Step Deck Trucking Jobs
A step deck — also called a drop deck — is a flatbed with two levels: a short upper deck over the tractor and a longer lower deck that sits about eighteen inches closer to the road. That drop is the entire point. A standard flatbed can legally carry freight about 8 feet 6 inches tall before it needs an oversize permit; the lower deck of a step deck takes roughly 10 feet 2 inches of the same freight with no permit, no escort and no route survey. Drivers haul excavators, agricultural equipment, HVAC units, tanks, and machinery that is simply too tall to ride on a standard deck. The securement work is flatbed work — chains, binders, straps and tarps — with ramps and a deck transition added to it.
Average Pay
$62,000 - $95,000
CDL Class
CDL-A
Demand Level
High
What Is Step Deck Trucking?
A step deck — also called a drop deck — is a flatbed with two levels: a short upper deck over the tractor and a longer lower deck that sits about eighteen inches closer to the road. That drop is the entire point. A standard flatbed can legally carry freight about 8 feet 6 inches tall before it needs an oversize permit; the lower deck of a step deck takes roughly 10 feet 2 inches of the same freight with no permit, no escort and no route survey. Drivers haul excavators, agricultural equipment, HVAC units, tanks, and machinery that is simply too tall to ride on a standard deck. The securement work is flatbed work — chains, binders, straps and tarps — with ramps and a deck transition added to it.
Requirements
- Valid CDL-A license
- DOT medical card
- Working knowledge of FMCSA cargo securement rules (393.100-136), including the rules specific to heavy machinery
- Comfort loading and unloading over ramps — much of this freight drives on and off under its own power
- Physical fitness for tarping, chaining and climbing on and off two deck heights
- Most carriers want 6-12 months of flatbed or tractor-trailer experience before putting a driver on a step deck
A Day in the Life
You arrive at an equipment dealership outside Fort Worth just after seven. In the yard sits a mid-size excavator, about 9 feet 4 inches tall on its tracks. On a standard flatbed that is a permit load. On your lower deck it is legal freight, and that difference is why the dealer called a step deck. The yard hand walks the machine up your ramps while you stand clear and watch the tracks find the deck edge. Once it is centred, the real work starts. Heavy machinery has its own securement rule: four separate tiedowns, each one attached to a manufacturer-marked point on the machine, and the boom and bucket secured on their own because they are accessories that can move independently. You lower the bucket to the deck, chain it, then run four 3/8-inch Grade 70 chains from the frame points to the winches on your rails. Each chain gets a binder and a second pass to check for slack. Before you pull out you measure your height. Deck height plus machine height comes to 12 feet 8 inches overall — under the 13 feet 6 inches most routes assume, so you are legal, but you note the number and check it against the two low bridges on your route north. The run is 340 miles to a job site in Oklahoma. Fifty miles out you pull into a rest area and re-check every chain, because tracked machinery settles on its rubber pads and chains loosen. Two need a quarter turn. At the site the operator backs the excavator down the ramps while you pull chains, and by early afternoon you are empty and looking at a load of HVAC units — tall, light, and needing tarps — for the run back.
Pros & Cons
Advantages
- Pays above standard flatbed for the same licence — the premium comes from the securement skill, not from extra miles
- Taller freight without permits means fewer route restrictions and fewer curfews than an oversize load
- Machinery and equipment freight holds up when dry van volume softens, because it follows construction and agriculture rather than retail
- Loading is usually at yards, dealerships and job sites rather than a dock, so there is far less waiting
Challenges
- All of flatbed's physical demands plus ramps — driving a machine up a ramp onto a deck is unforgiving of mistakes
- Two deck heights complicate securement: freight on the upper deck needs different tiedown geometry than the same item on the lower deck
- Height still has a ceiling — go past roughly 10 feet 2 inches of cargo and you are back into permits, which means an RGN or a lowboy instead
- Weather exposure is constant, and a tarp thrown over a machine on a lower deck is awkward work in wind
Top States for Step Deck Jobs
These states have the highest demand for step deck drivers based on freight volume, industry presence, and carrier activity.
Step Deck Driver Openings in All 50 States
Browse current step deck openings by state — pay bands, home time, and how to apply.
Top Companies Hiring Step Deck Drivers
Maverick Transportation
#1TMC Transportation
#2Anderson Trucking Service
#3PGT Trucking
#4Melton Truck Lines
#5Ready to Start Driving?
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Frequently Asked Questions About Step Deck Trucking
What is the difference between a step deck and a flatbed?
A flatbed is one flat level about 5 feet off the ground for its whole length. A step deck has a short upper deck over the tractor and then steps down to a lower main deck sitting roughly 3 feet 6 inches off the ground. The lower deck is what matters: because it starts about 18 inches lower, it carries freight roughly 10 feet 2 inches tall within legal height, where the same freight on a standard flatbed would need an oversize permit at about 8 feet 6 inches. Everything else — chains, straps, tarps, securement rules — is the same work.
Is a step deck the same as a drop deck?
Yes. Step deck and drop deck are two names for the same trailer, and carriers use them interchangeably in job postings. You will also see 'single drop' used to distinguish it from a double drop or an RGN, which drop again between the axles for freight taller than a step deck can carry.
Do step deck drivers need a special endorsement?
No. A step deck is a standard CDL-A tractor-trailer combination and needs no additional endorsement. What carriers actually screen for is securement competence and flatbed experience, because the freight is heavy, irregular and often loaded by driving it onto the deck. If a specific load goes over legal dimensions you need permits for that load, but permits attach to the load, not to your licence.
How much do step deck drivers make compared to flatbed?
Step deck typically pays slightly above standard flatbed — usually a few cents per mile more — because the freight is heavier, the securement is more involved and there is often ramp loading. It sits below oversize and heavy-haul work, which requires permits, pilot cars and route planning and pays accordingly. A step deck driver with a year or two of experience is generally in the same band as an experienced flatbed driver, at the upper end of it.
What kind of freight goes on a step deck?
Construction and agricultural machinery (excavators, skid steers, tractors, backhoes), HVAC and industrial units, tanks and vessels, large crates, bundled pipe, prefabricated building sections, and palletised freight that is simply too tall to ride on a standard flatbed. If it is under about 10 feet 2 inches tall and does not fit in a van, it usually goes on a step deck.
Do you have to tarp on a step deck?
Often, yes. Machinery generally rides untarped, which is one of the appeals of the freight. But HVAC units, crated goods, lumber and anything weather-sensitive has to be tarped, and tarping over a machine or an irregular load on a lower deck is more awkward than tarping a flat stack. Most step deck drivers carry two or three tarps in different sizes.