What moves on a flatbed
A flatbed (or flat deck, as a lot of Canadian shippers call it) is the workhorse of open-deck freight. If your freight loads from the side or the top with a forklift or crane, and it doesn't need to ride inside a box, a flatbed is usually the simplest and most economical trailer for the job.
- Steel: beams, plate, pipe, tubing, rebar and coils (on coil racks)
- Lumber, plywood, engineered wood, trusses and other building materials
- Construction freight: precast, rebar bundles, roofing and pallets of block
- Machinery, skid-mounted equipment and crated industrial freight
- Agricultural equipment and implements that fit within legal width and height
- Pipe spools, tanks and fabricated steel for industrial projects
Flatbed trailer specs at a glance
These are general industry figures to help you picture the fit. Exact deck heights, lengths and payloads vary by trailer and carrier.
| Trailer | Deck length | Deck height | Freight height before permits (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard flatbed | 48 or 53 ft | About 5 ft (60 in) | About 8 ft 6 in |
| Extendable (stretch) flatbed | Extends well past 53 ft for long pieces | About 5 ft | About 8 ft 6 in |
| Step deck (for comparison) | 48 or 53 ft, two levels | About 3 ft 4 in on the lower deck | About 10 ft |
Legal width is 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m). Overall height is generally 4.15 m in Manitoba and most provinces, and 13 ft 6 in in many U.S. states. On a legal five-axle setup, most flatbeds scale somewhere around 45,000 to 48,000 lb of freight, depending on the equipment and the jurisdiction.
If your freight is taller than about 8 ft 6 in, it usually moves to a step deck or double drop before it needs a permit. Wider, taller or heavier than legal? See oversize load transport.
Securement, tarps and extras
Flatbed freight is only as good as the way it's tied down. Steel and machinery ride on chains and binders; lumber and building materials usually go down with straps, edge protectors and dunnage. Coils need racks or proper blocking.
If your freight has to stay dry, say so up front. Lumber tarps, steel tarps and smoke tarps all exist for different loads, and a rolling-tarp (conestoga) trailer is an option when the freight can't be tarped by hand. Tarping changes which carriers can take the load and what it costs, so it belongs in the first message, not the last.
Full truckload, partial and LTL flatbed
Not every load fills 48 feet. For truckload freight (FTL) you get the whole deck and a direct run. For smaller shipments, we also quote partial and LTL flatbed loads: tell us how many feet of deck you need and the weight, and a little flexibility on pickup dates goes a long way.
Where we book flatbed freight
Home base is Winnipeg, so Manitoba freight is our backyard. Flatbed lanes run across the Prairies to Saskatchewan and Alberta, east into Ontario, and cross-border both ways: southbound Canada to U.S. freight and northbound U.S. to Canada freight, to and from North Dakota, Minnesota, the Midwest and as far as Texas. See Winnipeg to U.S. freight for the main routes.
What to send for a flatbed quote
- Pickup and delivery cities (postal or ZIP code if you have it)
- Commodity, number of pieces and total weight
- Size of the longest, widest and tallest piece
- Tarp or securement needs
- Loading and unloading method: forklift, crane or dock
- Ready date and any delivery appointment
Send it through the quote form, or call or text 204-361-6765. Quotes usually come back the same business day.
