Michigan..you must tarp???? HUH??

I heard this from another driver...In MI every flatbed load has to be tarped...Is this just another trucking story, or is it true? I cant imagine.. :paranoid:

[Foxfire]

They key words there were " from another driver"....lol I never heard of a state having any such law.

[joerockhead]

Another "truck driver" myth. If you do get busted call the "U.S. Marshalls", I'm sure they'll coming running and bail you out! :wow: :wacko:

Another "truck driver" myth. If you do get busted call the "U.S. Marshalls", I'm sure they'll coming running and bail you out! :wow: :wacko:

Yea..thats what I figured... :thinking: :thinking:

[DrivingZiggy]

Back when I was a company flatbed driver I had heard this from the company I worked for. They were leased to LandStar.

It may be true, yet.

[DrivingZiggy]

On the other hand, I pulled some automotive racks from Livonia to Shreveport without a tarp. I suppose it could be that I just didn't get caught, but I had totally forgotten that I had heard that crazy stuff.

I want to see somebody tarp a Dozer! :harhar:

[Foxfire]

The only thing that any DOT officer will MAKE you tarp is something that can fall off the trailer, like bricks, if you don't have some kind of containment measures in place.

[Bikerboy]

ya imagine tarping a hi hoe or grader. they would never make a law like that. Whats the point, the tarps not gonna hold something big onto the trailer,

[nitestar]

ya imagine tarping a hi hoe or grader. they would never make a law like that. Whats the point, the tarps not gonna hold something big onto the trailer


First things first.
Please do not ever go into flat bedding. if you think the tarp is to hold something on the trailer.


Half the drivers that haul that kind of stuff don't have the faintest idea how to chain it down properly anyway. If you had to tarp it, I bet a dollar to a donut those same drivers would use only 1 chain and binder.

It is scary to see a grader or road tech machine on a drop deck or low boy with no brake chain. 40,000lb piece with only 2 chains and 4 binders.
Doesn't anyone know how to do that any more?


I heard this from another driver...In MI every flatbed load has to be tarped...Is this just another trucking story, or is it true? I cant imagine..

Maybe. just maybe, you talked to a driver that hauled only Military equipment.
but then again mmmm

Most non mechanized stuff for the Military does require tarping. ( some exceptions do apply) such as Quad Cons and Mil Vans.
I have tarped Humvees for the Military. They had classified radios in them and other stuff.

[Foxfire]

I was taught to know what the equipment weighed and use enough chains to secure that weight. Common sense goes a long way in securing a load and also in tarping. Know the weight and what the rating is on the chains and straps you use for securement.

[nitestar]

Amen ,Foxfire, Amen
Way to many drivers do not consider that at all.
They count and figure, oh well thats enough I 'm tired and my buddy is waiting for me down the road. and off they go .
I have been involved with flat bed, lowboy freight for way too long a time and I still do them before I do a van. I will pull a van but you have to beg me.

No grocery houses unless under construction.

WLL ( working load limit) on securement equipment is a nessesary knowledge for working a flatbed, lowboy etc. and as you said ,common sense

The most chains and straps I ever had on a load was 26 before I considered it safe to move. The Load was what I call ugly. Way too many moving parts.
Of the 4 loads I was the only one to get to the customer with out a mishap.
extra chain and binder= extra safe. simple math.
In flat bedding if the product has the remotest chance of moving it will if you don't secure and prevent it .Murphys law, and Murphy was a truck driver in another life. Pallets collapse and you have a mess.

[Bikerboy]

ya imagine tarping a hi hoe or grader. they would never make a law like that. Whats the point, the tarps not gonna hold something big onto the trailer


First things first.
Please do not ever go into flat bedding. if you think the tarp is to hold something on the trailer.

When i said tarp could hold something onto trailers i was refering to the post where foxfire said something about a tarp stopping something small from coming loose and falling off. Like if you gota something really light, if something were to happen and it got loose from it's straps, the tarp would somewhat prevent it from falling off.

You think 2 or 3 chains holding mahine down is bad? what do ya think of nothing holding it down? When we are hauling machinery or round bales behind farm tractors, we never strap or chain anything, gravity holds it on. Never lost a machine yet, had a couple round bales fall off tho.

Since it's farming the DOT don't care.

[cgi_reddog]

umm guys, the tarping law in michagan refferes to dump and grbage waggons. or any loose light piece loads