HOUSTON FLATBED FREIGHT SERVICES
Flatbed, step deck, double drop and RGN transport for steel, pipe, construction materials, machinery and oversized loads — matched to the right trailer and delivered on time, across Texas and the United States.
Nationwide Logistic Solutions Delivered with Precision.
Open-deck freight, out of Houston, Texas.
Headquartered in Houston, Strategic Freight Solutions provides reliable flatbed freight services throughout Texas and across the United States. We specialize in Houston flatbed transportation, hauling everything from hot shot freight and construction materials to oversized, heavy haul, and specialized equipment. Whether your shipment is local, regional, or nationwide, our experienced logistics team matches every load with the right equipment to ensure safe, efficient, and on-time delivery.
That match matters more on an open deck than anywhere else in freight. Eighteen inches of deck height decides whether your load runs legal or needs a permit; the difference between a strap and a chain is a securement rule, not a preference. We make those calls before your freight is loaded — not at the scale house.
- Flatbed, step deck, double drop, RGN & stretch
- Steel, pipe, lumber, machinery & precast
- Hot shot through permitted heavy haul
- FMCSA securement, tarping & edge protection
- Greater Houston, statewide Texas, 48 states
The open-deck fleet
The right deck for your dimensions.
Deck height is what decides your trailer. Every figure below is the legal maximum — what moves without a permit. Cross any one of them and the load is still ours; it simply becomes a permitted move.
Standard Flatbed
The workhorse open deck. Loads from the side, the rear or overhead by crane, which makes it the fastest trailer to turn at a steel yard, a lumber rack or a job site with no dock.
- Deck length
- 48–53 ft
- Width
- 8 ft 6 in
- Cargo height
- up to 8 ft 6 in
- Capacity
- 48,000 lb
Step Deck / Drop Deck
A lower rear deck buys roughly 18 more inches of legal cargo height than a straight flatbed — the usual answer for machinery and tanks that would otherwise need a permit.
- Deck length
- 48–53 ft
- Width
- 8 ft 6 in
- Cargo height
- up to 10 ft
- Capacity
- 45,000 lb
Double Drop
A sunken well between the gooseneck and the rear axles for tall, self-contained pieces — vessels, transformers and fabrications that will not clear on a step deck.
- Deck length
- 25–29 ft well
- Width
- 8 ft 6 in
- Cargo height
- up to 11 ft 6 in
- Capacity
- 45,000 lb
RGN / Lowboy
The gooseneck detaches into a ramp so tracked and wheeled machines drive on at ground level. Add axles and the same trailer scales into full heavy-haul capacity.
- Deck length
- 29 ft well
- Width
- 8 ft 6 in
- Cargo height
- up to 11 ft 6 in
- Capacity
- 150,000 lb +
Stretch / Extendable Flatbed
Telescopes out to carry length no fixed deck can support end to end — wind blades, structural steel, pipe strings and crane booms that must stay in one piece.
- Deck length
- 48–80 ft extended
- Width
- 8 ft 6 in
- Cargo height
- up to 8 ft 6 in
- Capacity
- 43,000 lb
Conestoga
A rolling tarp system on a flatbed frame: open-deck crane loading, then a weatherproof skin over the load. For finished goods and coated steel that must not get tarp-burned or wet.
- Deck length
- 48–53 ft
- Width
- 8 ft 2 in
- Cargo height
- up to 8 ft
- Capacity
- 45,000 lb
Figures are typical legal maximums per trailer class. Actual capacity varies with the tractor, axle spacing and the states on your route — your agent confirms the exact numbers for your lane before the load is booked.
What we haul
The freight that keeps Texas building.
Steel & Structural
Beams, plate, rebar, coil, joists and fabricated structural sections out of Houston-area mills and fab shops.
Pipe & OCTG
Line pipe, casing, tubing and drill pipe staged between the port, the coating yards and the field.
Construction Materials
Lumber, precast concrete, panels, roofing, scaffold and modular building sections delivered to the site, not the yard.
Construction Equipment
Skid steers, excavators, backhoes, loaders, lifts and attachments — driven or winched on, chained to DOT standard.
