Worst and best States for Flatbedders?

[bamahillbilly]

Hi, Hellbound and my buddy foxfire.
Whats the best and worst states to flatbed in?
FF, the more i look at loadboards there seems to be alot of flat and stepdeckin going on down here in the south. I would enjoy skateboards alot more then van.

[Foxfire]

As long as you make real sure you already have a backhaul out of Florida it is safe to come down here. You can get lumber out of GP and containers out of Jacksonville but don't count on a lot more than that.
I chose to pull a flatbed for my own reasons. I enjoyed every minute of it. Everyone has to find what works for THEM and carry on. There is no right or wrong trailer in my book. Just right or wrong for ME.
There's a lot coming out of and going into the Chicago area. Some folks have a problem with Chicago. I don't. You have Allied Pipe in Harvey, another pipe place in Monee, containers in Cicero, and steel plants all over there and Gary, In. which to me is still Chicago.
There is a lot of lumber, plywood, sheetrock, paneling, and OSB in Alabama, Miss., and Louisiana. Yes bama there is a lot of flat and step business in the South.

[bamahillbilly]

If you don't mind me asking, what were reasons for choosing flatbeds over everything else.

If you don't mind me asking, what were reasons for choosing flatbeds over everything else.

My main reason was ,that I dont like to wait, especially when I wasnt getting payed to do it for the first two hours...
Dont get me wrong you still have some waiting time with flats, but usualy because the place might be busie and they are doing their best trying to load everyone.

There are a few bad places I encountered but thats the exception, not the rule.

The second reason I like flats is that you get more activity then just opening and shutting your doors. Trucking is really not a healthy position to begin with, and a little exersize never hurt anyone. :cheers:

Third, I live in the North East and do most of my driving around here....Can you say 12 foot 2 bridge?.... :rofl:

I also like the feeling of accomplishment, after I tarp a tricky load, or I figure out how to chain up something I never hauled before....

If you just like to drive and not do much else, this might be not for you...For me its the only way.....I used to love tanker work, and would still be doing it, but I have my authority, and this is the next best thing for me.

Whats the best and worst states to flatbed in?

For me, the worst states are probably the west...I couldnt get more then 80 cents a mile coming out of Colorado, so I had to deadhead to IL.
The best so far this year is Chicago, Ohio, Indiana....I haul a lot from these states to the North East..Jersey ,New York, Mass, CT.

The last couple of trips, I've been getting some decent paying freight, out to ST Louis...Coming back is never a problem.. :rofl:

I like to go to FL once in a while, because the rates going down are real good, but like Foxfire said, you must have a plan , to come out of there.

aslong as there is freight i'll go anyware

There is freight everywhere...the thing is not to haul it cheap.
When you do that ,the rates will never rise, out places like FL and the West.

The thing is, one has to be patient in slow areas, and not start panicing right of way...Even if its just a short hop..like from Florida to Georgia,then take a longer run, its still better then taking a cheap paying load going long, just for the sake of going. :cheers:

[Foxfire]

Any load out of Fl. is a good load even if it is from Orlando to Jacksonville. And believe it or not Houston is a bad place to try to load out of.
I chose flatbedding because I was told I couldn't do it. NEVER tell me I "CAN'T" do something. They told me I couldn't work offshore because they didn't hire women in the oilfield. I got a job and earned my 100 ton Capt's license. And like HBT says, it meant I could get some excersize too. Flatbedding is a "first-come, first-serve" loading or unloading. And I too, take great pride in tying down something that looks impossible.

[Capt._Chaos]

Other than in Laredo, and sometimes in Dallas, it's dang near impossible to get decent-paying flatbed freight out of Texas.

I run dry freight & containers all over south central Texas, and it's mindblowing when you see the number of flatbeds that deliver in San Antonio, then head to Laredo (or sometimes Dallas) to reload.

[DrivingZiggy]

I can't believe she used the "B" word!!! :wtf: Myself, I don't do backhauls.

I have recently been blessed with a customer who pays me a decent rate to haul lumber out of Gainesville, FL, but this is only occasionally. I recently picked up some sod in Arcadia, FL, and when I got there, they had signs posted that they were looking for O/O's. I asked what they pay and they said about $1.70 per mile, most of the freight going to FL and LA. :yikes: Plus, they also have a sod "yard" in GA where they pay $2 going to places like SC, NC, etc.The thing is, one has to be patient Who are you and what have you done with Pete! :vmad:

I haven't had luck out of Texas, at all. From anywhere.

And the other thing I like about flatbedding is that it is more likely than dry boxing that you'll go somewhere interesting and out of the way. More likely to get something unusual that will stimulate your senses.

Just because I know I need to be patient, doesnt mean that I always am.. :fishing:

[Pipester]

Other than in Laredo, and sometimes in Dallas, it's dang near impossible to get decent-paying flatbed freight out of Texas.

I run dry freight & containers all over south central Texas, and it's mindblowing when you see the number of flatbeds that deliver in San Antonio, then head to Laredo (or sometimes Dallas) to reload.

Texas has a lot of oilfield goods going to CO and WY and piles more to Canada on a steady basis.

[nitestar]

I like flat bedding because
1-Excercise
2-I like to see my load secured with my energy and equipment.
3-flatbeds require some thinking on the drivers part. no exceptions.
4-No grocery house unless under construction, No down town loads.
5-No topping the roof off a flat bed trailer anywhere.
6-exercise
7-exercise
8-no 2 loads are the exact same.
9-shipper and recievers' have a different attitiude than warehouses do.
10-NO LUMPERS :clap:

I do not like California for flatbedding because they change the rules every monday.
A state that requires rope instead of nylon straps on some loads is not playing with a full deck.
the rules they use are not clear and consice when pertaining to flatbeds.

[copperbottom]

Flatbedding has to be in your blood I think, I'm a redheaded female that needs a challenge to keep me intrested. Not that 4-wheelers don't make life intresting enough out there for us BigRiggers. I also agree with the exercise issue. @ 44 and 110lbs @ 5'4" tall I still wear a size 3 jean....and I was told no way you'll make it in flatbedding. Then I watched a crew watching me throw tarps up on a tall lumber load and thier jaws drop and tell the oleman I wouldn't be pissin her off anytime soon........LoL So the challenge, the exercise, the attitude of the consignee when you get there to unload......they al make flatbedding worth while to me..........

[Trapper]

How is Wisconsin for flatbed loads coming in? I checked Landstars loadboard and a small town near me (Prairie du Chien 15 miles) has about half of the outbound loads for the state. Universal Forest products is there as is another plant. I checked for loads coming back to Wisconsin and although there is some flatbed freight coming in most loads are van and most drop 100 to 250 miles away at the larger metro areas.

I'm in a rural area of southwest Wisconsin on the border of Iowa, and Minnesota and Illinois are only about 50 miles away. Is it common to deadhead farther with flatbed than other trailer types? The pay must be significantly higher then to offset that right?

A lot of the loads going out of PDC were to NY, does NY or the other eastern states have much flatbed freight coming back to WI, IA, MN and IL? I didn't see much on their load board but that doesn't cover anywhere near all the loads out there.

[DrivingZiggy]

My experiences in the northeast have not been pleasant--moneywise. I lucked out last time and got a good paying partial out of New Joisey and picked up a couple of other partials that rounded out the load for me.

I've called UFP a couple of times and have been disappointed by their rates, but those were in Louisiana.

In WI, usually the rates are pretty good on the eastern side. And you can usually get good rates out of MN.

I haven't been deadheading nearly as much as I used to since I got my authority. Because I can deal with whomever I want to. I'm no longer forced to use the company's agent.