Find Flatbed Carriers
For Your Load
Post the load where flatbed carriers are already looking, and give them the three things they cannot bid without: the real dimensions, the weight, and who is tarping. Flatbed is covered less by searching for carriers than by writing a posting a flatbed operator can price without calling you.
- Standard deck
- 48 or 53 ft, 8 ft 6 in wide
- Licence needed
- Class A CDL
- Tiedown strength
- ½ the cargo weight
- Permit threshold
- Over 8 ft 6 in wide
Flatbed is the equipment type where a vague posting costs you a day. A dry van load that says "22 pallets, 40,000 lb" is priceable on sight. A flatbed load that says "steel, 45,000 lb" is not: the carrier does not know whether it is one piece or forty, whether it is going on with a crane or a forklift, whether it is over width, or whether they are buying tarps for it.
So most of what follows is about the posting rather than the search. The carriers are there; what decides whether they bid is whether they can work out their cost from what you wrote.
Where do I find flatbed carriers?
On a load board, which is where flatbed operators look between loads, and through the carriers who have covered your lanes before. Flatbed capacity is thinner than van capacity and concentrated regionally around steel, lumber and machinery, so the same few carriers tend to run the same corridors. A posting that is easy to price gets answered by them first.
Posting here is free and uncapped, and every carrier is MC/DOT verified before they can bid. The carrier-side view of the same freight, what they see and how they judge it, is on the flatbed loads page.
What should a flatbed load posting say?
Six things, and a flatbed carrier will price it without ringing you: the dimensions of the piece rather than the pallet count, the weight, how it loads and unloads, whether it is tarped and by whom, whether anything exceeds 8 ft 6 in wide, and who supplies the securement. Leave any of those out and you are quoting blind against carriers who are not.
- Dimensions of the actual piece. Length, width and height of what is going on the deck. "Three skids" means nothing when one of them is 14 ft long.
- Weight, and whether it is one piece. A single 45,000 lb coil and 45,000 lb of lumber are different loads with different axle problems.
- How it loads. Overhead crane, forklift from the side, or driven on. This decides whether the carrier needs a step deck instead.
- Tarps: whether, how many, and whose. Tarping is work and weather risk, and it is priced. "Tarped, 8 ft, carrier supplies" is a complete answer.
- Anything over 8 ft 6 in. Over that width the load needs permits and possibly escorts, and the carrier has to price days as well as miles.
- Who supplies securement. Normally the carrier, and saying so avoids the argument at the dock.
Who is responsible for securing a flatbed load?
The carrier, in federal rule. Part 393 of the FMCSRs sets what securement has to achieve and the driver is the person it binds: the aggregate working load limit of the tiedowns must be at least one-half the weight of the article, and the number of tiedowns is set by the length and weight of each piece. A shipper or broker who directs how a load is secured is stepping into that duty rather than sharing it.
| Article | Tiedowns required |
|---|---|
| Up to 5 ft and up to 1,100 lb | One |
| Up to 5 ft and over 1,100 lb | Two |
| Over 5 ft up to 10 ft, any weight | Two |
| Over 10 ft | Two, plus one more for every 10 ft or part of 10 ft beyond the first |
Source: 49 CFR 393.110(b), read at source on 4 November 2026. The aggregate working load limit rule is 393.106(d). Articles blocked against forward movement are counted differently, and some specialised cargo is excepted — the sections themselves are the authority, not this table.
The practical version for a broker: say what the freight is and what it weighs, and let the carrier say how it will be held down. Telling a driver which straps to use does not make the load safer and does move a share of the consequence onto you.
If a load does go over, the question of who pays is the Carmack question rather than the securement one, and where broker liability actually sits covers that in full.
What do I check on a flatbed carrier before tendering?
The same authority and insurance checks as any carrier, with one addition that is specific to open deck: confirm the cargo limit actually covers the piece you are shipping. Flatbed freight is often a single high-value item rather than a trailer of mixed pallets, so a policy that is comfortable for 22 pallets of consumer goods can sit well under one machine.
- Cargo limit against this load, not against an average. One transformer or one piece of plant can exceed a standard limit on its own.
- The certificate from the insurer, not forwarded by the carrier. That is how forged certificates travel, on any equipment type.
- Whether they actually run open deck. A carrier set up for vans bidding a tarped flatbed load is a conversation worth having before dispatch rather than at the shipper.
- Everything in the standard check. How to vet a carrier is the full list, and how to spot a double-brokered load is the half of it that flatbed sees most, because the freight is valuable.
When does a flatbed load need a permit?
When it exceeds the legal envelope, and width is the one flatbed hits first. Federal law caps vehicle width at 102 in on the National Network, and a load wider than the deck is what puts a flatbed over it. Height and length have their own limits set by the states. Permits are issued per state, so a four-state run is four applications and the carrier prices the days as well as the miles.
The dimensions that decide this, deck by deck, are on the trailer dimensions chart, along with the federal width, height and weight limits that sit over all of them.
How long does it take to cover a flatbed load?
Longer than a van load on the same lane, and the gap is mostly notice. Flatbed capacity is thinner and more regional, so a truck has further to come, and a tarped or over-width load narrows the pool further. Notice is the cheapest thing a shipper can give: the same load posted three days out prices better than the same load posted tonight, because the carrier can fit it to a trip rather than build one around it.
The bottom lineFlatbed is covered by the posting more than by the search. Give the dimensions of the piece, the weight, how it loads and who is tarping, then let the carrier tell you how it will be secured — that last part is theirs by rule, and it is worth keeping that way.
Posting is free for brokers and shippers, with no listing fee and no commission on the freight. The other side of this page, what a flatbed carrier sees and how they judge a posting, is on the flatbed loads page.
Finding Flatbed Carriers, Common Questions
Where can I find flatbed carriers for a load?
On a load board, where flatbed operators look between loads, and through carriers who have run your lanes before. Flatbed capacity is thinner than van and clusters regionally around steel, lumber and machinery freight, so the same carriers tend to repeat the same corridors. Posting on One Load Board is free and every carrier is MC/DOT verified before they can bid.
What information does a flatbed load posting need?
The dimensions of the actual piece rather than a pallet count, the weight and whether it is one piece, how it loads and unloads, whether it is tarped and who supplies the tarps, whether anything exceeds 8 ft 6 in wide, and who supplies securement. A flatbed carrier can price a posting with those and cannot price one without them.
Who is responsible for securing freight on a flatbed?
The carrier. Federal cargo securement rules bind the driver: the aggregate working load limit of the tiedowns must be at least one-half the weight of the article, and the minimum number of tiedowns follows the length and weight of each piece. A shipper or broker who directs how a load is secured takes on part of that duty rather than sharing it.
How many straps does a flatbed load need?
For an article not blocked against forward movement: one tiedown up to 5 ft and 1,100 lb, two up to 5 ft and heavier, two from 5 to 10 ft at any weight, and over 10 ft two plus one more for every further 10 ft or part of it. Articles blocked against forward movement are counted differently and some specialised cargo is excepted.
When does a flatbed load need an oversize permit?
When it exceeds the legal envelope, and width is usually first: federal law caps vehicle width at 102 in on the National Network, so freight wider than the deck puts the load over. Permits are issued state by state, so a multi-state run means multiple applications and the carrier prices that time as well as the mileage.
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