Machinery & Fabrications
Presses, compressors, generators, skids and one-off fabrications leaving Gulf-coast machine shops.
Tanks & Vessels
Pressure vessels, separators, frac tanks and storage tanks for the refining and petrochemical corridor.
Agricultural Equipment
Tractors, combines, implements and irrigation systems moving across the Texas ag belt.
Containers & Break-Bulk
Flat racks, containers and break-bulk cargo lifted off the docks at Barbours Cut and Bayport.
Hot Shot Freight
Smaller, urgent open-deck loads on a gooseneck or bumper-pull, dispatched the same day.
One call, the whole range
From a single skid to a superload.
Open-deck freight is a spectrum, and most shippers need more than one point on it. You do not change carriers as your loads grow — you change trailers.
- 01
Hot Shot
Up to ~16,500 lb
A dedicated one-ton dually and gooseneck, dispatched within the hour for a load that will not fill a full deck.
See Hot Shot - 02
Flatbed Freight
48,000 lb legal
A full 48–53 foot open deck for steel, pipe, materials and machinery — the volume tier this page covers.
You are here
- 03
Heavy Haul
Superload capable
Past legal limits: permitted multi-axle configurations, TxDMV paperwork, route surveys and escorts.
See Heavy Haul
On every flatbed move
Loaded from any angle, secured for every mile.
Load From Any Angle
No walls, no roof, no dock. A flatbed loads from the side, the rear or straight down by crane — so a 20-ton fabrication that will never fit through a van door still ships today.
No Dimensional Ceiling
When a load outgrows legal open-deck limits it does not change carriers — it changes trailers. We step it up to a drop deck, a double drop or a permitted multi-axle configuration.
Right-Sized Equipment
A one-ton gooseneck for a hot shot, a 53-foot deck for a full load, a stretch trailer for length. We match the trailer to the load instead of forcing the load onto whatever is available.
Professional Securement
Chains, binders, straps, edge protection, coil racks and tarps, applied to FMCSA cargo-securement standards and re-checked in transit — not just at the shipper.
Permits When You Need Them
The moment a load crosses Texas legal limits we pull the TxDMV permit and arrange escorts, so an oversize piece never stalls waiting on paperwork.
One Agent, Every Load
The same dedicated agent handles the single skid and the 90,000-pound vessel. You never re-explain your freight to a new desk.
Securement & compliance
Nothing shifts. Nothing slips.
An open deck has no walls to hold the load in. Everything that keeps your freight on the trailer is applied by hand, to a federal standard, and checked again on the road.
Tie-downs by length and weight
FMCSA requires a minimum of one tie-down per 10 feet of cargo, with at least two on any article longer than 5 feet, and the aggregate working load limit of those tie-downs must equal at least half the weight of the load they secure.
Commodity-specific rules
Steel coil, concrete pipe, lumber, metal coils and heavy machinery each have their own securement standard — coil racks and cradles, chocking, and chain rather than strap where the rule calls for it.
Tarping & weather protection
Steel, lumber and finished goods are tarped against road spray and weather, or moved on a Conestoga when a tarp cannot be pulled over the load safely.
Legal Texas limits, then permits
An open-deck load runs unpermitted to 8 ft 6 in wide, 13 ft 6 in tall, 53 ft long and 80,000 lb gross. Past any one of those we permit the move through TxDMV rather than trimming the load to fit.
Where we run
Houston-based, Texas-wide, 48 states.
Our densest flatbed lane network runs out of the Houston metro — the ship channel, the refining corridor and the fabrication yards — then statewide and nationwide from there.
Greater Houston metro
- Houston
- Sugar Land
- Pasadena
- Baytown
- Katy
- The Woodlands
- Galveston
- Texas City
- Beaumont
- Port Arthur
- Conroe
- Freeport
Statewide Texas
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- San Antonio
- Austin
- El Paso
- Corpus Christi
- Laredo
- Midland–Odessa
On the map
Flatbed freight out of Houston, Texas.
