If you’ve ever owned a landscaping business or fence company, you know how valuable a flatbed truck can be. These trucks can have a 12- to 20-foot bed in the rear and are used to haul lumber, plants, and whatever else you need to get the job done.

Many people put rails on the sides and back of the bed to increase the load capacity and make it safer for transport. Be careful not to stack too much, as you don’t want to get a ticket from the police or worse, have something fall off and hit another moving vehicle.

Gas mileage on these trucks can be a little rough. Expect to get 6-15 mpg for a rig as they don’t get the best mileage numbers, especially when overloaded with a heavy load. Many of these trucks are now diesel and that can save you a few bucks compared to regular unleaded gasoline.

The cargo capacity of a flatbed truck is far greater than that of a typical pickup truck. You can fit a lot more in the rear bed and this makes it much more efficient. You no longer need to make 2 or 3 trips to transport the same amount of material from point A to point B, you can do it all at once with a flatbed truck.

Browse used flatbed trucks to save money. You’ll probably have to buy one with over 100,000 miles, but it’s worth it because these new trucks can cost upwards of $40,000. A used truck may require a little more maintenance, but you can also find one for $8,000 to $10,000 and that can save you a ton of money.