Step Deck Dispatch
A Dedicated Desk for Tall, Oversize-Adjacent FreightA step deck exists for one reason: to carry freight too tall for a standard flatbed without crossing into oversize-permit territory. That single design difference — a lower rear deck — opens up equipment and machinery freight a flatbed simply can't take legally. This is dispatch for owner-operators and small fleets running step deck, drop deck, or lowboy, built around what that clearance advantage actually means for the loads you can book. Run a mix of equipment? See our full dispatch service — this page goes deep on step deck specifically.
Why Step Deck Dispatch Is Different
Most desks treat step deck like generic flatbed and miss the entire point of the equipment. A desk that knows step deck works the clearance advantage from the first call — finding loads that need exactly what the trailer offers.
- The whole point of a step deck is avoiding a permit. A standard flatbed sits roughly 5 feet off the ground, which caps most cargo around 8.5 feet before the load plus trailer hits the typical 13.5-foot total height limit most states allow. A step deck's lower rear deck sits lower — roughly 3.5 feet — giving several extra feet of cargo height clearance while often staying inside that same legal limit. That difference is the entire commercial case for the equipment: it lets a load that would need an oversize permit on a flatbed move as a standard load on a step deck.
- It carries flatbed's securement rules, with an added wrinkle. The same FMCSA securement framework that governs flatbed (49 CFR Part 393 — tiedown counts scaling with length and weight, the 50% aggregate working load limit rule) applies in full. The added complication is the deck itself: the step between the upper and lower deck creates an uneven surface that makes tarping and strap angles trickier than a flat, single-level deck.
- Equipment and machinery dominate the freight mix. Step deck tends to carry what's too tall for a flatbed but doesn't need a true oversize move — construction equipment, agricultural machinery, industrial components. Many of these loads drive on and off via ramps rather than getting craned, which changes how a load actually gets loaded and unloaded at each end.
- It's a smaller, more specialized carrier pool than flatbed. Fewer trucks run step deck, which generally means less rate pressure — but it also means a dispatcher needs real familiarity with the equipment-heavy broker relationships that produce this freight, not just a generic flatbed rolodex.
How Your EIDDI Desk Runs Step Deck
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
- Height and clearance confirmed before the load is accepted, so permit-avoiding loads stay permit-free
- Rate negotiation on every load, before it's booked
- Oversize and permit needs flagged on the rare load that does cross the line — before you commit
- 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 — step deck is one of seven:
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.
Is This You?
You run a step deck, drop deck, or lowboy and want a desk that understands deck height and clearance — not just lanes.
You're switching dispatchers because yours treats step deck like generic flatbed and misses the clearance advantage.
You run mixed equipment — step deck alongside flatbed or other types — 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 every truck in your operation gets dispatched to the right loads.
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.
Full billing mechanics live on our Process page; full service commitments on our SLA.
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.
Keep Going
- The full dispatch service →Every equipment type, billing, broker screening, and onboarding in one place.
- Onboarding & compliance requirements →How we verify your MC Authority, USDOT, insurance, and safety standing.
- How billing & process work →The full journey from onboarding to active dispatch.
- Our service commitments →Response times, check-call cadence, and detention handling.
- Full FAQ →Documents needed, equipment we run, rejected loads, and more.
Put a Step Deck Desk Behind Your Truck
Start your carrier application — your dispatcher goes to work on your next step deck load.
Start Carrier ApplicationRun other equipment too? See the full dispatch service.