My first (flatbed) load

Posted by RabbitFabs@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 19 comments

First I want to thank you all for the advice. Anyways, here is my first flatbed load. Thoughts? Chain is 5/16 70 grade.

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HeywoodJaBlowMe123@reddit

Congratulations OP. Running flatbed is one of the most rewarding things in trucking.

2 rules to live by:

No such thing as “over securement” (I’m sure your trainers have said this). Remember, DOT will never give you a ticket for too many tie downs.
If you get done securing your load and you start thinking “Maybe i should throw another…” .. Just throw it. 9/10, if you have doubts, it’s because you need to throw another strap/chain.

Don’t be afraid to ask other flatbed drivers for help at shippers. Rock on my man!

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HeywoodJaBlowMe123@reddit

And one day you’ll haul cool shit like Auquaholic 👏🏻 Big leagues

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Casperuis495@reddit

H Personally I would have thrown 2 chains through all of them if I had enough. Other than that, looks good. Careful out there buddy✌🏻

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RabbitFabs@reddit (OP)

They are only 2000 lbs per, didnt really see a need for 2. It rode almost 200 miles, I stopped twice to check and binder / chain was immovable by hand both times.

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Casperuis495@reddit

Its less about the weight of it. And more of stopping movement of the individual coils. It may be 2klbs. But rolling at 65 it'll be putting about 20k of force on those chains

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Yeah thats why I did the V pull with the singles, and doubled the 7th row as well in case those small ones decided to come loose. They're all bound up against each other as well. I only carry 16 chains, I would need 2 more.

20k seems like alot from a 2k lbs reel. According to newton's law, 20k lbs of force from a 2k lbs reel would need 10g of force to exert that on the chain. Lets include other movements and be generous. 5g's of braking force will make a 2k lbs reel exert 20k of force total.

Heres the thing, a semi truck will only output 0.8g of braking force in the best conditions under a controlled environment. At the absolute best, period.

No, at the very most under extreme conditions, make 3k lbs. Thats if youre slamming the brakes and triggering ABS across a bad bump on I-70 in Indiana. Thats pretty extreme, and still well within the confines of the working load limit and what that chain is capable of.

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Casperuis495@reddit

Again, not as much as the breaking force of the chain, as the direction it's being held. Theres a couple that are pulling forwards to the cab. Me personally I would pull them straight down, so if the one infront of it comes off, they aren't getting pulled to the cab.

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335iJB4@reddit

yeah ignore what that guy said lmao, 2 chains per every coil on this load is overkill. If anything two chains on the front and rear coil.

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RabbitFabs@reddit (OP)

Thats what everybody told me. Those extra on row 7 and 8 are for my peace of mind in case those singles slip. I cant see them in my mirror either so the only way I can tell if they're doing something they shouldn't is if the chain literally fell off.

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jqmallah@reddit

Looks clean for a first flatbed load. The big thing is what you already said in the replies: stop early, put hands on the binders, and check whether anything settled after the first few miles. A securement job can look fine at pickup and still loosen once the load rides a bit.

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legend567@reddit

Congrats brother 🙌🏻

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RabbitFabs@reddit (OP)

Thank you!

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RabbitFabs@reddit (OP)

Yeah I saw that too lol. That would be some shit