Step deck
Also called Drop deck
A step deck is a flatbed trailer with a lowered rear section, allowing taller freight to travel without exceeding legal height limits.
Last reviewed · by the Fleetchart team
The drop in deck height buys roughly a foot and a half of usable cargo height compared with a standard flatbed, which is often the difference between a legal load and a permitted one.
It handles the same freight families as flatbed with the same securement and tarping requirements.
Deck height is the whole reason the equipment exists, so it is worth knowing your own numbers rather than the general figures. A standard step deck's lower deck typically sits around three and a half feet off the ground against roughly five feet on a flatbed, and the usable difference decides whether a load travels on a regular permit or an oversize one. Permits, escorts and daylight-only restrictions are what make the difference expensive.
For example, say a step deck load pays $3,000 for 800 miles plus $200 for tarping, so $3,200 in all, or $4.00 a mile. If the tarp pay is left off the invoice, the load drops to $3,000, or $3.75 a mile, for the same work.