Lightweight flatbed trailer

Our company has a mix of trailers, 45 and 48 feet, with a mix of widths, most have a 96 inch deck with whatever the rub rail adds. 45 feet is fine for most of what we haul, especially when you can overhang the ends as needed. I've never hauled bricks but I've hauled most types of steel, lumber, poles, shingles, plenty of stuff on them.

 

Going all aluminum would probably save 1-2K in weight. That's my weight difference between an all aluminum flat and a steel frame/aluminum deck flat.

 

2 four foot pieces sit side by side just fine on a 96 inch deck and unless the state has a rule against it you can run a little bit of overhang off the front and back and be ok with a 45 foot deck.

 

Run enough flatbed in the right areas and you'll have plenty of overhang in plenty of circumstances. As long as it's within legal dimensions I don't even think about it.

 

Most general purpose aluminum flats are rated for 50 - 52k lbs in 4 ft. OEM websites will have the trailer specs. Chapparral/Doonan had an alum flat at 7,951#.

 

You can put a lot of weight on an aluminum trailer if it's speced right.
I've loaded mill rolls that weigh over 86,000. That's just the roll weight!

 

Anybody remember that guy who was going to produce a carbon fiber flatbed?