When you start looking at your trailer options, a wide variety of factors affect the final purchase decision. What type of trailer do I need? Where do I intend to go with this trailer? What’s an enclosed trailer vs. open utility trailer vs deck over trailer? Whenever we start the process with a new customer, our trailer pros take the time to walk through everything you need out of a trailer and then steer you right to the trailers that will work for you.
Today’s trailer deep dive is pointed at a type of trailer you may not be as familiar with in deck over trailers. We’ll answer questions like “what is a deck over trailer?” and how to spot the best deck over trailer for your unique hauling needs.
What is a Deck Over Trailer?
An enclosed trailer is just that, a trailer with a completely encapsulated storage area to keep sensitive cargo dry and locked up. Conversely, utility trailers and deck over trailers are open-air, ideal for a cargo that’s not weather sensitive and/or for short hauls around urban areas. With a lot of utility trailers, the deck is between the wheel wheels. These are also called flat deck trailers.
On the other hand, a deck over trailer utilizes a deck that goes directly over the wheel wells giving the trailer a maximum amount of cargo area. The deck over trailer also gives you access all around the trailer without having to bend over to retrieve an item. Cargo can be slid on and off from more sides making the deck over trailer a very popular option in the skilled trades field.
Construction crews and professional landscapers especially love the deck over trailer because of its ability to handle bulky, odd shapes with ease. If you are hauling a load of lumber to the jobsite, the pallets can be easily placed by a forklift just about anywhere on the trailer without fear of damaging the fenders.
How to Pick The Best Deck Over Trailer For Your Cargo
Helping our customers choose the perfect deck over trailer to match their needs and their budget is what we do best at Renown. Whenever you’re trying to decide between one trailer over another, run through a few quick questions centered around cargo hauling with towable trailers.
- What Kind of Cargo Are You Hauling?
Being in the market for a new deck over trailer, you probably have a good idea of what you’re looking at hauling around town. Whether that’s new palm trees to the clients house or heavy appliances for a local delivery service, deck over trailers are the versatile tool businesses and individuals need to get loaded and unloaded with ease.
If you already have a set up as with a landscape or contractor crew, take a quick inventory of what you’ll be putting on the trailer. Having an idea for the actual space requirements is your first step towards selecting a trailer with enough room to handle everything you need it to. A good rule of thumb is to give yourself a few extra feet around the trailer so that everything remains accessible, maintaining the advantage for ease of loading and unloading inherent to a deck over trailer.
Lastly, is the weight of what you are planning to carry around. An important measure with trailer cargo hauling is the deck over trailers’ payload capacity. The payload is set by the trailer’s manufacturer for how much cargo the trailer can safely hold. Exceeding this figure puts extra stress on the trailer’s components which can lead to premature wear and tear and even failure.
- Where Do You Need to Take Your Deck Over Trailer?
Deck over trailers are not only versatile in the size and shape of cargo they can handle but also in where they can go. Because of their unique design, deck over trailers tend to have more ground clearance than enclosed trailers or utility trailers. This extra clearance can make it easier to get somewhere where the terrain is rougher.
Along with what you are hauling goes where you are hauling it to. As we’ve said, the deck over trailer is an open-air trailer so anything being hauled is going to be subject to the elements. Renown’s beefy deck over trailers are made to last by some of the best names in the business so if the cargo can take it, you have plenty of capability for long-hauls. However, many find deck over trailers the ideal trailer for shorter runs in a localized area. The deck over trailer is the ultimate in ease of loading and unloading making it ideal for so many different loads.
- What Your Tow Vehicle Can Handle
An easily forgotten consideration in your trailer purchasing decision needs to be a review of what your tow vehicle can handle. Knowing the measurements and safe limits your tow vehicle can handle are key for a safe towing experience. The first on the list should be your vehicle’s tow capacity. The tow capacity is a limit set by the manufacturer for how much the trailer can safely tow. But you shouldn’t stop there, the Gross Combined Weight Rating is a more holistic measure which takes into account the weight of the vehicle and the weight of the trailer to specify how much your tow vehicle can handle all together.
Advantages of Deck Over Trailers
By now, you have already gotten a feel for the many advantages of the deck over trailer but these versatile haulers keep the beneys rolling with a plethora of perks. We’ll dive a little deeper into each of the benefits to deck over trailer ownership.
- Open Design for Easy Access: The most notable advantage lies with the completely open design. The ramp is generally longer for big cargo which can make loading in tight spaces a little trickier, but on the whole, getting things on and off a deck-over trailer is super easy because you can do it from multiple angles and not just the ramp.
Think about it this way, you have just purchased a bunch of fence panels and fence posts from the hardware store. When you get to the job site, you and your partner can access these without having to bend over, sliding each component right off the trailer. Saving your back and some time may seem like a small advantage, but time and effort savings can add up big for businesses—not to mention your back will be thanking you!
- Handles Odd Shapes: without having the walls like you do with a utility trailer, the deck over trailer can handle bulky and/or odd shapes a lot easier. The cargo can lay flat on the trailer deck which means getting it on and off is a breeze.
- No Fenders to Damage: with a utility trailer, you are putting all of the cargo inside the fenders of the trailer on the decking. This means loading and unloading cargo often means pulling over the wheels, resting the cargo on the fenders for a minute, and generally doing a lot of other things that can damage the wheels and wheel wells of the trailer. Deck over trailers are built right over the fenders so there’s very little risk that unloading or loading cargo could lead to damage.
- Greater Ground Clearance: the unique design of deck over trailers also makes them a little easier to get in and out of rougher terrain. When your jobsite does not have the best of roads, you will be very thankful for the extra clearance that keeps the trailer’s underside from taking more abuse.
- Anchor Points Directly to Trailer Deck: with a utility trailer with walls, it can be hard to get an anchor point directly to the trailer deck and you may have to settle for the top bar. There are some situations where you just want absolute surety that your cargo is bolted down as tight as it can go. For example, if you are hauling a pair of motorcycles cross country, having heavy duty tie straps and solid anchor points directly at deck level is an absolute must.
Deck over trailers offer the perfect solution for a wide variety of applications. Still, we absolutely understand that going with one trailer over another can seem like a tough decision. Our knowledgeable and friendly team of trailer professionals stands ready to help you find the perfect trailer to meet your needs and your budget.
Start a Deck Over Trailer Order
One of the coolest aspects to how Renown is set up for new deck over trailer sales lies in our ability to get your new trailer to you just about anywhere in the U.S. You can look over all your options for a new trailer, chat with a trailer associate, select custom options, check out, and schedule delivery all right from our site. Of course, if you would rather come and see us in beautiful Douglas, GA, we would absolutely love to have you!