Accessorizing Your Vehicle

To ensure your success as an independent trucker, it's important that you have access to the right equipment. Protecting your truck, and the loads you haul, can be made easier when you invest in a rolling or sliding tarp system that is designed to fit over your tractor trailer.

Here are three things to be looking for as you evaluate tarp systems in the future.

1. Check to ensure that the motor powering the rolling tarp system is designed to withstand exposure to the elements.

If you regularly drive in a variety of weather conditions, it's important that the metal fittings on your tarp system's motor can withstand exposure to the elements. When metal is exposed to water, the corrosion process begins. By checking to ensure that the motor powering a potential tarp system is made from stainless steel, you can avoid the hassle of dealing with rust in the future.

The elements found in stainless steel (like chromium, iron, and silicon) interact with oxygen to form a protective film across the surface of the metal. This film prevents corrosion and ensures that your tarp system's motor will remain structurally sound.

2. Check to ensure that the tarp system comes equipped with a wind deflector.

The mesh fabric used in most tarp systems can become damaged when exposed to high levels of wind. With wind speeds across the United States ranging from an average of 12.91 mph to 31.44 mph, your tarp will be exposed to a lot of wind as you travel from one destination to the next.

Having a tarp system that comes equipped with a wind deflector will protect the mesh fabric from fraying in high-wind conditions. This allows you to provide the maximum amount of protection for your loads in the future.

3. Invest in a tarp system that can be operated using a remote control.

As an independent trucker, you likely don't have many employees hanging around to help you load and unload your cargo. You can take advantage of the benefits a tarp system provides, without worrying about how you will attach and remove an unwieldy tarp alone by opting to invest in a tarp system that can be operated using a remote control.

Tarps that retract with the push of a button make it easier to protect your loads without the additional help required to tie-down a traditional tarp.

For more information, contact a tarp systems provider in your area.