Flatbed truck tarps are harder to come by, although various dealers of tarps carry sizes large enough to cover a load for either a flatbed or dump truck. For tarping your own flatbed, here are some of the highlights in the video:

• Have a forklift driver bring the tarp up to the top of the load. Applying the tarp needs to start from the top of the load and go down.
• Once the tarp surrounds the load, bungee cords need to go through all D-rings. The bungee cords are either attached through two D-rings or attached from a D-ring to the side of the flatbed truck.
• Flatbed tarps designed to cover a load of lumber in the video have side flaps. Although the tarp around the load is secured under the flaps, the flaps themselves shouldn’t be blown about by the wind, as any wind getting under the tarp can cause wind whip and tearing. This portion of the tarp should be secured with bungee cords after the rest of the tarp has been.
• All hooks attached to D-rings should face outward. Otherwise, the metal might cut through the tarp.

A portable garage or carport is often equipped to be somewhat fire resistant, be it a fully metal or metal and polyethylene canopy structure. Galvanized steel, which makes up the frames for both types of carports, is fire resistant up to a couple of hours without being altered. Polyethylene, in some cases, can be fire retardant. In fact, many canopies are built with fire retardant tarps that meet California fire codes, the most stringent in the United States. Not all canopies or polyethylene tarps are, however, but those that are can keep a fire contained within the shelter.

As mentioned in the linked article above, items inside the structure can become damaged, although the structure prevents the fire from spreading to a home or adjacent building if addressed in time. In the case of this article, the truck inside the carport was partially damaged by the fire. This is the case with all items stored in such portable outdoor shelters. Whether you use one for housing a seasonal vehicle like an RV or boat or use one for your car or just simply for storage, items inside will be damaged or destroyed by the fire, although your home should remain safe from the flames.

In Anderson, South Carolina, whether to use a tarp or another material for transporting trash is somewhat of an issue. Essentially, the town wants to prevent litter when residents transport their trash by car or truck and, in a local law, requires a “tarp” to cover any trash being moved. This includes trash cans that even have a locked lid. In any instance trash could escape, a tarp-like material is required. Residents, on the other hand, think that an actual polyethylene tarp is needed, and the town plans to revise this law to define a tarp as any material that will effectively cover a load of trash. As mentioned in the article, this could include a bed sheet or netting, as long as the material prevents any trash from being blown out.

While using the proper material when transporting trash is an issue, a more prominent issue is how the load, including the “tarp” is being secured. With a traditional dump or flatbed truck, when a tarp isn’t properly secured, the tarp can come loose, thus exposing the load to moisture, or it can experience wind whip, which decreases the lifespan of a tarp. When residents of Anderson or any Southern town with a similar issue plan to use a tarp or similar material, they should secure it, so that the material doesn’t come loose and allow trash to fly out.

What are some ways for protecting a motorcycle? The most convenient option is with a small portable storage shelters. Although these are generally used for cars and larger vehicles, some storage shelters are designed for smaller vehicles and smaller amounts of storage – think the size of a traditional tool shed. Or, if you own both a car and a motorcycle, one of the medium-sized portable garages can be used for storing two vehicles or having two vehicles use it like a carport. Many portable shelter companies carry motorcycle canopies, such as Portable Garage Depot, in specific sizes.

What if you can’t afford a full portable shelter? Another option for protecting your motorcycle outside is with a tarp. Heavy duty polyethylene tarps can protect hay and seasonal vehicles like boats and RVs outside, so why not motorcycles? When covering a motorcycle with one of these tarps, the tarp should surround the motorcycle and be secured with bungee cords so it doesn’t blow off and expose the vehicle.

Essentially, using a tarp or a net to prevent garbage from being blown about is much like using a truck tarp on a larger vehicle. Although some states, as mentioned in previous posts, have different regulations regarding when to use truck tarps, with some states stating that a tarp isn’t necessary if the load is one foot below the edge of the truck, having a polyethylene or mesh tarp in place prevents particles of all sizes – from sand to trash – from blowing out of the vehicle. Essentially the unsecured load law in West Virginia is much like a tarp law, only the material covering the load doesn’t always need to be a tarp.

A tarp gives the most effective protection out of the three options mentioned in the article: tarps, netting, and cardboard. When using a tarp with a truck, both mesh and poly tarps can be used with different types of materials. When the transported materials can’t be exposed to water, such as asphalt, a poly tarp fully secured is ideal, while material that can be exposed to some water or moisture, such as gravel or sand, can be protected with a mesh tarp.

As mentioned in past posts on this blog, two ways to protect an RV from the elements during the months not in use include a canopy shelter, much like a large carport or portable garage, is an option for protecting an RV and so is a large polyethylene tarp. Both methods allow for breathability and will prevent mildew and rot from forming and damaging the surface of an RV and will keep out UV rays which also have such damaging effects on an RV like fading the outer paint coating and damaging indoor plastic parts. Another option to increase breathability inside an RV is with an RV vent, which can be seen in the following YouTube video:

When purchasing an RV cover, be it an RV tarp or an RV canopy, the vent also needs to be taken into account when choosing the size of the shelter. All appendages to the RV need to be added into the dimensions of the shelter for appropriate protection. One example can be seen in a video for the Shelters of America website:

The point showing enough space for the RV in the shelter, including any space for a vent cover, is approximately at 1:45. In the case of this video, the protecting shelter is a curved roof portable garage, with heavy duty polyethylene sides extending from one side to the other. In addition, the curved roof is beneficial in winter for preventing snow from accumulating on top. When choosing an RV canopy, make sure that the shelter is large enough for the RV to have space inside and has side and back walls and a zipper door in front. For additional breathability for the vehicle, an RV vent cover would allow air inside the vehicle while the overall vehicle is being protected from the elements.

