How a $40 tarp cost me an extra 300 miles on my last delivery

I was shipping a Ford F-150 from Phoenix to Denver last month. The customer wanted it covered, so I strapped down my usual tarp like I always do. Halfway through New Mexico, the wind caught it and ripped one corner clean off. By the time I stopped, the paint on the hood was sandblasted from gravel dust. I had to turn back to a shop in Albuquerque, buy a better tarp with reinforced grommets, and reroute through the mountains to avoid more high wind. Took me an extra day and a half. Anyone else had a cheap tarp fail on an open trailer, or do you all just run enclosed for long hauls?

1 comments

1 Comment

lucashart11d ago

Man, that seriously sucks and I feel for you. A tarp ripping off is bad enough, but having to backtrack and eat the extra fuel and time on a job like that is the worst kind of headache. Hope the customer was cool about it, ’cause that’s a rough way to learn a $40 lesson.