Freight equipment

Flatbed

A flatbed is a deck on a chassis. There is nothing to load against, nothing to lean on and nothing overhead, so securing the cargo is not a step in the work — it is the work.

Mode: Road
Published figures: 14, each with a named publisher

A wheel loader secured on a low-loader semi-trailer coupled to a tractor unit.

A platform, not a container

A flatbed is a flat loading deck with no walls, no roof and usually only low headboard structure. It is the simplest trailer in road freight and the one that asks the most of the people loading it.

It exists for cargo that will not go inside anything: items too tall for an enclosed body, too wide for its door aperture, or shaped so that they must be lifted on from above or from the side by crane rather than pushed in from one end.

Restraint is the entire job

In an enclosed trailer, walls and a roof contain a load that shifts a little. On a flatbed nothing does. A load that moves goes off the side of the vehicle, and the consequence is not a damaged consignment but a road incident.

Securing therefore uses lashings to rated anchor points, blocking and bracing against movement in every direction, and edge protection where a strap crosses a corner that would cut it. How much restraint a given load needs depends on its weight, its shape, its friction against the deck and how it is stacked — which is why it is calculated for the load rather than taken from habit.

Tarpaulins and nets are weather covers and containment for loose material. They are not restraint, and a load held only by a sheet is an unsecured load.

Loading from above changes the site requirements

Because a flatbed is open on every side, it can be loaded by crane, by side-loading forklift, or by rolling cargo on. That is the advantage, and it moves the requirement from the vehicle to the site: there has to be equipment able to lift the item and clear space above the trailer to swing it.

A site that can unload a curtainsider with a small forklift may be unable to unload a flatbed carrying the same weight in one piece. The lifting arrangement at both ends belongs in the booking, not in the delivery call.

Height, width and the paperwork that follows

Nothing on a flatbed is protected from a low bridge, and nothing constrains the load to the width of the deck. Where cargo exceeds the dimensions a vehicle may legally carry without special arrangements, the movement becomes an abnormal or oversize load, which brings routing constraints, permits and sometimes escorts.

Those requirements vary by country and by the specific dimensions involved, and change. Whether a particular load crosses that line, and what it needs if it does, is confirmed with the relevant road authority for the route rather than assumed from the item's size alone.

Suited to

What this equipment is for.

Machinery, plant and fabricated steel that cannot be enclosed
Construction materials handled by crane or side loader at both ends
Cargo that must be loaded from above rather than through a door
Items whose height or width rules out any enclosed body

Specifications

Published figures, and who publishes them.

These are not industry constants. Each figure below is one named publisher’s statement about its own equipment on the date it was checked, and where publishers disagree the row says so. For a specific shipment, the specification that matters is the one for the actual vehicle or container being used.

