For heavy haul flatbed carriers of heavy equipment and oversized items, hiring a flatbed shipping service is unavoidable. But many business owners do not understand how flatbed services work and end up employing unreliable and expensive trucking companies.

   

Here are a few tips that can help you hire flatbed shipping companies that provide timely and safe transport.  

Know Your Load

  Before even looking for companies to employ for your cargo transport, it is essential to know about your freight. This means you need to be aware of all the details regarding your load, including its accurate size, correct dimensions, and weight.  

Heavy Haul Flatbed Carriers Hiring Tips

  This helps in understanding the type of trailer you will need for transportation and whether your shipment will require any additional accessories or precautionary measures to ensure its safe for transportation or not.  

Know about the Trailer Type

  After you have understood your freight type, it is important to know what trailer type will fit best for your freight. Flatbed is a broad category of trucks that carry overload items, there are several variations in these vehicles. Some common types of trailers are:   Flat rack Trailer: It is a typical flatbed trailer with no sides and no roofs. However, it has support walls or posts placed at the back.   Step-deck Trailer: A step-deck or drop-deck trailer has 2 deck levels. It also doesn’t have any roof or sides but has two racks – making it easier to load tall items in the lower rack. It is commonly called a low-boy trailer as well.   Removable Goose-neck: RGN or removable goose-neck trailers have a long neck and a ball hitch placed in the box, which extends over the tailgate.  

All these trailer types are differently designed to accommodate a particular type of item, and heavy haul flatbed carriers are well aware of which one to use when. However, it is still recommended to be knowledgeable about them yourself.  

Ask the Right Questions

  When employing a flatbed shipping company, it is crucial to ask them the right questions. This will help you gauge their work expertise and help you in hiring the right company for your business. Here are some important questions you should ask:   1.      How Long Have you Been in the Trucking Industry?   Just like any other field, experience is the key in the transportation and trucking industry. Since the nature of work is tricky and requires a specialized skill set, flatbed shipping companies need to be experienced in the business and employ a dedicated team of experts for the job.   2.      Are your Drivers Safe and Reliable?   This might be an uncomfortable question, but it is an important one. On rare occasions, businesses have suffered due to transport companies employing truck drivers with a track record of misdemeanors. It is recommended to employ companies that provide a clean track record of their drivers.   3.      Can your Company Carry Specialty Loads?   Specialty loads are items that require special instructions and precautionary measures. This also includes HAZMAT items (hazardous material). Usually, trucking companies need specialized permits and carriage accessories (e.g. tarps and chains) to transport specialty items. Hence,  it is important to make sure that the company you are hiring is capable to transport specialty loads.   Bottom Line   Hiring heavy haul flatbed carriers can be a difficult decision for business owners to make. Ensuring safe, time-efficient, and affordable transport of heavy items is a  serious issue across industries. However, if you are also worried, we might be able to help you. Visit our website and contact us to hire a reliable shipping company.