Is a 13-meter flatbed truck 3 meters wide?
2 Answers
13-meter flatbed trucks are 3 meters wide. Below are precautions for driving flatbed trucks: 1. Pre-trip inspection: Check the braking components, rear and brake lights on the flatbed, tires, leaf springs, towing devices, and safety nets. 2. Loading and unloading: When loading or unloading a flatbed trailer, it must be parked on flat, hard ground. The driver should thoroughly inspect the ramps and ensure the blocking timbers are securely placed, and use wheel chocks to block the trailer tires. 3. Transporting over-height cargo: Special personnel must supervise, drive slowly, and if there is a possibility of touching power lines, signal the trailer driver to stop immediately and take measures before proceeding. 4. Transporting over-length or over-height objects: During the day, hang red flags at the end and top of the object; at night, use red lights instead.
To be honest, I often get asked about the dimensions of 13-meter flatbed trucks too. From a standard truck design perspective, these vehicles are indeed 13 meters long, but the width is generally not 3 meters. In most cases, the width stays around 2.5 meters due to road and bridge clearance restrictions—national regulations stipulate that heavy-duty vehicles must not exceed 2.55 meters in width to avoid scraping roadside obstacles. Flatbed trucks with a 3-meter width are extremely rare, except for specially customized ones, like those transporting oversized cargo such as wind turbine blades. Driving such a wide vehicle would make navigation tricky, and narrow roads could easily lead to accidents. That’s why ordinary logistics trucks definitely aren’t this wide—it’s safer and more fuel-efficient. If you have doubts, it’s best to check the vehicle’s manual or measure it yourself rather than just guessing.
