Service
Step Deck Hauling in Southeast Texas
When freight is too tall for a flatbed, it goes on the step deck. The lower deck buys you roughly 18 inches of height clearance, which is the difference between a legal load and a permit problem for generators, crane components, and taller equipment.
The trailer for tall industrial freight
Generators, compressors, crane cabs, counterweight stacks, and equipment on tracks all tend to run past the 8-foot-6 height limit on a standard flatbed. On the step deck they ride legal. We check dimensions before the truck is dispatched, not at the pickup.
Crane and rigging support
A big share of our step deck work is crane fall-off freight: boom inserts, counterweights, mats, and rigging moving between yards and jobsites, usually booked through the heavy-haul carrier or broker running the move. We know these deliveries are sequenced around an assembly plan. The counterweights cannot show up after the crane crew goes home.
Loading and unloading
Step decks load from above by crane or from the side by forklift, and the rear deck takes drive-on equipment with ramps where appropriate. Tell us how the piece gets on and off and we plan the trailer orientation and securement around it.
Straight answers
Step Deck Hauling questions
+When does freight need a step deck instead of a flatbed?
When height is the problem. A standard flatbed deck sits about five feet off the road, which caps freight around 8 feet 6 inches before you are over the legal 13-foot-6 total. The step deck’s lower deck buys back roughly 18 inches, so taller machinery rides legal instead of permitted.
+How tall can a load be on a step deck?
Roughly 10 feet on the lower deck and still legal. We measure against the actual trailer, not a rule of thumb — give dispatch the real dimensions and we will tell you before the truck rolls whether it rides legal or needs a different plan.
+Can equipment be driven onto a step deck?
Wheeled and tracked machines load over the rear with ramps where appropriate, or from above by crane and from the side by forklift. Tell us how the piece gets on and off and we plan trailer orientation and securement around it.
+Do you handle oversize permits?
Our lane is legal-dimension freight. If your piece runs oversize or overweight, we will tell you straight at quote time instead of gambling with your schedule, and the fall-off freight around the big piece — rigging, counterweights, mats — can still ride with us.
+What does step deck hauling cost?
Priced per load on dimensions, weight, miles, and window. Call (409) 540-9398 with the piece and lane, and dispatch quotes it straight — no forcing freight onto the wrong trailer to win a load.