Loading area length: 13,620 mmVerbatim 'Loading area length clearance: 13,620 mm', and Kögel repeats it identically across every listed chassis variant (CARGO P90, CARGO P120, 2-axle CARGO, CARGO Coil, LIGHT PLUS, MEGA) — so on this builder's range it is chassis-independent. Kögel publishes no loading-area WIDTH and no platform height on this page; see the refused list.Kögel Trailer GmbH — source, checked 2026-08-14
Tare weight: 4,900 (3-axle CARGO P90/P120 basic) / 4,300 (2-axle CARGO and LIGHT PLUS basic) kgVerbatim 'Tare weight in basic version: 4,900 kg' (CARGO P90 and P120) and '4,300 kg' (2-axle CARGO chassis, LIGHT PLUS chassis). Kögel's wording 'in basic version' is load-bearing — a platform ordered with front wall, drop sides and stakes weighs more (its Multi body version is quoted separately at approx. 5,500 kg). A flatbed is the lightest of these five body types, which is the whole point of it.Kögel Trailer GmbH — source, checked 2026-08-14
Permissible total weight: 39,000 (P90) / 42,000 (P120) / 30,000 (2-axle) kgVerbatim 'Technically feasible overall weight' per variant, with 'Technically feasible axle load: 27,000 kg' (three-axle) or 18,000 kg (two-axle) and vertical load 12,000–15,000 kg. Kögel's repeated phrase 'technically feasible' is the same caution as Krone's 'technically possible': these are design limits, above the 40 t combination ceiling in 96/53/EC Annex I 2.2.2 for road use.Kögel Trailer GmbH — source, checked 2026-08-14
Payload: up to 30,500 kgVerbatim from Kögel's own press release (dated 18.10.22 on the page): 'the three-axle Multi in the basic version is available with a tare weight as low as approx. 5,500 kilograms. The corresponding, theoretically possible payload is up to 30,500 kilograms.' Kögel itself says 'theoretically possible' and the page headline says 'in theory'. Applies to one body version in basic specification; the 40 t road limit still governs.Kögel Trailer GmbH — source, checked 2026-08-14
Load securing points: 24 pairs of 5-tonne lashing rings (optional VarioFix frame) pairs of ringsThe ONLY hard count I found anywhere, and it is product-specific, not a norm. Verbatim: 'there are numerous options for friction-locked load-securing with tension straps, for example, the Kögel VarioFix external frame with 24 pairs of five-ton lashing rings'. It is optional equipment on one Kögel body. Krone's equivalent is expressed as spacing, not count ('Multi Lock external frame — Strapping points at intervals of 100 mm'), and Schmitz's as 'standard lashing holes in the outer frame'. Do not generalise this to 'a flatbed has 48 lashing points'.Kögel Trailer GmbH — source, checked 2026-08-14
Floor load: up to 7,200 kgVerbatim 'The Multi is tested for a floor loading capacity of up to 7,200 kilograms.' Kögel does not state the test basis on this page (Krone cites DIN EN 283 and expresses the equivalent as 'stacker-truck axle load'), so the two are not strictly comparable and 7,200 kg should be attributed to Kögel's Multi rather than to flatbeds generally.Kögel Trailer GmbH — source, checked 2026-08-14
Load securing, EN 12642 Code XL: Certified as standard by Schmitz and Krone on curtainsiders; optional on Kögel platform bodies certificationThree separate verbatim confirmations, and the difference between them matters: Schmitz — 'DIN EN 12642 Code XL. Certified structural rigidity as standard.'; Krone data sheet — 'load security certificate according EN 12642 Code XL'; Kögel platform page — 'Optionally with certification according to EN 12642 XL (VDI 2700)'. So XL is standard on mainstream curtainsiders but an ORDERED OPTION on platform bodies. A page must not state that any given trailer arriving on a job is XL-certified — that is a per-vehicle fact, and the EC guidelines say the load capability should be marked on the vehicle and that if no mark can be seen it must be assumed the curtain has no load-bearing function.Schmitz Cargobull / Krone / Kögel — source, checked 2026-08-14
Side wall strength, EN 12642 XL: 40 (0.4 P), distributed over the length and at least 75% of internal sidewall height % of payloadFrom the English PDF of 'Cargo securing for road transport — 2014 European best practices guidelines' (ISBN 978-92-79-43665-9) downloaded from this record, around pp. 16-18. Verbatim: 'If the side walls are built according to EN 12642 XL the side walls are tested to take up a force corresponding to 40 % of the payload (0.4 P) uniformly distributed over the length and at least 75% of internal height of the sidewall.' Companion values on the same pages: XL headboard 50 % (0.5 P), XL rear wall 30 % (0.3 P); the lower Code L grades are headboard 40 % max 5,000 daN, side walls 30 %, rear wall 25 % max 3,100 daN. Critically, the guidelines state that 'side walls in a curtainsider built according to EN 12642 L is regarded as a weather protection only'. The guidelines are not legally binding; the EN standard text itself is paywalled by CEN and was not consulted.European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport — source, checked 2026-08-14
Lashing point placement (EN 12640): in pairs opposite each other; 0.7–1.2 m longitudinal spacing; max 0.25 m from the outer edge mVerbatim from the same 2014 EC publication (around p. 21): 'Lashing points in load carriers should be placed in pairs, opposite each other, along the long sides with a spacing of 0.7 – 1.2 m longitudinally and a maximum of 0.25 metres from the outer edge. Continuous lashing anchorage bars are preferable.' This is the answer to 'number of load securing points where standardised': the standard fixes SPACING and STRENGTH, not a count — so no count may be published as standardised. Builders differ within it (Krone's Multi Lock rave offers positions every 100 mm, far denser than the minimum).European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport — source, checked 2026-08-14
Lashing point strength (EN 12640): 800 (3.5–7.5 t); 1,000 (above 7.5–12.0 t); 2,000 (above 12.0 t), 4,000 generally recommended daNTable 3 of the same publication, reproduced verbatim including its asterisk: 'Vehicle total mass in tonnes / Strength of lashing point in daN — 3.5 to 7.5 : 800; above 7.5 to 12.0 : 1.000; above 12.0 : 2.000* *(in general 4.000 daN is recommended)'. For any semi-trailer in scope here only the 'above 12.0 t' row applies. The guidelines add that 'Lashing points in sound condition on a vehicle in sound condition are considered to meet the requirements ... even if no certificates are available', which is a condition-dependent presumption, not a guarantee.European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport — source, checked 2026-08-14

