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Flatbed Dispatch

A Dedicated Desk for Open-Deck Freight

Flatbed is the equipment type where the load isn't done when it's on the trailer — it's done when it's chained, strapped, edge-protected, and tarped to federal standard, then re-checked fifty miles down the road. The freight is exposed, the securement is regulated, and a load booked without accounting for tarping or permits becomes the driver's problem at the shipper. This is dispatch for owner-operators and small fleets running flatbed, step deck, or lowboy, built around what open-deck freight actually demands. Run a mix of equipment? See our full dispatch service — this page goes deep on flatbed specifically.

01
The Freight

Why Flatbed Dispatch Is Different

Most desks quote a flatbed load like it's a dry van with the walls removed. They book the lane and move on — and the tarping requirement, the oversize permit, the securement the commodity actually demands all surface at the dock. A desk that knows flatbed works the freight differently from the first call.

  • Securement is federally regulated, and it scales with the load. Under FMCSA rules (49 CFR Part 393), the number of tiedowns rises with the cargo's length and weight, the combined working load limit of all tiedowns has to be at least half the cargo's weight, and heavy equipment on wheels or tracks needs a minimum of four tiedowns. Edge protection is required anywhere a strap or chain crosses a sharp edge, and the load has to be re-checked within the first fifty miles. This isn't best-effort — it's an inspection item, and a securement violation can put a truck out of service.
  • Tarping is labor, and it's a negotiating point. Steel, lumber, and building materials often have to be tarped against weather, and tarping a load is heavy, time-consuming physical work. Whether a load requires tarps — and whether the broker pays tarp pay for it — belongs on the rate confirmation before the load is accepted, not discovered in the yard.
  • Oversize means permits, routing, and restricted hours. Flatbed freight routinely exceeds legal width, height, or length. Those loads need state permits, sometimes escort or pilot cars, and often can't move at night or on weekends. A load booked without flagging the permit reality creates delays and costs nobody planned for.
  • The commodity drives the broker pool. Steel, lumber, building materials, machinery, pipe, and coils each move through different brokers and lanes, and flatbed freight tends to track construction and industrial activity — which makes it regional and seasonal in a way a dispatcher needs to understand.
02
The Service

How Your EIDDI Desk Runs Flatbed

Same discipline we bring to every equipment type, applied to the realities above:

  • Load sourcing matched to your trailer, your lanes, and your rate floor — not a generic load-board feed
  • Rate negotiation on every load, before it's booked — including tarp pay and oversize premiums where they apply
  • Securement and tarping requirements confirmed with the broker up front, on the rate confirmation — not discovered at the shipper
  • Oversize and permit needs flagged before you commit, so routing and restricted hours are known going in
  • Broker communication start to finish — calls, emails, rate confirmations
  • Live check calls and tracking through delivery
  • Detention pay negotiation — we contact the broker within 1 hour of a reported delay
  • Paperwork handling: rate confirmations, BOLs, and POD collection

We dispatch every major US equipment type — flatbed is one of seven:

Dry Van Reefer Flatbed Step Deck Power Only Box Truck Hotshot
Your Authority Stays Yours
You remain the carrier of record on every load. EIDDI is a dispatch consultancy — not a broker or motor carrier. See how we verify carriers and standing.
03
Who This Is For

Is This You?

A.

You run a flatbed, step deck, or lowboy under your own MC Authority and want a desk that understands securement, tarping, and permits — not just lanes.

B.

You're switching dispatchers because yours books loads without flagging tarp requirements or oversize permits, and you're the one absorbing the surprises.

C.

You run mixed equipment — flatbed alongside dry van or reefer — and want every unit profiled and dispatched correctly.

Mixed fleet is never a problem — each unit is profiled by its own equipment type, lanes, and availability, so your flatbed and your van each get dispatched to the right loads.

04
Transparent Billing

What You Get

  • Load search begins within 2 hours of you going available
  • Qualifying load offers inside 24 hours under normal market conditions
  • Weekly billing, in USD, every Monday, for the prior week's loads

The dispatch fee is either a percentage of gross load revenue or a negotiated flat rate, confirmed in your Dispatch Service Agreement before you run a single load — you know your number going in.

No load booked, no fee. If a week passes with nothing booked, there's no invoice for it.

Full billing mechanics live on our Process page; full service commitments on our SLA.

05
Carrier Of Record

You Stay The Carrier Of Record

EIDDI is a dispatch consultancy — not a broker, not a motor carrier. You hold the authority, the insurance, and the customer relationship; we run the desk behind you. Onboarding and insurance requirements, including the $750,000 primary liability and $100,000 cargo minimums we work to, are covered in full on our Compliance page.

06
Go Deeper

Keep Going

Put a Flatbed Desk Behind Your Truck

Start your carrier application — your dispatcher goes to work on your next flatbed load.

Start Carrier Application

Run other equipment too? See the full dispatch service.