Truck Types / Flatbed
Flatbed Dispatch
Steel, lumber and machinery on open decks — with tarp pay negotiated, permits handled and brokers who respect securement time. Targeting $2.70+/mi.
Equipment Overview
Skill freight that pays for skill
Flatbed pays more because it demands more: tarping in the rain, chaining coils, permitting oversize. Our dispatchers price that work in — tarp fees, extra stop pay and detention terms are negotiated before you strap a single chain.
Core flatbed freight: steel coils and sheet, dimensional lumber, building materials, and agricultural machinery. We run mill-direct relationships in the Southeast and Midwest so you're loading at the source, not fighting for leftovers.
Core flatbed lanes we run weekly
- Steel belt — Gary ↔ Pittsburgh ↔ Birmingham, $2.80–3.10/mi
- Lumber south — Pacific NW mills ↔ California jobsites, $2.70–3.00/mi
- Machinery midwest — Chicago ↔ Dallas ↔ Kansas City, $2.90–3.20/mi
Flatbed Specs
| Deck length | 48 ft standard |
| Max payload | 48,000 lbs |
| Tarp pay | $75–150 negotiated |
| Target rate | $2.70+/mi |
| Oversize permits | handled in-house |
| Dispatch fee | 6% of linehaul |
Why flatbeds run better with Ridgeback
Tarp & securement pay
Tarp fees, re-tarp and extra securement time priced into every rate con — never assumed free.
Permit desk
Oversize and overweight permits ordered, routed and tracked. Escort coordination included.
Mill-direct freight
Direct shipper relationships at mills and steel service centers — first call on fresh loads.
Flatbed questions
Yes — partials that stack into full-deck revenue are a specialty. We combine compatible partials along your route so the deck pays like a full load.
Covered. We profile your exact trailer — conestoga, curtain, spread axle — and only book freight it can legally and practically haul.
Deck empty? Fix that today.
Steel doesn't wait — send your position for same-day flatbed options.
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