Tarps can be very useful for heavy vehicles like trucks, trailers and motor homes. They hold the cargo in place when it is been transported through bumpy roads, hilly terrains and other challenging road trips. Their main purpose is to protect the cargo from weather conditions like rain, snow, wind and harmful sun rays. Depending upon the size of the tarps it can be very easy or very tricky to cover the tarp on the vehicle & cargo.

Here are some tips that can help you to cover your loads with flatbed tarps:

Purchasing a Tarp

Let’s start with a tip on how to purchase a tarp. A tarp should be waterproof, UV treated and wind resistant. These characteristics are important for a durable and all purpose tarps and you can be assured that these tarps will withstand the forces of external elements over a long haul. Vinyl tarps are preferable for such purpose.

Arrange Cargo

To efficiently cover the cargo with a tarp, it is necessary that you arrange your cargo in proper pattern. The best way is to evenly distribute the cargo on the flatbed trailer. Try to keep the cargo low and avoid any uneven heights and sharp points, as this will not allow a trap to lay flat.

Cover the Load

Pull the flatbed tarps over the cargo load. Make sure that your cargo is evenly covered on both the sides with the tarp. You can fold the extra material of the tarp and place it under the cargo. Then use straps or bungee cords to tie down the tarp with the trailer bed.

Final Check

Once you have covered your load and tied it down with the straps you must walk around the load and vehicle that you have just secured. Check the tie downs and security of your tarp to make sure everything is in place as you wanted it. You can pull the tarps to check how much it gives; don’t allow even a negligible gap in the perfect tie down.

Other Necessary Tips and Warnings

It is easier to tie a tarp for the first few times with a help of friends to properly understand the tie down process. It will help you to figure out the difference between a slack and a perfect tie down when your tarp is evenly draped on a load.

It is important for you to know that you should never stand on a tarp no matter how secure it may appear to you. Tarps are made to withstand harsh weather conditions but not withstand weight and might give away. Do not tie down your tarps using pipes, wires and other small things like antennas; thin objects like these could easily break if the tarp pulls. Use only standard tie down straps.

Flatbed lumber tarps and steel tarps are essential items for the truck drivers and if used and maintained in proper way they could last of many years as they are made from heavy duty durable materials.

When the word tarp is mentioned, people tend to associate it to huge loads covered with lumber tarps or flatbed tarps. These tarps are definitely effective to secure an protect the cargo when being hauled by the truckers, but today the use of these tarps is not limited to covering heavy duty loads.

Tarps are made of a variety of materials nowadays like mesh, vinyl, polyethylene and canvas. They are also named for the purpose that they are used like lumber tarps and steel tarps. It does not mean that these tarps are made of lumber or steel but they are usually used to cover such type of cargo. Lumber tarp is used to cover tall loads as it has 6 to 8 ft. drop and its advantages are as follows:

• Lumber tarps have up to three rows of D-rings attached to its hems which are also known as grommets. These grommets allow a perfect tie down facility. These grommets are clenched at every two feet so that there will be no need to cover the tarps with other materials for a sturdy tie down.

• It is not at all cumbersome to use these tarps even though they are used to cover tall and bulky loads. One can easily use two to three tarps to completely cover the loads. This allows the user to easily maintain the tarps and fold them when they are not been used. If one huge tarp is used to cover tall load then it becomes very difficult and awkward to handle the tarp single handedly.

• These tarps are sturdy, strong and are made of heavy duty vinyl material which can withstand all type of harsh weather conditions like heavy rain, snow, thunder storms and UV rays. They are light weight so can he handled easily to cover and uncover the load.

• Flatbed Lumber tarps are also been used at the construction sites to cover work-in-progress construction activities. They are also used to cover heavy machinery at these locations. These tarps protect the half finished work and machines from external elements. The durability and tensile strength of these tarps make them ideal components where the protection from grueling weather is required.

• The best advantage of lumber tarp is that it can be used to cover any type of cargo. Due to the strength of its material and rows of D-rings attached to its sides it is used to cover a variety of products and not only logs of wood.

These heavy duty tarps are now being used to cover RVs, cars and other vehicles when a garage facility is not available. They are even used to cover materials like chairs, sofas, TV, tables etc. when they are put out for sale until they are sold off or disposed off. These tarps used to be confined to only cover cargos for transportation, but are now used to cover and protect many different things.