A Trucker's Tale – Finished Lumber

Jun 18, 2025 - 3 months ago

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In my last Supply Post article, I related that, during my time away from college classes trying to save money, I went to work for WMTS Trucking Company. Additionally, they were the only company for which I worked.

A Trucker's Tale-Finished Lumber-By Ed Miller — The ropes were especially fun when you arrived at your delivery destination, after you had driven through ice and snow, to find that your carefully hand-tied knots were frozen solid. Photo: Zac Porter / Unsplash.

WMTS hauled a lot of lumber, and most lumber shipper loads were easy to load and also relatively easy for the driver to chain and tarp. Of course, there is always that shipper which causes you to bitch-and-moan when you get dispatched to its place of business. The lumber mill in this story shipped finished tongue-and-groove lumber, which happened to be as slippery as hot molasses.

My first load of this sh__, (sorry, but that’s what all the other drivers called it) was an educational experience. No, actually it was more of a nightmarish experience! To begin with, after the forklift placed all the various sized bundles on the trailer, it looked over-height to me, so I asked the forklift driver if he could measure it. I was disheartened to see that it measured exactly 13’6” from the ground, and that fellow kept grinning, while I was inwardly groaning.

If I remember correctly, the flatbed chains (which had one end welded to the rub-rail) had half-inch links. (For you non-flatbed persons, one end of each chain was welded so the so the chain would not be stolen, or otherwise magically disappear). Due to the chains being too heavy to throw over the load, the only way to get the chains across the tall load was to throw a rope across to the passenger side of the trailer. After walking around to the passenger side, you tied the rope to the end of a chain. Walking back around the trailer, you would then pull the rope-attached chain across the load of lumber. All you now needed to do was to perform the process seven more times. Before hooking the chain binders, the driver had to climb on top of the load to place corner protectors under each location the chain would have “bitten” into the lumber. (Yep, I used at least 16 protectors).

Nylon straps would have made the job tolerable but, at the time, the company only had a limited number of straps, and they had all been issued to the older drivers.

As you chained your load, the corner protectors only stayed in place if it was the 35th day of the month. The other days of the month, another few trips had to be made to the top of the load to reposition many protectors. Since this was my first load from this shipper, I reckoned that tighter chains always worked better, so I used a three-foot long binder pipe to make sure the chains were secure. This extreme tightening caused many of the protectors to shift, so yes, I did get to make numerous climbs back to the top. By God, those chains were tight!

The next step was to tarp this expensive load of flooring. As was common practice, the forklift driver would lift the heavy tarp up onto the front top of the load. Many older drivers (with bad backs) will remember lumber tarps used to be one single canvas tarp large enough to cover a 13’6” high, 45’ long load, and it probably weighed between 150-200 pounds. (This same one-piece tarp was also used on all other commodities, such as steel coils, or farm machinery. After utilizing one end of a tarp to cover a single coil of steel, you would just roll-up the rest of the tarp and place at the back of the coil.)

WMTS’s canvas tarps had 3/8” X 4 ft. ropes threaded into each grommet, and each rope had a knot tied on one end. The rope was threaded through the bottom of the tarp flap, which held the rope in place. Each grommet was spaced approximately 24 inches apart. After spreading the tarp over the load, and then pulling the sides down level and tight, it seemed like it took forever to tie all the ropes to the rub rails. These ropes were especially fun when you arrived at your delivery destination, after you had driven through ice and snow, to find that your carefully hand-tied knots were frozen solid.

Creativity was your best frozen-knot-friend during these times, and the best way to untie them was to somehow thaw the knots. One time I used the receiver’s bathroom to fill gallon jugs with hot water. It took quite a few trips, but it got the job done. Another time, when delivering to a building supply store, I thawed the knots by purchasing a small propane torch. Thankfully, there was only one occasion when my only solution was to cut every single rope. Flatbed trucking has come a long way since the days of the canvas tarps, and I want to cry every time I see one of those present-day sliding roller-tarp equipped flatbeds!

Sorry, but I got off-track again, so let’s get back to the finished lumber load- from-hell story. After leaving the lumber mill, I had traveled about 100 miles when I noticed in my mirrors what seemed to be bulges under the tarps on each side of the trailer. When I found a place to pull-over to inspect the load, I saw that the lumber bundles had worked outward. I had tightened the chains so much that the bundles were flattening, therefore bulging. Life lesson: When hauling finished tongue-and-groove lumber, only tighten chains so there is no “play” in them. DO NOT tighten the sh__ out of them!

Listening to other driver’ stories proved I was not the only hater of finished lumber. This product was so ornery to transport that sometimes, even though you were sure the load was securely tightened, the lumber would seem to develop a life of its own. While trucking down the highway, individual lumber pieces would begin working their way out of the middle of the top bundles on the back of the trailer. These rogue pieces would “telescope” so much that they would poke holes in the canvas tarps.

I was a rookie at hauling finished lumber, so I was certain several drivers were pulling-my-leg when they said there was a truck stop north of Richmond which had an outside wall on one side of its repair shop, which everyone used when they hauled finished lumber. When this first load did, in fact, telescope, I gladly learned that they were not kidding. I slowly backed my trailer up against the wall, thereby pushing the offending telescoped pieces back into their bundles. Unbelievable! I am certain that older flatbed operators agree that slick, finished lumber would be among the top ten most aggravating commodities to transport, followed closely by coiled wire rod. (Since I am trying to stay “on task,” I’ll get back to the coiled wire rod later.)

I was never overjoyed to learn that it was my time to be dispatched to pick up another load from this lumber shipper, but believe it or not, I actually did not have as much trouble with any of them as I had experienced on my inaugural load. I even learned the trick of doubling the tarp at the end of the load, which helped the lumber from telescoping. Notice that I said, “helped,” because there were times that even that did not help.

Ed Miller ([email protected]) has more than 40 years of management and ownership experience in the trucking industry. Today, he is a part-time tour bus driver, published author of “A Trucker’s Tale”, and regular contributor to Supply Post. He is a father of three and a grandfather of two, and lives with his wife in Rising Sun, Maryland.