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Understand ratings
It is important to understand trailer ratings and industry standards when comparing equipment trailers. "There is an important balance between the tare weight, the weight of the trailer and its ultimate load capacity," says Ladner. "If you build a trailer too light, it may not be able to haul the payload. But if you go too heavy, then you lessen the legal payload it can handle."

Determining the trailer weight is rather straightforward. "On the serial tag, you normally have the GVW," says Butch Odegaard, national accounts, Trail King. "That gives you the capacity of the trailer plus the payload. You can subtract the capacity from the payload and that will give you what the trailer weighs."

But there are often trade-offs between weight and durability. According to Odegaard, with lighter trailers, you have to keep the safety factor in mind. Trail King builds to Truck Trailer Manufacturer (TTMA) guidelines, which include a 2 to 2.5 times safety factor. "There are some trailer manufacturers that don't live by that safety factor," he points out. Their trailers can be constructed lighter because they are forfeiting the safety factor.

In addition, you need to make sure the load is compatible with the trailer's concentrated weight rating. "The contractor has to fully understand what he is going to haul - what it weighs and how much deck space it is going to consume," says Ladner. The weight over a given area determines the necessary concentrated weight rating. "If the contractor has a forklift that weighs 10,000 lbs. in 10 ft., he needs to know the frame is going to hold it."

Not every manufacturer lists the concentrated load factor the same, and some manufacturers do not list it at all. "Landoll rates its trailers within a 10 ft. area," says Ladner. Some manufacturers rate trailers at 16 ft. Make sure you are making an "apples to apples" comparison. "If my trailer frame is strong enough to hold 35 tons at 10 ft. and theirs is strong enough to hold 35 tons at 16 ft., theirs is a weaker frame."