Moving Blankets Protect Flatbed Cargo, Tarps & Straps
Moving blankets are not just vital for professionals and do-it-yourself movers to avoid scuffed furniture. They’re also popular with flatbed haulers to cushion cargo and extend the life of tarps and straps.
Without a covering, items on flatbed trailers are completely exposed to the elements and road debris. Utilizing a weather-resistant tarp and tie downs helps ensure shipments arrive at their destination unscathed.
But before you roll out a tarp, consider wrapping a quilted blanket around any freight that is fragile, painted, sensitive, or not packaged (crated or cartoned).
“The main goal when securing cargo is making sure it doesn’t shift or move, but accomplishing this can be potentially damaging to cargo and securement equipment,” says Tim Sanders, senior account manager in sales at US Cargo Control.
“When used properly, moving blankets will save you time and money by making sure your load and your equipment remain in place and in good condition.”
Blankets drape across the sides and top of the most irregularly shaped items, and can be anchored firmly in position with big rubber bands, ratchet straps, or plastic stretch wrap. The soft layer acts as a shock absorber from knocks and bumps associated with loading, road vibration or heavy braking in transit, and possible impact when unloading. It also fills any gap between adjacent goods that may shift and rub against each other during the journey. Not only that, extra padding preserves the condition of the cargo when tensioning load securement straps or chain.
Protect Your Investment
In addition, lay a blanket directly over sharp edges on machinery, metal parts, etc. This eliminates direct contact with straps and tarps, which protects your investment by preventing snags, cuts, and abrasions.
While frayed webbing will likely need replaced, damaged tarps aren’t necessarily a total loss. On-the-spot tarp repair kits are available with black, blue, or red vinyl squares to easily patch and seal minor rips, holes, tears, and wear marks.
Check out our selection of corner protectors to further alleviate premature equipment wear, as well as reduce the risk of harm to whatever you’re carrying.
Flatbed Deluxe Starter Kit
We include four of our Econo Saver moving blankets with every value-priced Flatbed Deluxe Starter Kit, which contains essential supplies for flatbed drivers. The lightweight yet durable Econo Saver features a tough polyester fabric shell and cotton batting inside for limited-use jobs. If you’re looking for a higher level of protection, we offer a range of material quality, color, style, and size options:
- Best - Supreme, Pro Mover, and Performance.
- Better - Mega Mover, Preferred, Multi Mover, and Camo.
- Good - Econo Deluxe, Econo Mover, and Econo Saver.
Keep in mind that moving blankets are not waterproof, so the entire surface of a load must be tarped to shield against rain and snow.
Questions?
As always, our expert sales team is happy to assist with questions about any of our products. They’re here to get you what you want, when you need it. Call us at 866-444-9990.