While a patent is still pending for the LifePort, the LifePort itself appears to be what Romag and IX Energy have designed for a public location but for the home. As for the carports used in the design of a LifePort, they seem to have the basic structure of many metal carports but with an angled and sturdier roof to support solar panels or photovoltaic cells. The structure itself is made for plug-in hybrid electric cars to charge and, according to the advertisement, can support two cars. The photovoltaic cells themselves can generate up to 4.8kw of power and, with additional solar panels, up to a maximum of 6.4kw.

Granted, the video fro, YouTube is an advertisement and partially focuses on purchasing a LifePort for increasing property value. However, one of the key points mentioned is the versatility of the structure. While the LifePort can be a two-car carport, it is also large enough to be a permanent garage or a small building and, although similar in structure to the solar carport by Romag, it is specifically for homes and small businesses. On a practical level, the LifePort represents a solution for renewable energy for home use – not just commercial use. As the next step up for ubiquitous solar energy, one possibility of this solar carport is using it to shelter cars at home – much like any present carport – and charge it simultaneously and to use commercial carports, such as Romag’s model PowerPark, on the road to charge up the car again, as an electric or hybrid car will eventually run out of power. In equating these two semi-futuristic devices with modern day technology, a PowerPark will be much like a gas station for refueling a car with electricity, brought by solar energy, while a LifePort, when used as a solar carport, will serve as an at-home charging dock to get the car going.

For a summary of the information in the article, the development of this carport is one of the building integrated photovoltaic applications of IX Energy Holdings and further developments include making a solar power carport more cost effective. As mentioned in the article, one option is basing the design of the solar carport on the structure of bridges to create a cost-effective model.

Another point brought up in the article is that the design of the carport, in general, makes it friendlier to becoming a solar powered structure. Carports are found in many locations, from various homes to hotel and business lot parking to commercial parking lots. Home carports can hold one or two vehicles, usually, but industrial sized carports can sometimes hold up to six cars. For an example of a large carport, Canopy Hut has a large sized Shelterlogic carport available on their website, which can also be seen here: .
Carports have flat, curved, and peaked roofs and, for a solar power carport, a peaked or flat roof would be an ideal design for solar panels. As these solar powered carport designs by IX Energy and Romag both rely on an electrical grid for power, the combination of a large carport, similar to the one displayed above, and a grid-tiered renewable energy source might mean that in the not-so-far-off future that six electric cars may be able to recharge by solar energy in a public parking lot.

(3) Any vehicle operating on a paved public highway with a load of dirt, sand, or gravel susceptible to being dropped, spilled, leaked, or otherwise escaping therefrom shall be covered so as to prevent spillage. Covering of such loads is not required if six inches of freeboard is maintained within the bed.

(7)(a)(i) A person is guilty of failure to secure a load in the first degree if he or she, with criminal negligence, fails to secure a load or part of a load to his or her vehicle in compliance with subsection (1), (2), or (3) of this section and causes substantial bodily harm to another.

The rest of the rules specific to Washington state can be read on the blog post here.

One key point in reading these regulations for covering a truck load is that how to or what to cover the load with isn’t specified. As with truck tarps, some materials need waterproof covering, while others just simply need a cover to not spill out of the truck. Two common types of truck tarps are mesh tarps and poly tarps, both of which can be applied manually or by a roll-on mechanism. While in the case of Washington state a load six inches below the edge of the truck doesn’t need to be covered, not covering materials still has a risk of having materials fly out. Using even a light or mesh tarp can be beneficial in keeping the materials inside the truck.

Romag’s PowerPark is essentially a metal carport topped with photovoltaic cells – also known as solar panels – that can change an electric vehicle. Although these carports have potential to be used as home carports, the PowerPark has been designed for a commercial parking lot, in which users for a supermarket or shopping center can park their cars in a PowerPark and have their cars recharge with solar energy as they shop. A solar carport would be linked to an electric grid for power and, so far, the introduction of the carports wouldn’t need to disrupt or change the current electric grid. Each solar carport has a 1.5 kilowatt peak and an individual parking space, according to the article, could generate 1,100 kilowatts of electricity annually. Already, the PowerPark has been in use in Romag’s headquarters in the UK.

In terms of protecting the car, as is the original purpose of a carport, these PowerPark carports appear to have the same type of protection offered by an ordinary metal carport with the bonus of an added electric charge. As these solar power carports have the potential to help reduce significantly greenhouse emissions, is it possible that within the next decade that PowerPark or other solar carports will become common? Perhaps, as electric and hybrid vehicles become more affordable and more people become more “green” conscious, solar power carports may seem like a logical and affordable option for charging and protecting cars.