Flatbed Tarping & Securement Workload by Commodity 2026
Steel asks for the most straps, lumber asks for the most tarp, and machinery asks for the most chains - and the commodity on the rate confirmation tells you which hour of your day disappears at the dock. Flatbed tarping and securement workload is the hours-per-load side of open-deck trucking: the same $3.00-per-mile load can take 45 minutes or 3 hours of hand work depending on what is sitting on the deck. OpenDeck, powered by Load Work, lists the commodity and equipment on every load before you call, so the workload gets priced into the rate instead of discovered at the shipper.
TL;DR
Coil and machinery loads carry the heaviest securement workload on a flatbed.
Pipe and structural steel need belly wraps and overhang checks that add dock time.
Lumber is strap-heavy and tarp-heavy - two tarps and edge boards on every bunk.
Drywall and roofing punish strap placement more than strap count.
Price the hand work: 90 extra dock minutes is real cost, not a rounding error.
Why workload changes by commodity
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations set the floor: cargo must be secured against forward, rearward, lateral, upward and downward movement, and your aggregate working load limit has to hold at least half the freight's weight forward and rearward and the full weight side to side. That floor is the same for every commodity. What changes is how much gear it takes to get there and how much time it takes to set.
A bundle of lumber loads in 20 minutes and needs an 8-foot tarp thrown twice. A steel coil needs a cradle, chocks, chains rated to the coil weight and an inspection of every contact point. An excavator needs blocking under the tracks, chains at four points and a walk-around with a flashlight. The rate does not always reflect that difference - so you have to.
Steel and structural steel: strap count and edge discipline
Structural steel rides long, hard and unforgiving.
Grade 70 chain at the coil or bundle heads, plus 4-inch straps spaced through the load
Dunnage every 4 to 8 feet so bands and bundles can breathe and straps seat flat
Edge protection under every strap that touches a finished or painted surface
Overhang past the rear gets flags; overhang past 4 feet gets a legal check before you leave
The workload lives in the edges. A strap sawed by an unprotected corner is a claim, and re-doing strap work at the scale is the worst hour of the week. The full setup lives in the structural steel securement guide.
Steel coil: the heaviest item you will ever strap
Coil is where flatbed work separates the careful from the lucky.
Coil sits in a cradle or rack - never loose on dunnage
Two chains minimum, each with WLL covering its share of the coil weight
Eyes through the coil eye or chocks front and rear, then a top wrap
Every contact point inspected - a coil that shifts is not a claim, it is a wreck
Coil work is slow by design. Chain sizing by working load limit is its own skill, and the WLL math for chains and binders decides whether the setup is legal at all.
Pipe: belly wraps and the rolling-load problem
Pipe wants to roll. Every pipe load answers that with friction and geometry.
Dunnage racks or chocks between tiers so the load cannot pyramid
Belly wraps - a strap under the pipe bundle and over the top - stop individual pieces from walking
Straps at least every 10 to 12 feet on long pipe, more on lighter wall where pieces shift
End caps or padding on finished pipe, because pipe edges saw straps like a knife
A well-built pipe load takes longer to build but almost never re-secures on the road. A lazy one gets checked at every fuel stop. The full pipe setup is in the pipe securement guide.
Lumber: tarp work is the workload
Lumber loads are strap-heavy and tarp-heavy at the same time.
Strap through every bunk row so the stack cannot shift between ties
Edge boards over bare steel banding - banding cuts straps and tarps alike
An 8-foot-drop lumber tarp, and often a second one on loads over 8 feet wide or tall
Fill the dunnage gaps before the tarp goes on; pooling water between bunks is a refused load
The labor: two 40-plus-pound tarps, a walk-around, and straps over the vinyl at every gap. When the load is tarped lumber, budget the hour. The tarp setup and securement detail is in the lumber securement guide.
Machinery: chains, blocking and a checklist
Machinery and crated equipment carry the longest dock time in open-deck freight.
Four-point tie-down minimum, chains for anything tracked or heavy
Blocking under undercarriages so suspension travel cannot work a tie loose
Pins, booms and attachments secured separately or removed and strapped down
Photos before departure - machinery claims start and end with documentation
An excavator load is a 2-to-3-hour job done right, and a 20-minute job done wrong. On a step deck the deck height changes the tie points entirely, and the machinery securement walkthrough covers the axle and blocking plan.
Building materials: drywall and roofing punish lazy straps
Drywall and shingles are light freight with fragile edges.
