Open deck freight, booked by people who know securement.
Flatbed is construction and industry on wheels: steel coil and beam, lumber packages, drywall, machinery, pipe, pre-cast concrete. Demand tracks building season, which means strong spring-through-fall boards out of mill towns and ports, and it consistently prices above dry van because fewer drivers can do the work properly. If you have the securement skills, flatbed is one of the best margins in open-deck freight.
Our dispatchers book flatbed like flatbed — not like a van with no roof. Before we commit you, we confirm what the load actually needs: number of straps or chains under FMCSA 393 working-load-limit math, coil racks for steel, edge protection, and whether the shipper loads with overhead crane or forklift. Tarp jobs get tarp pay negotiated on the rate con — typically $50–$150 depending on lumber vs. steel tarps — because free tarping is a rate cut you never agreed to.
A standard 48' x 102" flatbed runs about a 60" deck height, leaving roughly 8'6" of legal freight height and around 48,000 lbs of payload on a properly spec'd rig. Anything taller, wider than 8'6", or heavier moves into permit territory — we'll book legal-max all day and only take you into oversize work if that's a lane you want, with permits priced into the rate.
// Typical 2026 spot ranges for 48' flatbeds: ~$2.50–$3.10/mi in building season, ~$2.20–$2.60 winter. Tarp pay and detention negotiated separately on the rate con. Estimates only.