Lowboy Loads
Heavy Haul And Oversize Freight
Lowboy loads are heavy equipment moves, dozers, excavators, cranes, transformers, drilling equipment, riding on a trailer whose deck sits low enough to keep tall machinery under the legal height. A two-axle lowboy handles roughly 40,000 lb and multi-axle configurations reach well past 100,000 lb with permits. Every lowboy load on this board shows its rate, weight and dimensions on the listing.
- Deck height
- ~18 to 24 in
- Well length
- ~24 to 29 ft
- Two-axle capacity
- ~40,000 lb
- Multi-axle capacity
- 80,000 lb+ with permits
Live Lowboy Loads
Read straight off the board, not a sample. Rates are what the broker posted, the figure you invoice, with nothing taken out of it.
- Open right now
- 0
- Median rate per mile
- no posted rates yet
- Origin states
- 0
Nothing on the board for lowboy at this moment.
Freight moves all day and this page reads the board live, so it will not stay that way. Set your equipment and lanes and the alert reaches you before the page would.
Set Up An AlertEvery lowboy load on the board, with the rate on it. Free account, no card.
Start FreeWhy the deck is that low
The same 13 ft 6 in height ceiling that governs flatbed and step deck work governs this. A lowboy drops the well between the gooseneck and the rear axles to around 18 to 24 inches off the ground, which leaves roughly 11 ft 6 in to 12 ft of load height, enough for machinery that would be permitted freight on any other trailer. That is the whole design brief, and everything else about the trailer follows from it.
The trade is length. The low well is short, usually 24 to 29 ft, because it has to sit between the axle groups. A lowboy carries a tall, heavy, compact machine, not a long one. Freight that is long rather than tall belongs on a step deck or a stretch trailer.
Lowboy and RGN
A removable gooseneck, an RGN, is a lowboy whose front section detaches so the well drops to the ground and becomes a ramp. That lets a machine be driven straight on rather than craned, which for tracked equipment is usually the only practical option. Fixed-neck lowboys are lighter and cheaper; RGNs are more useful, and the great majority of heavy-haul work in this segment is done on one.
Beyond that the configurations keep going: extra axle rows, jeeps and boosters spread weight over more axles to satisfy the bridge formula, and detachable side sections widen the deck for oversize equipment. Each addition raises the capacity and the number of permits.
Permits are the job
Below 80,000 lb gross, 8 ft 6 in wide, 13 ft 6 in tall and the legal length, a load moves on ordinary authority. Past any one of those limits it is oversize or overweight, and every state it crosses issues its own permit on its own rules, its own fees and its own routing. There is no federal permit and no reciprocity worth relying on.
- Permits are per state and per trip, and the route is part of the permit, you drive the roads it names, not the roads the map prefers.
- Travel is commonly restricted to daylight hours and to weekdays, with holiday and curfew restrictions on top.
- Pilot cars are required past width and length thresholds that differ state by state; police escorts past others.
- Bridge and overpass clearances are checked against the permitted route, not assumed. A route survey is normal work on the taller loads.
Who ships it
Construction contractors moving fleet equipment between sites, equipment dealers and auction houses delivering sold machines, mining and energy operations, utilities moving transformers and switchgear, and crane and rigging companies repositioning their own kit. It is relationship-driven work, and a carrier who handles the permits well and communicates through a multi-day move gets called first the next time.
One step down in height is the step deck, and standard open-deck freight is on flatbed.
Every lowboy load on this board shows its rate before you call, and posting is free for brokers and shippers, which is why the freight is here. See how it works for carriers.
Lowboy Loads, Common Questions
How much can a lowboy haul?
A two-axle lowboy handles around 40,000 lb. Adding axles raises it, three-axle configurations reach roughly 80,000 lb, and multi-axle setups with jeeps and boosters go well beyond that under permit.
What is the difference between a lowboy and an RGN?
An RGN is a lowboy with a removable gooseneck. Detaching it drops the front of the well to the ground so equipment can be driven on rather than craned. Most heavy-haul work uses an RGN for that reason.
Do lowboy loads need permits?
Whenever the load exceeds 80,000 lb gross, 8 ft 6 in wide, 13 ft 6 in tall or the legal length. Permits are issued per state with their own routes, fees and travel restrictions, and pilot cars are required past state-specific thresholds.
Who pays for oversize permits?
It is negotiated and it must be settled before the load is accepted. Permits, escorts and route surveys are real money, and a heavy-haul rate agreed without them is usually a rate agreed at a loss.
One Account Covers Every One Of Them
Change what you run and you never change boards. Set as many truck types on your profile as you actually operate and the board matches all of them.
- Step Deck LoadsStep deck and drop deck loads nationwide with the rate on every listing. Tall machinery and open-deck freight that will not clear on a flatbed. Free to join.
- Flatbed LoadsFlatbed loads in all 50 states with the rate on every listing. Steel, lumber, machinery and tarped freight. Free to join, no commission, alerts as loads post.
- Auto Carrier LoadsAuto carrier loads with the rate on every listing. Open and enclosed car hauling, dealer transfers and single-vehicle moves. Free to join, and no commission.