8 Essential Trailer Truck Types for Trucking in 2025

8 Essential Trailer Truck Types for Trucking in 2025

1. Dry Van Trailers

Dry van trailers are the most common trailers on the road. They are fully enclosed and protect freight from weather, theft, and outside damage. Most retail goods, electronics, and packaged foods are moved using this type of trailer truck.

• Purpose: Designed for general freight that needs protection.
  
• Key Features: Enclosed rectangular box, rear doors for loading, and no temperature control.
  
• Usage: Ideal for dry goods, boxed products, and items that don’t require refrigeration. 

2. Flatbed Trailers

Flatbed trailers are open and versatile, allowing haulers to move large or irregularly shaped items that wouldn’t fit inside a dry van. This type of trailer truck is known for flexibility and is commonly seen on highways carrying industrial materials.

• Purpose: Best for hauling heavy or oversized loads.
  
• Key Features: No roof or sides, allowing cargo to be loaded from any direction.
  
• Usage: Often used to transport lumber, pipes, machinery, and construction materials.

3. Refrigerated (Reefer) Trailers

Refrigerated trailers, often called reefers, come with temperature control systems. They are used for transporting goods that must stay cold or frozen.

• Purpose: Keeps perishable items fresh during long hauls.
  
• Key Features: Built-in cooling unit, insulated walls, and precise temperature settings.
  
• Usage: Used for moving frozen foods, dairy products, meat, produce, and medical supplies.

4. Step-Deck Trailers

Step-deck trailers, also known as drop-deck trailers, have two deck levels that make them useful for carrying taller cargo.

• Purpose: Allows taller loads that exceed standard height limits for flatbeds.
  
• Key Features: Upper and lower decks, easy loading, safer for tall equipment.
  
• Usage: Used for large machinery, vehicles, and tall construction equipment.

5. Lowboy Trailers

Lowboy trailers have extremely low decks, making them perfect for hauling heavy or oversized equipment that can’t fit on other trailers.

• Purpose: Transports extra-large machinery and tall equipment.
  
• Key Features: Two-level design with a very low center deck.
  
• Usage: Common for moving bulldozers, cranes, and industrial parts.

6. Conestoga Trailers

Conestoga trailers combine the convenience of a flatbed with the protection of a covered trailer. They use a sliding tarp system that can open or close easily.

• Purpose: Provides weather protection while keeping loading flexible.
  
• Key Features: Retractable tarp system, steel frame, and easy cargo access.
  
• Usage: Used for palletized cargo, machinery, and materials that need cover but not full enclosure.

7. Removable Gooseneck (RGN) Trailers

RGN trailers have a detachable front section, which allows heavy equipment to be driven directly onto the trailer.

• Purpose: Simplifies the loading of large, self-powered equipment.
  
• Key Features: Removable neck, low deck, and built-in ramp for loading.
  
• Usage: Used for transporting heavy machinery like tractors, excavators, or industrial vehicles.

RGN trailers are essential in construction and energy freight, often chosen in freight brokerage for complex, secure logistics. Their use supports American economic and energy goals by delivering reliable, affordable, and efficient transport for heavy energy materials. 

Each trailer truck with an RGN helps move oversized loads safely while promoting cleaner, more efficient energy across the country.

8. Tanker Trailers

Tanker trailers carry bulk liquids or gases. They are designed to transport materials that can’t be packed in boxes or crates.

• Purpose: Transports liquids such as fuel, milk, or chemicals.
  
• Key Features: Cylindrical body, strong seals, and safety valves.
  
• Usage: Used for hauling petroleum, water, and food-grade liquids.