to be a securement at all. Once it bounces and breaks loose there is nothing to stop the coil from moving forward.

A securement in flatbed is not only meant to prevent forward or aft movement, it is also meant to keep it from bouncing as well. There is nothing to prevent this type of movement in a dryvan.

A skidded coil was just an example that was used. The original post was that flatbedding is not for noobs. This is entirely one person's opinion, nothing factual here at all. The coils were used as a reference from flatbedders to show that if you've been properly trained in securement, there's no reason for a newbie to be scared of starting out in flatbed either.

 

With an airride trailor there wont be much bouncing if atall...with a spring trailer thats light, or you lock up the brakes, yes....But so what? If its loaded right, it can bounce, as long as it has no space to wander around due to space around the pallet....a loadlock on the rear will prevent wandering to the back...Am I wrong?