Flatbed vs Lowbed vs Skeletal Trailer — Which Do You Need?

These three trailers look similar in a photograph and are regularly confused in enquiries. They do
different jobs.

Flatbed trailer

A flat deck with no sides, usually 12.5–13.75 m long, designed for 20 ft and 40 ft containers as well
as general break-bulk cargo. Container twist locks are fitted at standard positions. It is the most
versatile trailer in the range and the one most fleets start with.

Choose it if: you move a mix of containers and loose cargo, and you want one trailer
that does both.

Skeletal trailer

A skeletal, or skeletal chassis, is a flatbed stripped down to the minimum structure needed to carry a
container — essentially a frame with twist locks and no deck. Because it carries less steel, it is lighter
and therefore lets you load more payload within the same gross weight limit.

Choose it if: you carry containers almost exclusively, especially on long port runs
where the extra payload capacity pays for itself.

Lowbed trailer

A lowbed, also called a lowboy or low loader, has a dropped deck that sits much closer to the ground.
That low deck height is what allows tall, heavy, indivisible equipment — excavators, bulldozers, wheel
loaders, cranes — to be driven or craned on without exceeding height limits.

A detachable gooseneck version lets the front of the trailer be removed so very heavy machinery can be
loaded from the front rather than lifted over the side.

Choose it if: your cargo is machinery rather than loose goods, and especially if it is
tall or heavy enough that deck height matters.

Quick comparison

The usual mistake

Buying a lowbed for container work, or a skeletal trailer for mixed cargo. If you are unsure, describe
the cargo and the loading method to us and we will tell you which family fits — including when the honest
answer is that a different type would serve you better.