Car hauler capacity by trailer: vehicles and weights

Capacity by trailer type, from the makers

These are published figures for specific models, checked October 2026, not limits for every trailer of the type. Capacity varies by trailer and by the vehicles on it; check the maker's spec for the trailer you run. Cottrell, for example, also builds 3-car, 3.5-car and 4-car head ramp units for home delivery and an 80 ft enclosed trailer, and states its stinger counts "depending on the combination." Source

The trailer types, briefly

• Bumper-pull and gooseneck flat car haulers: one or two vehicles on a flat deck with ramps; common behind pickups for local and dealer work.
• Wedge trailers: a gooseneck whose deck slopes down toward the rear, carrying three or four cars nose to tail, sometimes with one riding partly over the gooseneck. The usual start for small car hauling businesses.
• Home delivery and head ramp units: short multi-deck units, such as Cottrell's 3, 3.5 and 4-car models, built to reach residential streets and dealers.
• High-mount trailers: two-level trailers coupled over the tractor's drive axles, with a headrack over the cab carrying more vehicles.
• Stingers: the fifth wheel sits behind the drive axles, so the trailer and the tractor's deck form one long load; the highest counts in the trade.
• Enclosed carriers: soft-side or hard-side boxes, single or two-level, often with liftgates for low cars; fewer vehicles at higher prices per car.

How to read the table

A car count assumes a mix of vehicles that fit the decks. Swap a sedan for a crew-cab pickup and you may lose a position, because the pickup is longer, taller and heavier. Makers publish a range for that reason. Kaufman says it plainly: its 43 ft gooseneck hauls three small cars, not three medium or large ones, and is mainly a truck and van hauler. Source

On bigger rigs, length sets the count. Federal rules stop states from setting overall length limits below 65 ft for traditional auto transporters or 75 ft for stinger-steered ones, not counting cargo overhang. Source Putting the fifth wheel behind the drive axles lets cars ride over the cab, which is how stingers reach 9 to 11 vehicles.

Weights: payload beats deck space on small trailers

On a gooseneck, the trailer's payload usually runs out before its deck does. Texas Pride's 50 ft wedge is rated 21,000 lb GVWR, weighs 7,180 lb empty and carries a net payload of 13,820 lb. Source

Payload math on a 3-car wedge

Three compact sedans fit with room to spare; three full-size pickups put the trailer 2,680 lb over its rating. A mixed load of two sedans and one pickup at 11,500 lb works. On full-size stingers, weight is rarely the limit, because a tractor-trailer can gross up to 80,000 lb on the Interstate Source; height and length are.

A mixed stinger load

A dispatcher plans a stinger rated for 9 to 10 vehicles. The order has six sedans, two midsize SUVs and two full-size crew-cab pickups. The pickups are too tall for the top deck and too long for the head ramp, so they go on the lower trailer positions, each using more length than a sedan. The SUVs take two more lower slots. That leaves upper positions for the sedans, but only five fit after the pickups' extra length. The truck leaves with 9 vehicles, not 10, and the tenth car is booked on the next trip. That is what "depending on the combination" means in practice.

Height: the other cap on a load

There is no federal height limit; each state sets its own. Source Pennsylvania caps vehicles at 13 ft 6 in without a permit Source, while California allows 14 ft. Source High-mount and stinger rigs put cars on top decks close to those numbers, so tall SUVs and pickups go on lower positions. A load that is legal in one state can be too tall for the next, which is why dispatchers ask for every vehicle's height, not just its model.

On the job: loading to capacity

• List every vehicle's length, height and weight before you plan the deck.
• Put the heaviest vehicles over the axles and the tallest on the lowest positions.
• Load in reverse delivery order, so the first drop comes off without moving others.
• Strap every vehicle with at least two tiedowns, front and rear. Source
• Measure the finished height and check it against every state on the route.

License follows the ratings: a pickup and gooseneck combination rated 26,001 lb or more, towing a trailer rated over 10,000 lb, needs a Class A CDL. Source A 21,000 lb trailer behind a heavy dually crosses that line on ratings alone.

Capacity and revenue

Capacity matters because car haulers are paid per vehicle and pay costs per mile. A stinger running 9 of 10 positions full earns 90% of its possible revenue on the same fuel, tolls and hours as a full load. A 3-car wedge with one empty slot loses a third of its revenue for the trip. That is why booking a car hauler is mostly about filling the last positions along one route, and why capacity on paper is less important than capacity you can fill.

Capacity mistakes that cost money

• Counting positions without checking the vehicle mix against the maker's range.
• Loading to the deck while ignoring the trailer's payload rating.
• Putting a tall SUV on a top deck and finding out at the first low bridge or state line.
• Booking a pickup on a trailer the maker builds for small cars.
• Forgetting that the tow vehicle's rating, not just the trailer's, sets the license and the legal load.

Methodology

Capacities come from each maker's own product page (Cottrell, Kaufman, Texas Pride) and one carrier's published owner-operator requirements (Intercity Lines), checked October 2026. Where a maker gives a range, we show the range. Vehicle weights in the payload table are EXAMPLE values, not data. We recheck the specs every year and add makers as we verify their published figures.

More on the rigs in car hauler trailer types and hauling trailers. For what a full trailer earns, see how much car haulers make and car hauling statistics, or run a load through the car hauler load profit calculator. We no longer dispatch car haulers; for the rigs we book, start at GearLoads.