A Conestoga trades capital cost for driver hours: the load is covered in minutes instead of tarped in an hour. Our desk dispatches Conestoga fleets of four trucks and up onto the freight that actually pays for that trade — machinery, coils and crated equipment that has to stay dry and will not fit in a van.
Quick answer: Conestoga dispatch is load sourcing and rate work for a trucking company running rolling-tarp trailers. Badass Logistics dispatches Conestoga fleets of four or more power units. The desk targets freight that must stay dry and cannot go in a dry van, and prices in the side-load access and availability premium the equipment commands.
A Conestoga is a flatbed or drop deck with a rolling curtain frame over it. The load gets crane or forklift access from the side, then the curtain rolls closed and the freight is covered — no tarps, no straps thrown over the top in the rain, no hour of physical work at each end.
That matters most on freight that must stay dry but cannot go in a dry van: machinery too wide or too awkward to come through a rear door, coils, crated equipment, finished fabrication with a paint surface worth protecting. Our guide on loading and securing a Conestoga covers what the inside of that job looks like.
Equipment and finished fabrication that has to arrive dry and unmarked.
Steel that would be tarped on a flatbed, loaded from the side and covered in minutes.
Shrink-wrapped and crated industrial freight, including loads out of our own rigging work.
Shippers and receivers who will not accept a tarped load, or cannot load through a rear door.
A Conestoga costs more to buy and more to maintain than a flatbed. Running it on freight that would have tarped fine is how that investment stops paying. We target the loads where the curtain is the reason the shipper chose the truck.
A Conestoga is loaded from the side. If the receiver has a dock and no yard space to roll the curtain back, the trailer's advantage evaporates. We confirm access at pickup and delivery before booking, not on arrival.
Torn curtains and bent bows are expensive, and a load damaged through a compromised curtain is a claim. We keep the fleet's equipment condition in the conversation instead of booking around it.
There are far fewer Conestogas than flatbeds on the road. That scarcity is worth money on the right freight, and it is worth nothing on the wrong freight — the desk's job is knowing which load is which.
Every load is negotiated against the lane and the work the freight actually takes. These are the factors the desk argues from — no rate sheet, and no number quoted before we know your fleet:
You keep your operating authority, your insurance and your drivers. You approve every load before it is booked — no forced dispatch. Hiring, maintenance, and your safety and compliance program stay in-house; the desk plugs into your company rather than replacing it.
Badass Logistics is an industrial rigging company first, which is where the freight advantage comes from: our own projects generate loads that need covering, and project freight between sites moves through our licensed broker and carrier partners. Badass holds no operating authority and owns no trucks — your fleet hauls the freight, our desk finds and papers it.
See the full fleet dispatch service, browse dispatch by equipment type, or see how the desk works for 4–10 trucks, 10–25 trucks, 25+ trucks, after-hours coverage.
Open-deck fleets — tarp pay negotiated up front, mill and yard queue time priced in, securement planned before booking.
Flatbed Dispatch →Drop-deck fleets — freight that needs the lower deck to stay legal height, booked as ordinary freight.
Step Deck Dispatch →Van fleets running appointment freight — lane density, drop-and-hook programs, and detention billed as it happens.
Dry Van Dispatch →Yes — Conestoga dispatch for trucking companies running four or more power units under their own authority, never single-truck owner-operators. Apply for fleet dispatch →
On the right freight, yes — it removes roughly an hour of tarping at each end and satisfies shippers who will not accept a tarped load. On freight that would have tarped fine, you are running a more expensive trailer for a flatbed rate, which is what the desk exists to avoid.
Then the trailer's advantage is gone and the load takes longer than a flatbed would. We confirm side-load access at both ends before booking rather than finding out when the driver arrives.
No. The desk books legal-dimension, legal-weight freight only. Permitted oversize work and escorts are outside what we arrange.
Direct shippers, vetted brokers and the boards, plus crated and wrapped equipment generated by our own rigging and project freight projects.
Tell us your fleet, your equipment and the lanes you want to run. We'll set up an onboarding call and get your trucks covered.