Flatbed truck

A flatbed truck is that which transfer goods on open, curtain side, low boy, stepdeck or double drop trailer. Flatbed driving is well paid job. If it is well paid more attention is needed everywhere. In driving you need to watch same to the back as front. It is more important to stay while loading and unloading. You need to balance your load, secure it, move axles and cover it up. It is good practice to check your load securements every 100 miles.

Risks

A lot of times when professional truck drivers got seriously injured or even died due to unsafe flatbed freight loading. Most of the times truck drivers fell from unstable load. Some of these incidents are not in control of driver, shipper or employers. Some incidents occur due to malfunction off motorized flatbed loading equipment. The bad weather also plays a big role in these incidents, the bad weather includes slippery surface, less visibility and unclean docks. Uneven loading yard also another big cause of these incidents.
Communication gap with spotter, loader or shipper on customer site can also be the reason of incident. Sometimes material handling equipment operators face problem due to unsafe or untrustworthy means of securing freight during the loading process. Working or standing in an area where the load would fall.

Awareness and safety

Drivers must be aware of flatbed truck loading methods that can help prevent accidents and injuries during a flatbed loading or unloading process. Everyone involved must stay in contact with each other. The forklift or crane operator should have good knowledge of operation off the equipment and its capabilities. For drivers to stay safe it is better to do strapping, chaining and tarping of a load after completion of loading process.
Serious care should be taken to avoid this type of incidents. Drivers need to check the space surface and loading dock even before backing up or going in. Shippers should take the responsibility of load weight and dimension. Motorized equipment such as forklift crane should be sufficient for loading and unloading process. Equipment should be used according to the size, weight, height and length of load.

Accessories

Another major care to be taken is to wear flatbed trucker’s clothes such as hard hat, safety glasses, gloves, kneecaps, etc. Each piece of wear is very important to keep you physically safe while working as flatbed truck driver.