Back-office automation for flatbed carriers

Hey Bubba! is an AI back-office automation platform for fleets. For flatbed carriers that means reading what each load actually needs. Flatbed freight comes with requirements a dry van load does not have: straps, chains, tarp sizes, securement standards and driver certification. Bubba parses those requirements from the load and matches only to equipment and drivers that can handle it, so nobody arrives at a pickup missing gear.

The load is not the whole job

On flatbed, the freight is half of it. Securing it, tarping it and getting it legal is the other half, and that time varies enormously from load to load. A steel coil and a bundle of lumber are both flatbed freight and have almost nothing in common in what they need.

Which means a rate that looks fine on paper can be poor once you know it is a four tarp load in February. And a driver who shows up without the right chains is not late. They are not doing the load at all.

What Bubba checks before assigning

• Securement requirements: straps, chains, binders and edge protection
• Tarping: whether tarps are required, and what size
• Trailer type and deck height suitability
• Driver certifications for the freight type
• Loading method, and whether the driver is expected to assist
• Whether the facility loads in the open or under cover

Loads are only matched to equipment and drivers that meet the requirements. The detail attaches to the load, so the driver knows what they are walking into.

Tarping is a rate question, not just a gear question

Tarp pay varies and often is not in the posting. Bubba establishes it with the broker during negotiation and records it with the rest of the accessorial terms, alongside detention, layover and lumper arrangements, so it is on the confirmation rather than in a conversation someone half remembers. What a flatbed rate needs to cover.

Weather and timing

Open deck freight is exposed. Requirements around covering loads, permitted loading conditions and appointment flexibility are confirmed at booking rather than negotiated at the dock in the rain.

At any fleet size

• Owner-operators. You know what gear the load needs before you accept it.
• Small fleets, 2 to 10 trucks. Loads match to the driver who is certified for them.
• Midsize and enterprise, 11 or more trucks. Securement and certification checked the same way on every assignment.

Accessorials that actually get invoiced

Flatbed revenue leaks through accessorials more than most freight: tarp pay, extra securement and waiting time get agreed on a call and never make it onto an invoice. Bubba records them at negotiation, checks them against the rate confirmation and carries them through to billing. See the AI back office.

Frequently asked questions

Does Bubba understand securement requirements?

Yes. Strap, chain and tarp requirements are parsed from the load and matched against equipment and driver certifications before assignment.

Will it check tarp pay?

Tarping requirements and pay are established with the broker during negotiation and recorded with the accessorial terms.

Can it match loads to specific drivers?

Yes. Driver certifications are checked before a load is assigned.

Does it work for mixed fleets?

Yes. Matching runs per trailer specification, so flatbeds in a mixed fleet only see the loads they can take.

Related

• What is a good rate per mile?
• AI load search for trucking
• Flatbed trucking companies directory