To go back to a stepdeck or not???

i thought you went thru this just a few weeks ago??/ dude, you got to make up your mind and stick with something.

american trucker dont have this much trouble making up his mind, lol

 

I was told in our area (midwest) I would lose out with a sd ... I don't regret the decision and you do well in choosing the kind of freight you want to put on your sled anyway ... Stick with the flat, if it aint broke no need to fix it

 

Some shippers just won't load a step deck, even though the load will work. I would go with a trailer that you are assured of getting loaded. There is usually no good reason why a flat bed load won't work on a step deck, but there are some legitimate reason why some will only work on a flat. If you are staying busy with a flat and have plenty of flat bed loads then there is no reason to pay more for a step deck.

 

I am with Gman, step decks are the hardest to find loads when you are in BFE. I would go to a RGN before a step, just my thoughts.

 

hey maybe you need to change sunglasses, yours must give everything across the fence a green tint. concentrate on your flat and dont worry about the step.

you live in flatbed territory. maybe you need ritalin, just kidding with ya

 

You will pay a premium for a step deck. I have a 7 year old step that is selling for $5,000 less than I paid for it new. I have a good friend who owns a flat bed and he is doing extremely well. I have no doubt that he will gross over $200,000 to the truck again this year. Flats are less expensive and you can find a good used flat for less than a step deck. I have done well with my step deck over the years and part of that is likely due to where I run and what I have been hauling. If I lived in the Midwest I would probably buy a flat. I have another friend who recently purchased a 2004 step deck and paid almost $20,000. A flat would probably run about half that amount. This friend has a shipper that requires a step deck so it will work out much better for him to have a step deck. You will usually haul a lot of steel, such as coils running in the Midwest. I see no reason to spend the extra money to haul steel. Steps are used more to haul fabricated steel, machinery, etc., You could probably haul most of the same loads with a step as you would a flat bed. However, there are some loads which require rear loading from a dock and that can sometimes be a problem with a step deck. If you decide to buy a step deck you should be able to haul most of the same loads, but could miss out on others. Unless you plan on hauling more machinery or equipment I would go with the flat. Keep checking the loadboards and talk with various agents or brokers about their freight and then decide what you want to do.

 

gman, he is not going to buy one. he is just renting one from landstar.