Tarps
Whether tarps are required, what size (lumber or steel tarps), and the flat tarp pay. A load that needs tarps and pays nothing for them is a load that pays less than it looks.
Flatbeds
Flatbed dispatch that gets tarp pay and mill wait time on the rate con before you load.
Flatbed freight pays for skill: securing steel, lumber, pipe and building materials so nothing moves, tarping in the wind, and waiting while a crane works through the trucks ahead of you. It also pays for judgment: knowing when a load is lighter work than it looks and when it's heavier. Our flatbed dispatch service makes sure those parts of the job are priced before you agree to it, not argued about after.
A hypothetical mill day Hypothetical
Carrier A at a steel mill: the wait, the tarps and the straps, priced.
Carrier A is made up: one flatbed picking up 40 ft steel beams at a mill. The rate con, worked out before the offer, gives three hours free at the shipper, then detention by the hour, and a flat tarp payment.
Carrier A checks in at 06:30. The crane is working through trucks ahead, so loading doesn't start until 09:10. Securing and tarping take until 11:15. Without those terms, that's a morning gone for the linehaul. With them, it's nearly two hours of detention plus the tarp pay, backed by the gate time and the BOL out time.
Change the times on the card to a mill you know. The figure is what the wait would bill at that rate.
Securement on Carrier A's load
Steel beams 40 ft long, 42,000 lb in total, not blocked against forward movement. Federal rules require at least 5 tiedowns for an article that long (2 for the first 10 ft, plus 1 for each extra 10 ft) and a combined working load limit of at least 21,000 lb (half the cargo weight). Those are minimums; steel and some other cargo have commodity rules that may require more.
Sources: 49 CFR 393.110(b), checked October 2026; 49 CFR 393.106(d), checked October 2026
- ARRIVED06:30
- CRANE STARTS LOADING09:10
- TARPED AND SECURED11:05
- CHECKED OUT11:15
Free time 3h 00m Billable 1h 45m
$105 detention at $60/hr after 3 free hours.
Terms come from your rate con. This is the math, not a promise that a broker pays.
hrs
$/hr
Clock start 06:30.
Work out your own load's minimums with the load securement calculator, and read how detention works for when the clock starts and what proves it.
Tarp and securement pay: what we negotiate, what you confirm.
Securement gear
Straps, chains, binders, edge protection, coil racks or dunnage the load needs. We ask so you don't arrive short of chains for a coil load. Special equipment the shipper requires should be on the rate con.
Time at the shipper
Free time, detention per hour, and layover if loading slips to the next day. Mills and job sites are where these terms pay for themselves.
You confirm the rest on site: the piece count and weight on the bill of lading, that the load is secured to your standard before you sign, and photos of the secured load before you tarp. If something on the trailer doesn't match the paperwork, it gets noted on the BOL, not explained later.
Job site deliveries have their own wrinkles: rough ground, no forklift until mid-morning, a crane booked for another truck. We confirm unloading equipment and the delivery window before you go, and get the receiver's contact so you aren't waiting at a locked gate.
Flatbed freight we book, and what each one asks of you.
- Steel and coils. Heavy and dense, often loaded by crane at a mill. Coils need racks or proper blocking and chains; long beams need more tiedowns. Mill waits are common, so detention terms matter.
- Lumber and building materials. Often tarped, sometimes to a job site with no dock. Confirm who unloads and with what before you go.
- Pipe and long material. Length drives the tiedown count and sometimes overhang flags or permits. Dimensions go on the rate con.
- Equipment that fits legally. Machinery inside legal height on a flatbed, chained to its tie points. Anything taller goes to a step deck.
What a flatbed dispatcher checks before the offer.
- Weight and dimensions against your deck and legal limits
- Whether tarps are required, and the tarp pay
- Securement gear the load needs, so you arrive with it
- Loading method and typical wait at that shipper
- Who unloads at delivery, and with what
- Where the load leaves you and what reloads from there
Weather matters more on open decks than anywhere else. Wind makes tarping slow and risky, rain and snow can change what a shipper will let you haul untarped, and ice changes delivery windows at job sites. When weather is likely to push a delivery to the next day, we ask for layover terms before you accept, not after you're stuck.
A flatbed dispatcher that brings you the terms, not just the rate.
Each flatbed offer arrives with the commodity, the weight and dimensions, tarp requirements and pay, free time and detention, and where it leaves you. You say yes or no. Yes sends the rate con straight to you to sign. No costs nothing.
Set the freight you won't haul, too: no coils, no tarps over a certain weight, no job sites without a forklift. We filter offers before they reach you.
The two made-up offers on the card show why the terms matter. The first pays more and carries tarp pay and detention after three hours at the mill. The second is a short job-site run with no tarps and a forklift confirmed. Either can be the right load. You decide, with both sets of terms in front of you, instead of finding out what was missing when you arrive.
Load offer 1 of 2
ExampleBirmingham, AL to Houston, TX
- Miles
- 668
- Rate
- $2,050
- Per mile
- $3.07
- Tarp pay $100
- 3 hrs free at the mill, then $60/hr
- Layover if loading slips a day
Pickup Tue 07:00
The fee: tarp pay counts, reimbursements don't.
5% of linehaul and the accessorial pay we collect, including tarp pay and detention, for one truck past 6 months of authority; 4% for two trucks or more; 7% for a new MC until month 7. Tolls and scale tickets that get reimbursed are never in it. Example A load at $2,050 with $100 tarp pay and $120 detention carries a fee of $113.50. More on the pricing page.
Other open-deck and heavy equipment: step deck dispatch. Other trucks, same rules: dump truck dispatch.
Flatbed dispatch questions
Do flatbed loads pay detention?
They can, if it's on the rate con. Mills, plants and job sites often load slowly, and loading a flatbed takes longer than backing a van into a door. We ask for free time and an hourly detention rate before you accept, and we log your times so the wait can be billed. Some shippers refuse, and you hear that before deciding.
Do you negotiate tarp pay?
Yes, on every load that needs tarps. Tarping is real work: time, wear on the tarps and a risk on a windy day. Tarp pay is usually a flat amount per load, sometimes more for heavier steel or lumber tarps. We confirm whether tarps are required and the pay before the offer reaches you, not at the mill.
How many straps does my load need?
The federal minimum depends on each article's length and weight when it isn't blocked against moving forward: one tiedown for short, light pieces, two for anything over 5 feet, plus one more for each extra 10 feet beyond the first 10. The straps' combined working load limit must be at least half the cargo weight. Some cargo has stricter rules.
Do flatbed loads have more detention?
Often more waiting, yes, because loading depends on cranes, forklifts and crews that serve several trucks. That's why the terms matter more on flatbed than almost anywhere. We look at each shipper's pattern where we know it and price the wait into the decision, so you know before you go whether a load is worth a long morning.
Do you dispatch step decks too?
Yes. Step decks, Conestogas, flatbeds and other open-deck equipment all run under the same fee and the same rules. Tall freight, machinery and anything that won't clear on a standard flatbed goes on a step deck. We match loads to your deck height, length and whether you have ramps.
Can I turn down a load that needs tarps?
Yes. Tell us if you don't tarp at all, or only certain kinds, and we filter offers for it. If a load you'd otherwise want needs tarps, we tell you the tarp pay and you decide. Declining any load costs nothing and doesn't put you behind anyone.
Tarped, secured, and paid for the wait.
Send the application with your deck, gear and the freight you like. Your first offer arrives with tarp pay and detention terms worked out.
You approve every load. No setup fee. No contract.