Smart Driving
S uccessful tarping is a twist of art and a tug of sci-ence. No two loads are tarped the same. Every load is different, and every load has to be secured differ-ently, says Rosco Wood, driver for Denis Gray Trucking in Sumner, Wash. Adds Fred Jones, an owner-operator leased to Davis Transport of Missoula, Mont., who figures he's spread tarps for 25 years, There's a lot of thinking to running a flatbed and tarping. You'll know quickly if you've done a good job tarping your load. If your tarp is billowing or flapping at highway speeds, it's time to pull over and start over. A lackadaisical tarping job costs you time and money. The best thing to save money and reduce drag is to get the tarp on and keep it tight, Jones says. It's well worth the time spent at the start. Understanding wind flow will help in tarping your load. When winds blow over the top and flow behind your cab, they have to go somewhere; they flow off to the sides where they create a vacuum, Jones says. If your tarps aren't tied tight, the wind will catch the edges. I've heard of troopers giving tickets for the obstruction, he says. Tarping loads isn't an exact science, says Robert Twiss, driver for Nashville-based Western Express. Even so, when positioning tarps, ensure you're placing the flaps and corners properly to reduce drag. On the front of the trailer, the end flap overlaps the corners, while on the back of the trailer, the corners overlap the flap. Any open edge is going to catch air, Twiss says. You want to keep the sides as flat as possible. And you want to start Rosco Wood's load of a magnetic resonance imaging machine put his tarping skills to the test. The Denis Gray Trucking driver was transporting the $2 million machine and other equipment from Seattle to a hospital in central Washing-ton State. He had made three stops to pick up the device. The trip involved passing through the windy Cascade Mountains. The magnet was tarped inside a metal cage, and Wood had placed two more tarps of his own over the cage and secured them with bungees. Before he headed through the mountain pass, he strung three straps over that part of the load for extra holding power. Because I don't have the load in a single piece [with different heights], the wind is going to catch this and pull my trailer all over the place, he said before hitting the road. It's going to take my tarp and pull it to the side. I have to keep it absolutely dry under there. CoveR foR a sensitive load Max Kvidera Training the Wind A tight tarping job can save you time and money smaRt dRiving Max Kvidera Rosco Wood applies additional straps to tie down and protect a valuable load of a magnetic resonance imaging machine he recently delivered. May 2009 28 tRuCKeRs neWs