opinions on what is the best flatbed trailer out there?

We ran steel/wood and an aluminum. The biggest problem with the all aluminum was galvanic corrosion with any screws/bolts or ground straps. The steel/wood was heavier, but, I could haul loads better without twisting the trailer. The guy that pulled the aluminum had the trailer twist on him a couple of times. All because of the way the load had to be secured. Either one worked well, I liked the steel/wood combo I pulled. If you POR15 the steel members then you will not have to worry about rust for quite a while. You could also use a good military grade paint that contains zinc (I think that is what they mix into their paints).

 

Our company has a 95 Fruehauf steel flat, that's lived in Northern Indiana it's whole life. It's now at the point where it needs sandblasted and repainted. 15 years on factory paint ain't too bad.

 

I also have a 95 Fruehauf that still has the original floor. It could use some sandblasting and paint, but is still in good shape. They made a good trailer.

 

You guys must not be hauling anything heavy if your using Fruehauf flats.

 

I only have one Freuhauf, but it is a good trailer. I will take it over some of the newer ones that I have seen. I can put over 46,000 pounds on it without any problem. Besides, I don't want haul really heavy loads. I prefer less weight and higher rates. The heavy loads usually pay less than light weight loads.

 

So....Let me get this straight.

You'd rather haul a 46,000 pound load and gross 80,000 that haul a 49,000 pound load and gross 80,000?

I haul a lot of light freight and it pays well, I also haul a lot of heavy freight that pays pretty well too.
Many times I have found myself in a position where there was nothing available but a 48,000 or 49,000 pound load and if I couldn't haul the weight my options boiled down to "sit" or "bounce".

Since I make a living hauling freight and can't always haul the light loads I prefer to keep every available option open to my business by keeping my equipment as light as I can within the parameters that I choose.

There is a reason that most modern flatbed trailers are aluminum...WEIGHT!

If you choose to limit the flexability of your business that's fine but most of us here will opt for the ability to get the load and go without having to constantly deal with the unessesary weight of a steel trailer.

The general requirerment for flatbed freight is to be able to haul 48,000 and the inability to do that limits your options.

 

MAC hands down the best trailer for hauling heavy objects in a small area. The rest are just wannabe's...

Benson, to me, really screwed up when they remade their trailers. The problem with all Benson's is they look like they are about to snap right by the dolley's with any kind of heavy load on.

Ravens best trailer was the Magnum but they were a wiring nightmare! They also had a bad habit of cracking in front of the lead axle on their 45' trailers. I was told it was caused from 2 things.... Dumping the back axle all the time and the angle in which the frame rails were. On the 48'ers the angle wasn't as steep.

Reitnour made good trailers back in the 90's, then went down hill with popularity. They took some of the stiffness out of them to prevent breaking, from what I heard.

Fontaine is about a joke for aluminum trailers, IMO.

East is way overpriced, or used to be. I used to have a 93 East that was a great trailer. Bought it used but it was well taken care of.

Transcraft used to be the cheapest priced combo. I had a 94 that was a good trailer, hauled alot of weight on it. I got my money out of it. The design on Transcraft is to give. Where alot of people screw up is when they try to take that out of it by adding bracing, thats usually when they start cracking alot.

The biggest mistake MAC made was with the 50k trailer... PGT ordered a bunch of them the same time I ordered mine. I told the salesman what PGT would do with the trailers and sure enough they did, and had problems. But when you try hauling permit loads and big singles on a trailer that wasn't designed to haul it, you're gonna have problems.

When I ordered mine, back in 06 MAC was the only trailer maker to be willing to build what I wanted and the way I wanted, and their price was cheaper than everyone else.

 

Everything I haul pays by the weight. A 50k load pays more than a 40k and so on. That's why I say you can never have too strong of a trailer. Seen too many guys turn down the best loads because their trailers aren't rated for it.

 

That's why we took the MMX East we have to Mac to have the extra axles installed, they'll do whatever you want! We just ordered a new grain hopper and the dealers/MFG's always tell you what you don't need instead of just installing what you want! Wilson is the ONLY company that would install the Intraax 300. The rest always say "you don't need it", if I'm writing the check I decide what I need.

I looked at a used 4 axle Mac on their lot that had the "cheater system" ~16 air tanks, 3/4 lines to the bags, surge valves and air mufflers. All a factory option! Do you need it? Probably not, but if the buyer wanted it he got it!