Working load limit, minimum tiedown counts, edge protection and the 50-mile check, with the 49 CFR sections inspectors actually cite.

Width, height and length each trigger permits differently, and every state issues its own. Here is where the legal envelope ends and what to ask first.

Steel, lumber, machinery, pipe and prefab units. What each commodity group demands from your trailer, your securement and your deck height.

Deck height is the only real difference between a step deck and a flatbed, and it decides whether your freight is legal. Here are the numbers.

The trailer decides what hotshot freight you can take. Here is how gooseneck and bumper-pull differ on weight, deck length and the CDL threshold.

Line-haul is only part of a flatbed rate. Tarp pay, deadhead, securement and legal height decide whether the load is actually worth it.