Can't decide between flatbed or Dry van want to buy one.

Weigh your pros and cons Flatbed pays more but it also more stressful you have to keep your eyes on the load looking for straps and chains to loosen up look for load shifting stopping every few hours to make sure load is secure.Oversize permits and escorts restricted routes, you have to deal with different elements WEATHER whether its to hot or to cold, raining or snow, wind dust storms, thunderstorms BUT AGAIN-BUT MORE MONEY

With van its more simpler get to the shipper make sure they load you right so your weight is balanced, get paperwork slide tandems and roll on out PAY IS A LITTLE LESS THAN FLAT,if you are running under someone elses authority


BUT THE KEY IS building up CUSTOMERS,, or have your own clientel allready set up.

With your own authority its definitely more money put out but the RATES YOU CAN SET ACCORDINGLY TO AS YOU SEE FIT.

THERE ARE ALOT OF COMPANYS THAT LEASE ON FOR BOTH VAN AND FLAT

ITS ALOT MORE TO IT
BUT IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT IT IS WHAT U WANT

HOPE THIS HELPS!

 

You cant jump into either without experiance. Why not rent a trailer a for a few months so you can try it out before investing money in the wrong industry.

Personaly i never liked van. I did it for 6 moths and hated it. I went back to flatbed. That being said, try it out and if you dont like it switch. A company like landstar will let you rent trailers and thus you can try both before buying any trailers.

 

I live in Maryland as well. There are a lot of flatbed loads out of Baltimore. but there is also a lot of dryvan work from the Baltimore metro area as well as to the Baltimore metro area. In my opinion you don't make any extra money for all the hard work you do chaining downloads tarping loads. I also think you deadhead more miles on a flatbed to pick up your next load as compared to a Dryvan. with your own authority it's best to have your own customers that way you cut out the broker and all the money for the load comes to you.however pier work and the rest of the world are apples and oranges I think at this point you'd be better off leasing on the somebody getting to know the business outside of the pier before you get your own authority but this is just my opinion whatever your choice is I wish you the best of luck

 

How much you deadhead shouldn't be an issue. It's all about #s and I would rather deadhead than load a cheap load just to say I didn't deadhead.
I like open deck because I like to be somewhat active , securing the load is parted the fun for me , plus gets me moving a little . I pulled van for a few months and found it boring.

 

If I was buying a trailer I would go with a step deck .
I would get the ramps that are also bridges and go trucking .

But them I am a little off acording to the ones that know me best !

 

I live in southern Missouri so your area may be different. I just sold a dry van that I had for a year and a half. It spent most of that time parked while I was pulling my flatbed.

I could get pretty good rates for the van in my home area (up to $3) but when I got out and needed to find a load to come back on the rates were usually a lot less than flatbed. I was quoted return rates for van of $1.20-$1.60.

Most of the flatbed freight in my area is $3 a mile and some up to $4. I have seen some loads going 150-200 miles paying $5. Of course there are a few holdouts trying to get it hauled for $2.25-$2.50 but their loads tend to sit for a long time.