A tight tarping job can save you time and money

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Successful tarping is a twist of art and a tug of science. No two loads are tarped the same. “Every load is different, and every load has to be secured differently,” 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 your bungees from the rings closest to the trailer head.”

Start at the back of the trailer with a tarp and secure that tarp first, Wood says. Take another tarp from the trailer front and overlap the first tarp. “Start at the back because you want the one on the front to overlap the other for less wind resistance,” he says.