Flatbed
Flatbed loads
The workhorse of open deck. One continuous deck, loading from any side or from above, for freight that does not need a roof and will not fit through a dock door.
What rides on a flatbed
- Steel coil, plate, and structural steel
- Lumber and building materials
- Pipe and tubing
- Prefabricated panels and trusses
- Palletized freight that loads from the side
- Machinery under 8 ft 6 in tall
A flatbed is the default open deck trailer and the one most shippers picture when they say "flatbed load". The deck sits around five feet off the ground and runs flat end to end, which means a crane can set freight from above, a forklift can load from either side, and nothing has to fit through a dock door.
That flexibility comes with a height ceiling. With the deck at five feet and the legal limit at thirteen feet six, freight taller than roughly eight feet six will not clear — that is the point at which the load belongs on a step deck instead. Weight is rarely the constraint on a flatbed; height is.
Flatbed freight is almost always tarped, chained, or strapped, and the securement is real work rather than paperwork. A coil rides differently than a bundle of pipe, and a level 1 inspection counts the working load limit of every chain on the trailer.
Specifications
- Deck length
- 48 or 53 ft
- Deck height
- ~5 ft
- Legal width
- 8 ft 6 in
- Max freight height
- ~8 ft 6 in
- Capacity
- 48,000 lb
- Axles
- 2
Figures are standard federal and industry dimensions. State limits vary — check the route before you assume a load is legal.
Recent lanes
Flatbed freight on the move
- Gary, INHouston, TXSteel coil · 1,082 mi · 12m ago$2,810
- Mobile, ALCharlotte, NCPipe · 552 mi · 55m ago$1,490
- Tulsa, OKMidland, TXOilfield tubing · 486 mi · 1h ago$1,425
- Green Bay, WINashville, TNPaper rolls · 704 mi · 2h ago$1,880
- Birmingham, ALCleveland, OHStructural steel · 726 mi · 3h ago$2,010
Common questions
Flatbed, explained
How tall can a flatbed load be?
Freight on a standard flatbed can be roughly 8 feet 6 inches tall before the total height hits the 13 foot 6 inch legal limit, because the deck itself sits about 5 feet off the ground. Anything taller generally moves on a step deck, which drops the main deck about 18 inches and buys that height back.
How much weight can a flatbed haul?
A standard two-axle flatbed carries up to 48,000 pounds of freight, which keeps the tractor-trailer under the 80,000 pound federal gross limit. Heavier freight needs additional axles, which is where lowboys and multi-axle configurations come in.
Other open deck equipment
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