Flatbed rate calculator, with tarp pay

Flatbed rates have more parts than miles

A flatbed load is more than a trip from pickup to delivery. There's the securement: straps or chains, edge protection, sometimes dunnage. There may be a tarp, which can take an hour or more to put on and take off, in the weather, on top of a load. There may be extra stops. And the open deck means you can't haul everything, so the run to the next pickup is often longer.

That's why a flatbed rate built only from miles comes out short. This flatbed rate calculator builds your target from your cost per mile over every mile you drive, then adds tarp pay and stop pay as separate lines. Seeing them separately makes it easier to ask for each one, and to notice when a posted rate quietly leaves them out.

How the flatbed rate is calculated

The miles part is your cost per mile, times one plus your margin, times loaded plus empty miles. Tarp pay is the amount you ask for the tarp the load needs, if any. Stop pay is the number of extra stops times your rate per stop. The target is the sum. The minimum uses the same extras but no margin on the miles: below it, the load costs you money.

• EXAMPLE

  EXAMPLE LOAD

  600 loaded, 80 empty, 8 ft tarp

  Cost per mile is $1.75 and the margin is 15%. Over 680 total miles, the miles part of the target is $1,369. Add $100 in tarp pay for an 8 ft tarp and the target is $1,469, about $2.45 per loaded mile and $2.16 all-in. The minimum, costs plus the tarp, is $1,290. The tarp pay here is an EXAMPLE amount you set, not a standard figure.

Tarp pay: what it is and how to ask for it

Tarp pay is a separate payment for tarping a load, usually a flat amount per load that rises with the tarp size. Steel tarps are often described by their drop, like 4 ft, 6 ft or 8 ft, and lumber tarps are bigger and heavier. A bigger tarp takes longer and is harder to handle, so carriers usually ask for more.

Ask about the tarp before you agree to a rate, and get tarp pay listed as its own line on the rate confirmation. A posting that says "tarp required" with an all-in rate may have the tarp priced in, or may not. Without it on the rate con, claiming it later is hard.

National flatbed rates and averages

Search results are full of national flatbed rates, average flatbed rates and current flatbed rates from load board reports. Those reports can be useful for seeing which way the market is moving. But a national average blends short regional runs and long hauls, steel and lumber, tarped and untarped freight, and quiet and busy regions. It can't tell you whether a specific load pays your truck.

We don't print flatbed rate averages on this page, because a number without its source, period and date would mislead you. When we cite market data elsewhere on the site, it comes with its source and date. Use this calculator for your floor on each load, then compare it with what's posted on your lanes. For how rates are set, see our guide to freight rates and freight rate software.

Reading your result

• +The posted rate clears your target, tarp included. Worth a call. Confirm the tarp size, securement and any extra stops.
• +The posted rate clears your miles but not the tarp. Counter with the tarp pay as a separate line.
• +The posted rate is under your minimum. It costs you money to haul. Pass, or counter once at your target.

Waiting at steel mills and construction sites is common in flatbed. Make sure detention terms are on the rate con too. The detention pay calculator works out what a long wait is worth, and the fuel surcharge calculator shows how surcharges follow diesel prices.

Flatbed dispatch

Our dispatchers ask about tarps, securement, stops and detention before they counter, and get tarp pay on the rate con as its own line. You okay every flatbed load, tarp pay included, and the broker sends you the rate confirmation. See how we work with owner-operators, or read about our flatbed dispatch.