What is step deck?
Also called drop deck
A step deck is a flatbed trailer with two deck heights, the rear section sitting lower than the front. The drop lets it carry taller freight without exceeding legal height limits.
The lower deck gains roughly a foot and a half of usable height compared with a standard flatbed, which is often the difference between a legal load and one needing permits.
It is otherwise loaded and secured like a flatbed, with the same strapping and tarping work.
What it means on a dispatch desk
Step deck is the cheapest specialisation available to a flatbed carrier, because the operating knowledge transfers entirely and the only change is the trailer. It opens up freight that standard flatbeds are simply not offered, which matters more in a soft market than the rate difference does.
Related terms
- FlatbedA flatbed is an open trailer with no sides or roof, used for freight that cannot be loaded through the rear doors of an enclosed trailer, such as steel, lumber, machinery and building materials.
- Power onlyPower only is work where the carrier supplies just the tractor and driver, pulling a trailer that belongs to the shipper, broker or another carrier. No trailer of their own is involved.
- Dry vanA dry van is an enclosed trailer with no temperature control, used for freight that needs protection from weather and theft but not refrigeration. It is the most common trailer type on the road.
Knowing the term is the easy half
Knowing which carriers are worth calling this morning is the hard half.
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