A-frame loads get load-specific tie points, not deck rings wherever they land
Belly wraps on drywall bundles - the sheets flex and walk otherwise
Corner boards and edge protection over every strap line
Roofing shingles ride heavy per pallet but band fragile; strap the pallet, not the wrap
The commodity is worth less than the strap work suggests, which is exactly why the rate conversation has to include it. The roofing and drywall securement checklist covers strap placement and tarp calls.
What the workload is worth in the rate
The dock hour is a cost the rate confirmation never shows.
Commodity | Securement workload | Tarp load | Time at the dock |
Steel coil | Heavy - cradle, chains, inspection | Smoke tarp nose | 1.5-2.5 hrs |
Structural steel | Moderate-heavy - straps and dunnage | Often tarped | 1-2 hrs |
Pipe | Moderate - belly wraps and tiering | Often tarped | 1-1.5 hrs |
Lumber | Moderate - strap every row | Full lumber tarp, 40+ lbs | 1-1.5 hrs |
Drywall / roofing | Moderate - edge and belly work | Tarp or Conestoga | 1-1.5 hrs |
Machinery | Heavy - chains, blocking, checks | Often untarped crated | 2-3+ hrs |
Crated equipment | Light-moderate - four corners and done | Case by case | 45-90 min |
Read the table as a rate conversation. A crated equipment load that takes an hour loads at $3.00 a mile and feels like a gift. A coil that takes two and a half, needs a second tarp and has to re-inspect at the scale needs $3.00 a mile plus the extras - or it is quietly paying you less.
Common mistakes drivers make pricing commodity workload
Quoting per mile with no dock math - two extra hours at the dock is two hours you cannot bill, and it turns a $3.00 load into a $2.40 one.
Assuming tarped means one tarp - machinery and oversized lumber loads take two, and tarp pay should scale with the second throw.
Skipping belly wraps on pipe and drywall - the load looks fine at the dock and walks by mile 300.
Chaining machinery without blocking - chains hold the machine to the deck; blocking keeps the tie points alive when the suspension works.
Not asking what the next load looks like - a broker who ships coil Monday and crated parts Tuesday pays the same and gets two different trucks.
OpenDeck, powered by Load Work, shows broker details and contact information before you make the call, so the tarp question, the strap question and the dock-hour question get asked before you accept.
Conestoga and curtainside: workload you can buy back
A Conestoga trades tarp labor for a rolling cover. The freight still gets strapped and chained like any open-deck load, but the 45-minute tarp throw disappears, and the claim exposure drops with it. For weather-sensitive freight - finished drywall, packaged lumber, machinery with electronics - the rolling tarp is the cheapest employee on the truck. The tradeoff is equipment cost and freight availability: Conestoga freight is a smaller slice of the open-deck market than standard flatbed work.
For drivers without one, the tarp discipline above is the substitute. For drivers pricing a trailer purchase, the workload table above is the payback math - count your tarped loads a month and price the throw.
See the commodity before you call
OpenDeck lists trailer type, weight and length on every load, so the workload gets priced before you accept.
FAQ
Which flatbed commodity takes the most securement work?
Steel coil and heavy machinery carry the heaviest workload. Coil needs a cradle, chains rated to the coil weight and a full contact-point inspection; machinery needs four-point chain tie-downs plus blocking under the undercarriage.
How many straps does a tarped lumber load take?
Plan on 4 to 8 straps through the bunks plus straps over the tarp, edge boards over bare banding, and an 8-foot-drop lumber tarp weighing 40 to 50 pounds. Wide or tall stacks take a second tarp.
What is a belly wrap and when do you need one?
A belly wrap runs under the load and back over the top, locking individual pieces in place. Pipe and drywall bundles need them - without one, individual pieces walk out of the bundle as the load shifts.
How long does machinery securement take at the dock?
Two to three hours done right for a tracked machine: blocking under the undercarriage, chains at four points, attachments secured separately and photos before you leave the yard.
Do you charge the same rate for coil and crated freight?
No. Coil, machinery and structural steel carry extra dock hours, extra tie-down work and claim exposure, and the rate should carry a premium over crated or palletized freight of the same miles.
Does a Conestoga trailer remove tarping work?
Yes. A Conestoga's rolling cover replaces the tarp throw entirely, which saves 45 minutes or more per tarped load and cuts weather-claim exposure. The tradeoff is higher equipment cost and a smaller freight pool.
How do you price tarp and securement labor into a load?
Count the dock hours and the tarp throws the commodity takes, convert them to cost at your per-hour rate, and require tarp pay of $25 to $50 per tarp plus a rate that clears your cost per mile after that time is included.
Price the hand work before the wheels move
The commodity decides the workload, and the workload decides whether the rate is real. Ask what is on the deck before you quote, and turn the answer into dollars.
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