Rolltite (Conestoga) or open flatbed: which trailer to pick
Published
A Rolltite and an open flatbed load the same way. The difference is what happens after the load is chained down. Here's how dispatch decides which one to send.
A Rolltite is a flatbed with a cover that slides on a frame. US brokers call it a Conestoga, and you will also hear curtainside and curtain van. You load it the same way you load a flatbed, from the side with a forklift or from the top with a crane. Then the cover closes, and the load rides covered without anyone throwing a tarp.
An open flatbed has no cover. The load rides in the open, or under tarps the driver puts on at your dock.
Send a Rolltite when
- The freight has to arrive dry and clean: steel coil, aluminum extrusions, shingles, plate, finished machinery.
- Your dock can't hold a truck while a driver tarps, or your site doesn't allow anyone up on the deck.
- The load fits under the frame: up to 102 inches high and 102 inches wide on our 53 ft tandems.
- The receiver unloads from the side with a forklift, or from the top with a crane.
Send an open flatbed when
- The load is taller than 102 inches, or wider than 102 inches and moving on a permit. Pieces too tall for a flatbed go on a step deck, up to 120 inches, or in the well of a double drop.
- Long beams, columns or pipe need a crane to pick them from above along the whole length.
- The freight doesn't care about rain, like rebar for a jobsite or rough steel.
- The piece has lifting points or shapes that are easier to chain without a frame in the way.
The same weight either way
On a tandem, a Rolltite and an open flatbed carry about the same: up to 45,000 lb at 80,000 lb gross, in Canada and the US. For heavier loads inside Ontario and into Michigan, our 6 axle curtainsides carry up to 86,000 lb with the same sliding cover. More on that in why a 6 axle moves 86,000 lb.
Side by side
| Rolltite (Conestoga) | Open flatbed | |
|---|---|---|
| Covered on the road | Yes, no tarping | Only if tarped |
| Loading | Side and top, after the cover slides back | Side and top |
| Height and width | Up to 102 in high and 102 in wide | Legal height depends on the deck. Oversize with permits |
| Payload, 53 ft tandem | Up to 45,000 lb | Up to 45,000 lb |
| Time at your dock | Shorter, no tarp to put on | Longer when the load is tarped |
What to tell dispatch
The height, the width and the length of the biggest piece, the total weight, how it loads and unloads, and whether it has to stay dry. With that, dispatch names the trailer with the price. If a load fits a Rolltite and has to stay dry, that's what we send. See Rolltite and Conestoga trucking for our fleet, or get a quote.
Need a truck this week?
Send the lane and the weight. A dispatcher prices it within 1 business hour, and someone picks up the phone 24 hours a day.