Flatbed dispatch that counts the chains, the tarps and the cargo checks
A flatbed day isn't eleven hours of driving. It's a pre-trip, an hour or two of chains, straps and tarps, a required cargo check in the first 50 miles, more checks every few hours, and an untarp at the other end. All of that is on-duty time inside the same 14-hour window. Our flatbed dispatchers plan that time in before they quote you a load, and they negotiate tarp pay instead of hoping for it. Every load reaches you as a rate confirmation for your yes or no.
RATE CON · 05:45
BIRMINGHAM -> ATLANTA · TARP
$1,190 + TARP
CONFIRMED
What flatbed pays right now, with the source and the date
- national flatbed spot avg / mile, incl. fuel
- $3.54
- linehaul / mile, excl. fuel
- $2.72
- 2026 report week (DAT)
- Aug 9-15
- is what we actually negotiate
- Your lane
Flatbed rates are seasonal and swing harder than van or reefer. Construction and building materials drive the spring and summer, and the market can soften quickly in late fall. For a dated reference point: DAT's national spot market report for the week of August 9 to 15, 2026 put the average flatbed spot rate at $3.54 per mile including fuel, with the linehaul portion (excluding fuel) at $2.72 per mile.
Treat those as the national average they are, not a promise for your lane. Regional rates differ a lot, tarped and specialized loads usually pay more, and a load that needs four hours of securement work deserves a different number than one that needs forty minutes. The figure is useful for one thing: knowing when a broker's offer is far below the market so you can counter with confidence.
That's what we do with the data. Every flatbed load is countered against current lane rates, with the securement and tarp time added to the conversation, because a rate per mile that ignores two hours of tarping is a rate that quietly pays you less than it looks.
The flatbed shift card: where the 14 actually goes
Below is an EXAMPLE flatbed day drawn across the 14-hour window. Green is driving. Amber is on duty, not driving: the pre-trip, loading and securement, tarping, and the cargo checks the rules require. Toggle between a tarped and an untarped load and watch the share of the window that never moves the truck.
FLATBED SHIFT CARD · EXAMPLE
- 0:00Pre-trip§ 396.13
- 0:30Load, chain, tarp§ 393.100
- 2:00Drive (first 50 mi)
- 3:00Check§ 392.9(b)(2)
- 3:15Drive ~140 mi
- 6:00Check + break§ 392.9(b)(3), 395.3(a)(3)(ii)
- 6:30Drive ~140 mi
- 9:15Check§ 392.9(b)(3)
- 9:30Drive ~130 mi
- 12:00Untarp, unload
- DRIVING
- 9:00
- ON DUTY, NOT DRIVING
- 4:30
- SHARE OF THE 14
- 32%
Cargo checks: within the first 50 miles, then at each duty-status change or every 3 hours or 150 miles, whichever comes first (49 CFR 392.9(b)). Legs assume about 52 mph so each stays under 150 miles. The 30-minute break can be any non-driving period. Planning estimate; your ELD is the legal record.
On the tarped day, roughly a third of the window goes to work that doesn't move the truck. That's normal flatbed life, and it's exactly why a flatbed dispatcher can't plan your day like a van day. The pickup time, the miles and the delivery appointment all have to leave room for it.
Related: DOT hours of service · free pre-trip inspection checklist
The cargo checks are not optional, so we plan for them
The securement rules for drivers are specific. Under 49 CFR 392.9(b), you must inspect the cargo and the securement devices within the first 50 miles after beginning a trip and make any adjustments needed. Then you have to re-examine them whenever you change duty status, or after 3 hours of driving, or after 150 miles, whichever comes first. The rule has exceptions only for sealed loads you've been told not to open and loads where inspection is impracticable, which rarely describes a flatbed.
In practice that's a check at your first stop, another at each break or fuel stop, and another every few hours on long runs. Each one is a few minutes, but they add up, and they're on-duty time. We plan stops where those checks happen naturally, at fuel and at your 30-minute break, so they don't chop your day into pieces.
There's a second reason we care. Roadside inspectors look hard at flatbed securement, and load securement problems are among the violations that can put a truck out of service on the spot. A check that takes ten minutes at a planned stop is cheaper than an out-of-service order, a re-secure on the shoulder, and a missed delivery. A good plan makes the careful choice the easy one.
Tarp pay and tarp time: what we negotiate
Tarping a load is real work in all weather, and it eats your window on both ends. Many brokers pay a tarp fee, often a flat amount per load that varies with the tarp size, but it isn't automatic. If it's not on the rate con, you may not get it.
So we put it on the rate con. Before you see a tarped load, we confirm whether the broker pays a tarp fee and how much, what tarp size the shipper requires, and how long loading usually takes at that shipper. We also negotiate detention terms for loading delays, because flatbed shippers can be slow, and a forklift operator on lunch costs you the same window minutes as a slow van dock.
What we won't do is book you a tarped load with a delivery time that only works if you skip the untarp time or rush your checks. Securement shortcuts are how loads shift and drivers get hurt. A late delivery can be rescheduled with a phone call. A shifted coil can't be undone.
- LINEHAUL
- $1,190
- TARP FEE
- $100
- DETENTION AFTER 2 HR
- ON CON
- GROSS
- $1,290
Tarp fee and detention terms confirmed before you accept.
The flatbed freight we book, and what we watch on each
Steel and metals
Lumber and building materials
Machinery and equipment
Pipe, poles and construction supplies
Taller freight? See step deck dispatch.
What a flatbed dispatcher does that the board doesn't
Prices the securement work
Matches the deck and the load
Plans checks into natural stops
Watches the weather
Shops the backhaul by region
A flatbed week, planned with the tarps in
EXAMPLE, one owner-operator with a 48 ft flatbed based near Birmingham, Alabama. Monday: a tarped lumber load to Atlanta, with the tarp fee confirmed on the rate con and two hours of securement planned before the drive. Tuesday: a steel coil load out of a mill near Atlanta, booked Monday night, with the first cargo check planned at a fuel stop 45 miles in. Wednesday: a crane at the job site was busy, so loading ran 3 hours late; detention was filed and Thursday's pickup moved to protect the 10-hour break. Thursday: pipe for a construction project, checked at each break. Friday: building materials home. Two loads were passed on that week because they needed a delivery time that left no room to untarp.
WHO IT FITS
Flatbed dispatch fits owner-operators and small fleets running flatbeds on spot or mixed freight who want tarp time, cargo checks and detention planned and priced instead of absorbed. If you already haul steady dedicated steel or lumber on fixed schedules, a desk adds less, and we'll tell you that on the setup call rather than take a fee for work you don't need.
What flatbed dispatch costs
The fee doesn't change with the equipment. One flatbed with authority older than 6 months pays 5% of gross. A new MC pays 7% for 6 months, then 5%. Fleets of 2 or more trucks pay the 4% fleet rate while it lasts. No setup fee, no minimums, month to month, and nothing on a week you don't haul. Tarp pay we negotiate is part of the load revenue, so the same percentage applies, with no extra cut. Full pricing
Chains, tarps and checks, all planned in
Apply in about 2 minutes. Every load waits for your yes.
Start flatbed dispatch