When freight is too tall, too wide, too long or too awkward for a dry van, it rides on an open deck. Steel, lumber, machinery, transformers, prefab structures — open-deck trailers move the freight that builds the country. Here's how to pick the right deck, when tarps and permits enter the picture, and what actually drives open-deck rates.
The open-deck trailer family
- Flatbed (48′–53′). The workhorse. Deck height around 58–60″, typical max freight height ~8′6″, payloads to roughly 48,000 lb. Loadable by crane or forklift from top, sides and rear.
- Step deck / drop deck. A lower main deck (~36–42″) buys you taller freight — usually up to ~10′ — without over-height permits. The go-to for machinery and equipment on tracks or wheels.
- Double drop / lowboy. A well in the middle drops deck height to ~24″, fitting freight up to ~11′6″ tall. For the seriously tall stuff.
- RGN (removable gooseneck). The front detaches to create a drive-on ramp — excavators, dozers, and anything that moves under its own power.
- Conestoga. A flatbed or step deck with a rolling tarp-on-frame system. Full weather protection plus open-deck loading, no manual tarping. Ideal for finished steel, coated products and freight that can't take tarp contact. Capacity is scarcer, so it prices at a premium.
Legal dimensions: when permits start
Exact limits vary by province and state, but as a working rule for Canada and the U.S.: freight is “legal” up to roughly 8′6″ wide, 13′6″–14′ total height (deck + freight; varies by jurisdiction), and ~46,000–48,000 lb of payload on standard axle configurations. Beyond that you're into over-dimensional territory: permits, prescribed routes, travel-time restrictions, and at larger sizes pilot cars or escorts. Permits are jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction — an Ontario to Texas over-width move can need half a dozen separate permits, sequenced correctly.
Tarping: the part everyone underestimates
- Steel tarps, lumber tarps and coil tarps are different tools — say what the freight is and the carrier brings the right ones.
- Tarping is physical, dangerous work: expect a tarping accessorial, typically charged per tarp job.
- Tarp-sensitive product (painted, coated, finished surfaces)? That's your cue for a Conestoga.
- Specify tarping at quote time — “oh, and it needs tarps” at pickup is the classic open-deck rate surprise.
Securement: whose job is what
Drivers are responsible for securement to FMCSA/NSC standards — chains, binders, straps, edge protection, dunnage. Your job as the shipper is accurate freight specs: exact dimensions, weight, center-of-gravity quirks, lifting points, and stackability. Bad specs are the root cause of most open-deck problems: the wrong trailer shows up, the freight doesn't fit legally, and everyone's day gets expensive.
What drives open-deck rates
- Equipment scarcity. Flatbeds are a fraction of the total trailer pool; Conestogas a fraction of that.
- Seasonality. Construction season (spring through fall) tightens open-deck capacity hard, especially in Canada.
- Direction and lane balance. Steel-producing and consuming regions create one-way imbalances that price accordingly.
- Accessorials. Tarping, permits, escorts, multi-stop crane appointments — open-deck quotes have more moving parts than van freight.
Move it on a Qeep deck
Qeep Logistics books flatbed and open-deck freight across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico — from single tarped flatbed loads to permitted, escorted project moves. Send your dims and weight through the quote form and we'll spec the right deck, permits and tarps — before pickup day, not during it.