Based in the Greater Houston metro — minutes from the Port of Houston, the refining corridor and the steel and fabrication yards our open decks load at every day.
Driven by Excellence. Defined by Results.
24/7 Customer Support
Strategic freight is not a nine-to-five job, and neither is our support. Your dedicated logistics agent is reachable around the clock, every day of the year.
Logistics Consulting
Not sure how to move it? Our specialists consult with you on trailers, routing and permits up front — engineering the smartest, most cost-effective plan before a wheel turns.
Personalized Strategy
Your load is not a template. We engineer the route, the trailer and the permits around what you are actually moving — not around what is easiest for us.
Zero Up-Front Costs
No deposits, no hidden fees. You get a transparent, no-obligation quote, and we start working the moment you say go.
Licensed, Bonded & Insured
Fully licensed, bonded and insured on every mile. Your agent hands you our full compliance paperwork the day you call.
Dedicated Agents
One agent owns your shipment from dispatch to delivery. You will never re-explain your load to a call queue.
Houston flatbed freight FAQ
Answers for open-deck shippers.
What is flatbed freight, and when do I need it?
Flatbed freight moves on an open deck with no walls or roof, so it can be loaded from the side, the rear or overhead by crane. You need it whenever your freight is too wide, too tall, too heavy or too awkward to go through the doors of an enclosed dry van — steel, pipe, lumber, machinery, tanks, precast concrete and construction equipment all ship this way.
How much can a flatbed carry in Texas?
A standard 48–53 foot flatbed legally carries about 48,000 pounds of cargo, up to 8 feet 6 inches wide and 8 feet 6 inches tall on the deck, without a permit. A step deck takes roughly 10 feet of cargo height, and a double drop or RGN takes up to 11 feet 6 inches. Beyond those numbers the load is still haulable — it simply becomes a permitted oversize move.
Do you handle hot shot loads as well as full flatbed loads?
Yes. A hot shot is open-deck freight on a smaller, faster truck — usually a one-ton dually pulling a gooseneck or bumper-pull trailer. If your load does not fill a 53-foot deck and the clock matters, we dispatch a hot shot instead of holding it for a full trailer.
What is the difference between a flatbed and a step deck?
Deck height. A standard flatbed deck sits about 5 feet off the ground, which leaves roughly 8 feet 6 inches of legal cargo height under the 13 foot 6 inch federal limit. A step deck drops to a lower rear deck and buys you about another 18 inches — often the difference between a routine move and a permitted one.
Do you tarp flatbed loads?
Yes. Steel, lumber, finished goods and anything weather-sensitive is tarped as standard. When a load cannot be tarped safely — an odd shape, or a piece a crew should not be climbing on — we move it on a Conestoga instead, which rolls a weatherproof skin over the freight after open-deck loading.
How is my freight secured on an open deck?
To FMCSA cargo-securement standards: at minimum one tie-down per 10 feet of cargo, at least two on any article over 5 feet, and tie-downs whose combined working load limit is at least half the weight of the load. Chains and binders for machinery and steel, straps and edge protection for finished goods, coil racks and cradles where the commodity rule requires them — re-checked in transit, not just at the shipper.
Can you haul flatbed freight out of the Port of Houston?
Yes. We move break-bulk, flat racks, containers and project cargo off the docks at Barbours Cut and Bayport onto flatbed, step-deck and multi-axle trailers, then run it inland to the job site or across the Gulf coast.
Do you only run flatbed in Houston, or nationwide?
Houston is our base and our densest lane network, and we run statewide across Texas — Dallas–Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, the Permian Basin and the Golden Triangle. Beyond that we haul flatbed freight nationwide to 48 states and cross-border to Canada and Mexico.
What does flatbed shipping cost from Houston?
It depends on the lane, the deck length and weight your load needs, whether it has to be tarped, and whether it crosses into permit territory. Every quote is free, no-obligation and itemized with no hidden fees — call or send the dimensions and a Houston agent will price the actual load.
Ready to move something big?
Oversize • Heavy Haul • Equipment Transport • LTL • FTL • Hotshot • Expedited • Dispatch
