Truck Equipment

Determining the Time for Tarp Replacement

Truck downtime, mechanics labor, fasteners, etc are all costs that need to be factored into the price of the replacement tarp.

Sean O’Brian

Tarps, tarps, tarps. For some, tarps are simply something that gets replaced—a consumable that gets charged against the operating expense of the truck. For others, tarps are a nagging reminder that the truck is in being serviced versus being out on the route making money or a litter notice from the DMV that the load is not being contained due to inadequate tarp design, the tarp has worn out or the driver isn’t using his flaps. Depending on which tarp material and tarp system model you have, replacing the tarp can be a yearly event or a monthly nuisance. Factors such as: tarp design, if the tarp is being drug out over the load versus being rolled out over the load, driver abuse, and load contained will ultimately dictate how long the tarp lasts and how often the tarp gets replaced. You can maintain the life of your tarp efficiently while keeping the system running in smooth, working order with less downtime.

Tarp Styles

Tarps are consumables which can be the “Cheap, keep you barely legal” variants up to the higher quality materials, extra/heavy reinforcement OEM variety. However, no matter the material of the tarps you use, ultimately, all tarps need to be replaced—it’s just a matter of what you haul and the driver’s attention to the load and tarp system placement that dictates how often. Typical, less expensive tarps use lesser quality/lower denier materials; don’t have reinforcements or flaps for litter containment or additional webbing to give the tarp additional structure. Therefore, they don’t last very long or offer the additional option of flap use for total waste containment.

The more expensive factory replacement tarps typically use superior materials and offer material choices for varying loads (rubbish versus scrap metal, for example) while also offering the side flaps for total waste containment. However, do the more expensive tarps last longer? Typically yes, but how much longer no one really knows. The route, material being covered and the driver are variables that are difficult to be accounted for. When determining what tarp style needs to be used, consider these cost factors: purchase price of the tarp, number of tarp replacements per year, labor to remove and replace the tarp and truck down time.

Multi-Color Mesh

Multi-Mesh, is a light weight, abrasion resistant mesh material. Its strong points are that it is relatively inexpensive and allows for air movement but lasts the least amount of time in comparison to other materials currently being offered. This material is ideally suited for individuals concerned with purchase price alone versus tarp longevity and costs associated with tarp replacement.

12oz Mesh

12oz mesh is a good all around tarp material suited to refuse containment. It has decent abrasive resistance, an open weave to allow for more air movement and is a somewhat industry standard for tarp material. This material is good for all weather environments.

Gator Mesh

This is a lighter weight; tighter weave material that has a much higher abrasion resistance than the 12oz mesh that is ideally suited for refuse containment. The lower weight of the tarp exerts less stress on the tarp spring but the trade off is that the tighter weave allows the wind to potentially whip the tarp. Wind whip is not an issue on tarp systems where the tarp roller is mounted to the arms but can be a nuisance problem with tarp systems that have the tarp roller mounted in the gantry and have spring-loaded arms.

Scrappy mesh

This is an ultra-heavy weight, non-bonded mesh where the woven fibers are not bonded together like what is found in the 12oz mesh material. This allows for the fibers to be reoriented if small holes become present and is ideally suited for the scrap metal and high abrasion environments. A good benefit to this material is that it allows for a lot of air to pass through it which minimizes the wind whip that causes tarper arm problems on spring loaded tarp systems. A non-benefit to this material is that it allows the loose refuse in the containers to be blown around more, increasing the chances of material being blown out of the container if the sides are not strapped down.

Mighty Mesh

A heavy-duty mesh material that is a close merger between the density of the scrappy material with the tighter bonded weave of the 12oz mesh. This is an excellent all around material suitable for refuse, scrap and high abrasion environments. Its bonded weave doesn’t allow for the strands to be re-oriented like the scrappy material but its heavy weight exceeds the abrasion resistance of the 12oz mesh.

Tarp Attachment

How the tarps are attached is another labor cost factor. Most, if not all, tarp system manufacturers use some form of a quick tarp attachment method. Some use a channel to slide the tarp into for tarp attachment, while others use an extruded bolt boss where the tarp is attached to the roller by bolts. Both methods remove the variable of a long screw digging into the spring that drastically shortens its life. The slide in method requires two people to install the tarp (one to hold and align the tarp while the other pulls it into the slot) and doesn’t allow the tarp to be adjusted if the tarp is out of square. The bolt in method takes one person to install versus two and if the tarp is out of square, the tarp can be folded over and reattached to the tarp roller through the grommet.

Spring tension or, more accurately, how the spring tension is held when the tarp is replaced is another cost factor. If the tarp is removed from the tarp roller, the tarp tension must be removed or somehow held in place while the tarp is replaced. Some tarp rollers have a tarp tension retainment method where an optional tarp wrench can hold the tarp tension while the tarp is being replaced. This removes the safety factor of removing and reinstalling the tarp rollers tension while making tarp replacement a true one-person job. Time spent to replace the tarp is considerably lower using this method versus removing and replacing the tarp rollers tension for each and every tarp replacement.

Route Variables and Cost Studies

The route the driver takes is a constant daily variable. As much as we’d like to have all of our loads be consistent, hardly none ever are. Some will have construction debris sticking out the tops of the container, stumps, sticks or land clearing debris sticking out from the sides of the container, sharp scrap metal heaped up in the center, all of this will shorten the life of your tarp and are variables to the tarps longevity. Will a more expensive tarp last longer under these circumstances? Typically yes, but how much longer is a great unknown. Does the increased time between tarp replacements merit the increased price? That’s really something that only you can answer.

In closing, the best advice is to look at your maintenance records to see just how often your tarps are having to be replaced. Is there a consistency between tarp changes? If so, you have an ideal candidate to see if the more expensive or less expensive tarps will increase the time between tarp changes, decrease the time or if no time changes. If you try out the more expensive tarp and see an increased time period between tarp changes, does the increased time period between changes justify the more expensive tarp? Bear in mind, there are more costs in tarp changes than just the purchase price of the tarp itself. Truck downtime, mechanics labor, fasteners, etc are all costs that need to be factored into the price of the replacement tarp.

Sean O’Brian is President and Co-Owner of O’Brian Tarping Systems (Wilson, NC). He has designed, built, installed, sold and used tarps and tarping systems over 15+ years. He has done design work in the home office, field supervision of tarp system installations in Singapore to handling National Accounts and Dealer sales. He can be reached at (252) 291-2141, via e-mail at [email protected] or visit www.obriantarping.com.

 

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