CDL-A division · 48–53′ · steel, coil, or lumber packages
Flatbed — paid for the work most freight never needs.
Steel, lumber, building materials, machinery. Flatbed pays a premium over van freight because securement is real work — straps, chains, tarps, and the discipline to do it right in weather.
What moves on it
Steel and coils, lumber and building materials, machinery — anything that loads from the side or the top and needs to be strapped, chained, and tarped to spec before it rolls.
The working day
Securement is the job description: edge protection, chain ratings, tarp work in wind and rain. It's honest physical work, and it's exactly why the freight pays better — fewer drivers do it well.
Why it fits a business
The premium over van freight is the market pricing your skill. If your securement is verifiable and your equipment holds up, flatbed converts craft into rate — load after load.
The honest fit
Who this lane fits. Who it doesn’t.
Flatbed fits if…
- Verifiable deck experience — straps, chains, tarps, edge protection
- You want the rate premium and accept the work that earns it
- Your equipment is maintained like the freight depends on it — because it does
Look elsewhere if…
- You want dock-and-dry-van rhythms — no shame in it; that page is one click away
- You've never touched a strap, chain, or tarp — the insurer's deck minimums will likely say not yet. Dry van is the honest starting point, and the application asks about securement experience straight — answer it straight
Telling you a lane isn’t yours is cheaper than a bad six months — for both of us. The other lanes: Dry Van · Step-Deck · the hotshot specialty
Straight answers
Flatbed questions, answered.
The application asks about securement experience directly — experienced, learning, or none yet — because deck freight is a skill lane. Insurer minimums differ by division; answer straight and you'll hear exactly where you stand before you spend an afternoon on paperwork.
The program mechanics — pay, settlements, requirements — are the same across the fleet: how pay works · the settlement, explained · driver requirements