Flatbed trucking services provide some of the most demanding cargo in the transportation industry. They transport construction materials as well as heavy equipment, and they also carry oversized and oddly-shaped freight that cannot be transported in a standard closed truck. Flatbed services are used by many businesses to meet their unique shipping requirements.
If you run a construction business, sending out steel beams, or a manufacturing business moving industrial parts, your company may be impacted by these restrictions. Let’s examine the key disadvantages that make flatbed services less appealing than other shipping options.
Weather Vulnerability Creates Major Risks
Flatbed trailers offer no protection from the elements. Your cargo sits completely exposed to rain, snow, wind, and extreme temperatures during transport. This exposure can cause significant damage to weather-sensitive materials and equipment.
Steel products can rust when exposed to moisture. Electronics and machinery may malfunction after exposure to temperature fluctuations. Even materials that seem durable can suffer from weather-related deterioration. The financial impact of weather damage often exceeds the cost savings from choosing flatbed over enclosed transport.
Security Concerns Leave Cargo Exposed
Open flatbed trailers provide your cargo with visibility to all other road users. This enhances the possibility of theft and vandalism along the way or at points. The machinery, tools, materials, and equipment that are valuable become easy targets for thieves.
The flatbed trailers are the opposite of enclosed trailers and conceal what you are shipping. Drivers are to exercise extra caution when parking and making deliveries. Most flatbed loads will also necessitate supplemental security, increasing the cost and complexity of the transportation aspect.
Loading and Securing Challenges Increase Costs
The flatbed cargo will demand special loading equipment and securing. The outsized objects require cranes, forklifts, and other heavy equipment to load them. The securement requires chains, straps, tarps, and other apparatus that require time and expertise to effectively fit.
Poorly fastening may result in cargo shifting in transit. This poses safety threats and the possibility of damage to your materials. Flatbed securement requires special training and experience on the part of professional drivers. These needs add costs to labor and prolong loading compared to the standard option trailers.
Limited Availability Affects Scheduling
Flatbed trucks make up a smaller fraction of the total fleets of trucking segments. Such scarcity may cause some scheduling problems, particularly during peak periods or in some geographic locations. Wait times for the pickup and delivery system may be longer.
The flatbed equipment is specialized, which reduces the number of drivers who are capable of handling such loads. It is even harder to find available capacity when you have urgent shipments. All that scarcity usually means more expensive shipping rates and no ability to push the date out of schedule.
Higher Insurance and Liability Costs
The Flatbed shipments need to be insured more since the risk factors are much higher. The cargo is also vulnerable because it is not packed away, and handling needs to be done specially, so more damage claims can be brought up. Insurance firms prescribe premium rates to cover such high risks.
Liability issues go further than cargo damage. When the loads are badly secured, there are some road hazards that may affect other vehicles. The nature of your business exposes it to greater liability risk when it ships on a flatbed. This insurance costs you extra in your other transport expenses.
Regulatory Compliance Complications
Flatbed transportation is subject to complicated regulations and requirements, including load securement, permits, and routing. Oversized loads can be subject to special permits that add time and expense to your freight shipments. The flatbed cargo transportation regulations vary in each state.
The failure to comply may lead to fines, delays, and legal issues. The regulatory overhead involves knowledge of transportation law and permitting. This is because many businesses do not find it easy and manageable to meet such compliance requirements.
Seasonal Restrictions Impact Operations
Winter weather conditions weaken the capacity of the flatbed completely. Halls, piles, ice, and severe cold present risks to securing and transporting open cargo. Most flatbed operators cut back in the vicious weather times
Industrial and construction shipping are usually in high season when temperatures are higher, when flatbeds are already at a premium. There are issues of availability and think volatility caused by demand fluctuations in seasons. Your transportation expenses can have immense fluctuation according to weather and other seasonal conditions that are not under your control.
Key Disadvantages Summary
Flatbed services have many disadvantages, and some of the essential factors that affect the operations are as follows:
- Sensitive equipment and materials get destroyed by exposure to the weather
- Security breaches are prone to theft and vandalism inherent
- Complicated loading demands require special equipment and training
- There are hard limits on truck availability, and this leads to challenges with capacity and scheduling
- Greater insurance premiums represent higher risks
- Regulation imposes a burden on regulation due to permits and technical expertise
- Services are restricted in part due to seasonal reasons when it is bad weather
- Added handling time increases loading and delivery timetables
All these things make flatbed services a costlier and complex affair compared to the normal shipping alternatives. Every disadvantage implicates operational and monetary losses to your business. Flatbed also have some advantages too. Read the advantages of flatbed towing.
Communication and Tracking Difficulties
Most of the flatbed operators do not have the advanced tracking technology of bigger trucking companies. This complicates real-time tracking of your shipments. Communication delays can put you in doubt about the time of delivery and the condition of the cargo.
The exotic-ness of flatbed transport has usually made the carriers smaller in size and have less of the technology facilities. Internet tracking and its changeable electronic logging device and automated updates might not be available. This invisibility brings about insecurity and scheduling challenges to the receiving operations.
Making Informed Transportation Decisions
Knowing these relevant disadvantages can assist you in making better shipping options for your business. Some kinds of cargo may need flatbed services, which, however, have their disadvantages that need strong consideration and planning. Other transport options may provide more value and less risk in the transport of many shipments.
Due to their size and unique nature, consider trailers with enclosures, specialized equipment carriers, or railway products before purchasing flatbed services. Calculate the overall cost of insurance cover, security measures, and weather setbacks. It costs more to purchase better coverage, but in the long term, this can be more money-saving.