Flatbed Shipping

Low Cost, Coast to Coast Flatbed Freight and Flatbed Trailer Transport for Every Load

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What Ships on a Flatbed?

Flatbeds are the workhorse of open deck freight because they load from the side, from the rear, or straight down from a crane, and nothing has to fit through a door. The loads we book most are structural steel and rebar, lumber and sheet goods, palletized building materials, industrial machinery on skids, HVAC units and switchgear, and drivable equipment like skid steers, mini excavators, and small tractors that come up ramps under their own power. Freight that cannot get wet rides under a lumber tarp or a steel tarp; ask for tarping when you book so the carrier arrives with the right gear and the quote already includes it, because a tarp added at the dock is a surcharge and a delay.

Legal Size, and What Happens Past It

A standard flatbed deck sits about 5 feet off the ground, so freight up to roughly 8 feet 6 inches tall, 8 feet 6 inches wide, and 48 or 53 feet long moves without permits on nearly any route. Past those numbers the job changes: taller freight usually belongs on a step deck, wider freight needs state permits and sometimes an escort, and heavier freight needs more axles. We check the dimensions against the route before we quote, and if a different deck clears the route cheaper we say so rather than sell you the flatbed you asked for.

Here’s Why SAC is the Smart Choice for Flatbed Shipping Services

The Right Deck for the Load

From a standard 48 foot flatbed to a step deck or a lowboy, we match the freight to the trailer that clears the route at the best rate.

Secured to Federal Cargo Rules

Rated chains, straps, and tarps for the load, with condition documented on the bill of lading at pickup and again at delivery.

Firm Quotes, No Deposit

Your flatbed quote is priced for your exact lane and load and locked before dispatch. No deposit is taken until a carrier is assigned to your move.

Flatbed trailer hauling strapped freight on the interstate

Freight on a Flatbed, or the Trailer Itself?

This page covers both jobs people mean by flatbed shipping. Most customers need freight hauled ON a flatbed trailer: machinery, steel, lumber, palletized building materials, or crated cargo that loads by forklift or crane. Others need a flatbed trailer itself moved, an empty deck bought at auction or sold to a buyer several states away. We arrange that too, either towed by a power only tractor or loaded as cargo, and your coordinator builds the quote for the job you actually have. Moving a different trailer type? See our trailer shipping service.

Standard Flatbed Dimensions and Limits

A standard flatbed runs 48 or 53 feet long and 8 feet 6 inches wide, with a deck about 5 feet off the ground. That leaves roughly 8 feet 6 inches of legal cargo height and a practical payload around 45,000 to 48,000 pounds. Freight inside those numbers moves permit free on nearly any route; anything taller, wider, or heavier belongs on a different deck, and we will tell you which one before you book.

Why Clients Trust Ship A Car, Inc.

How Flatbed Freight Is Secured

Open deck securement follows the federal cargo rules rather than the driver’s habit. Machinery gets chains and binders at the frame or the manufacturer’s tie down points, crated and palletized freight gets rated straps with corner protectors where a strap crosses a finished edge, and the minimum number of tie downs is set by the length and the weight of each piece, not by how the load looks. The driver checks tension at pickup and again in the first fifty miles, because chains settle as the load shifts on the deck. Condition is photographed and written on the bill of lading at both ends, so if anything ever needs a claim the paper trail already exists.

Loading Without a Dock

A flatbed needs no dock, but it does need something to lift the freight onto a deck 5 feet off the ground. Palletized and crated freight loads by forklift, and a 5,000 pound warehouse forklift handles most of it; machinery on skids loads by crane or by a heavy forklift; drivable equipment comes up ramps the carrier brings or drives on at a ramp yard. Tell your coordinator what lifting equipment exists at pickup and at delivery. If one end has nothing, we book a carrier who brings ramps, arrange a forklift rental, or route the load through a terminal with a crane, and the plan is settled before the truck is dispatched rather than on your driveway.

What Flatbed Shipping Costs

As a general estimate, legal size flatbed freight commonly runs in the range of $2.00 to $3.50 per loaded mile, with flat minimums on short hauls. Five things move the number inside that range: the lane and its direction, since a load out of a market that trucks want to leave prices lower than one into it; the season, because spring construction tightens open deck capacity from March into June; tarping, which adds labor and gear; how far the carrier must drive empty to reach you; and whether the load fills the deck or shares it. Partial loads on a shared deck are the cheapest way to move a few pallets or one machine when your dates are flexible. Those are planning figures, not a quote; every SAC flatbed quote is priced for your specific lane and load and is firm before dispatch.

Pickup Day, Step by Step

The driver calls the day before with a window and again when an hour out. At pickup the freight is staged where the truck can reach it, the driver and your contact count the pieces and note the condition on the bill of lading, the load is chained or strapped and tarped if booked, and your contact signs. In transit the driver stops to re-tension. At delivery the receiver checks the count and the condition against the same bill of lading before signing, and notes any exception on the document itself, which is what protects a claim. Nothing at either end requires you to know freight; it requires you to be there, or to name someone who will be.

Two Jobs People Call Flatbed Shipping

Most callers need freight hauled on a flatbed. A smaller group needs a flatbed trailer itself moved, bought at auction or sold to a buyer several states away. A roadworthy trailer with sound tires, working lights, and brakes moves cheapest as a tow away, coupled to a power only tractor and pulled like a normal load. A trailer that is not road ready, or a new deck coming from a dealer, loads as cargo on a step deck or lowboy, and dealers often nest several decks into one shipment to split the linehaul. Tell your coordinator which job you have and the quote is built for it. For other trailer types, see our trailer shipping service.

Who Books Flatbed Freight With Us

Contractors moving materials to a jobsite that has no dock, fabricators shipping finished steel to an erector, dealers delivering machinery to a buyer, and businesses clearing out a shop or a warehouse. Many of them ship once or twice a year and do not want to learn the freight market to do it; that is the gap a coordinator fills, from confirming the forklift at both ends to reading the bill of lading with you at delivery.

Flatbed Questions We Answer Every Week

Can one truck carry my machine and my pallets? Usually, if the combined length and weight fit the deck; we quote it as one load. Does the freight need to be crated? Machinery on its own frame ships as is; loose parts and anything with finished surfaces should be crated or banded to a pallet. Who provides the tarp? The carrier, when tarping is on the order. Can you deliver to a jobsite with no address? Yes, with GPS coordinates and a contact on site, and we confirm the truck can turn around before it commits to the road. Is the load insured? Every carrier we dispatch carries active cargo insurance that we verify before assignment, and high value freight can be scheduled for additional coverage at booking.

Book Flatbed Shipping with Ship A Car, Inc.

Have the cargo dimensions, the weight, the lifting equipment at each end, and both ZIP codes ready, then start with the freight shipping cost calculator or call (866) 452-3657. A dedicated coordinator confirms the deck, the tarping, and the pickup window, and stays your single point of contact through delivery.

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