EU legal maximum

Maximum height: 4.00 mAnnex I, point 1.3, applying to any vehicle. This is the ceiling that produces the mega-trailer design: 4.00 m overall minus tyres, chassis and roof leaves the ~3.00 m internal height Krone quotes. National derogations exist — Article 4(2) permits member states to allow vehicles in NATIONAL transport that deviate from point 1.3 among others, which is why higher combinations run lawfully in some states and not across borders. EUR-Lex consolidated texts are documentation tools with no legal effect; only the Official Journal versions are authentic.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Maximum width: 2.55 (general); 2.60 (conditioned vehicles) mAnnex I, point 1.2: (a) all vehicles except conditioned vehicles 2.55 m; (b) superstructures of conditioned vehicles or conditioned containers/swap bodies 2.60 m. The extra 50 mm for conditioned bodies is precisely what allows a reefer to reach 2,490 mm internally despite insulated walls, and explains Schmitz's '2,460 or 2,490 mm'. Consolidated text — see the authenticity caveat above.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Maximum length, articulated vehicle: 16.50 mAnnex I, point 1.1 (articulated vehicle); a road train is 18.75 m. Together with point 1.6 — maximum distance from the fifth-wheel kingpin axis to the rear of a semi-trailer, 12.00 m — this is why 13.62 m is the near-universal European internal length. Point 1.5 additionally requires the combination to turn within a swept circle of 12.50 m outer / 5.30 m inner radius. Consolidated text; national derogations under Article 4.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Maximum weight, combination: 40 t (five/six-axle articulated); 44 t (three-axle tractor + two/three-axle semi-trailer in intermodal transport with containers/swap bodies up to 45 ft); 42 t (two-axle tractor + three-axle semi-trailer, same intermodal case) tonnesAnnex I, point 2.2.2 (a)-(d). This is the number that makes every manufacturer payload figure above non-bookable, and it is the one regulatory fact an equipment page cannot omit: the 40 t covers tractor + trailer + load. The 44 t and 42 t figures apply ONLY to the intermodal container/swap-body case described in the text and must not be quoted as a general road limit. Member states may permit deviations in national transport under Article 4(2), so cross-border and domestic limits differ.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14

Considerations

What constrains it.

Restraint is calculated for the load, not carried over from the last one
Lifting equipment and overhead clearance at both collection and delivery
Weather exposure for the whole journey, which some cargo simply cannot take
A sheet is a cover, never a restraint
Where dimensions exceed what may be carried normally, permits and routing are a separate exercise confirmed with the road authority

From equipment to load plan

Confirm the unit against the actual cargo.

Suitability depends on the goods, loading method and the specification of the equipment that will actually be used.

European road freight