Horse Trailers, Car Haulers & Work Trailers

How to Choose a Trailer: Enclosed, Horse, Chassis and Equipment

Atlas Container Supply lists trailers across five families: enclosed car haulers and stackers, two-horse, three-horse and four-horse trailers, and a deep bench of intermodal chassis, equipment decks, dump bodies and utility trailers. Prices run from under a thousand dollars into the high five figures, so the useful question is rarely which trailer is best, but which one matches your tow vehicle, your load and the roads you actually drive.

Everything ships from Greenbrier, in central Arkansas, which puts most of the country within a short run for a hauling truck. Delivery is free to the Lower 48, with a flat $550 to Puerto Rico, and the usual window is four to ten business days after an order clears. Questions go to (870) 212-9785 or support@atlascontainersupply.com.

Start with the right category

• Enclosed trailers — car haulers and stackers, 20ft to 44ft, bumper pull and gooseneck, aluminum and steel: ATC ROM 400 through 900, Millennium, Haulmark Edge, Econo-Max. About $4,500 to $90,600.
• Two horse trailers — slant and straight load units, bumper pull and gooseneck, many with dressing rooms or weekender packages. Featherlite, Sundowner, 4 Star, Exiss, Merhow, Lakota. 1995 to 2024, $2,800 to $20,000.
• Three horse layouts — layouts several weekender or living-quarters-ready, from Hart, Cimarron, Logan Coach, Platinum Coach and Elite. 1998 to 2022, $3,760 to $18,000.
• Four horse trailers — goosenecks and bumper pulls with dressing rooms or tack and stock combo layouts: Sooner, Bloomer, Jamco, Hart, Trails West. 2000 to 2020, $11,600 to $34,000.
• Container chassis and equipment trailers — including 20ft, 40ft and 53ft intermodal chassis, deckover and tilt-deck equipment haulers, hydraulic and telescopic dumps, utility, landscape and aluminum powersport trailers from Diamond C, Big Tex, PJ and Iron Bull, from around $800.

GVWR, empty weight and the payload you actually get

GVWR is the most a trailer may weigh when loaded, not what it will carry. Subtract the empty weight and the remainder is your real payload: a 14,000 lb GVWR gooseneck that scales 4,600 lb empty leaves 9,400 lb, which a mini excavator eats into fast. Your truck usually runs out of capacity first, so check its GVWR, rear axle rating, payload sticker and, for a gooseneck, its bed rating. Tongue weight should land near 10 to 15 percent of loaded weight on a bumper pull and 20 to 25 percent on a gooseneck, so load placement matters as much as load weight.

Bumper pull or gooseneck

A bumper pull hitches to a receiver behind the truck: simpler, cheaper, easier to store. Past roughly 14,000 lb, though, the tail starts steering the dog. A gooseneck puts the pivot over the rear axle, which cuts sway, tightens the turning circle in a crowded fairgrounds lot and lets the same truck pull materially more; the trade is a bed hitch, a taller ride height and more care in reverse. Enclosed haulers and four-horse trailers skew gooseneck for that reason.

Slant load, straight load and interior height

Slant load stalls sit at an angle, fitting more horses into a given length and suiting animals that balance well on a diagonal. Straight load gives each horse a full-width forward-facing stall, which many warmbloods and long-backed horses prefer and which makes loading a nervous animal simpler. Measure stall length, not just trailer length: a 16.2-hand horse wants more than a stock slant stall offers. Interior height is the spec people skip: around 7ft suits most stock-type horses; taller sport horses are happier at 7ft 6in or more, doorway included.

Aluminum, steel, deckover and low-profile

Aluminum weighs less, which converts directly into payload, and it shrugs off road salt. Steel costs less up front, takes abuse from skid steer tracks better, and any competent shop can weld it. On the equipment side, a deckover runs the deck above the tires for full width and clean loading of wide machines, while a low-profile deck between the fenders rides lower and keeps ramp angles kind for low-clearance loads. Tilt decks remove the ramps entirely, and telescopic dump cylinders empty more completely than scissor lifts.

Stackers and intermodal chassis

A stacker is an enclosed trailer tall enough to carry one car above another on a powered lift, so a two-car team travels behind one truck. Check bridge and garage clearances on your route, and the lift capacity against the vehicle going upstairs. An intermodal container chassis is a different animal: a skeletal frame with twist locks sized to a 20ft, 40ft or 53ft shipping container. It is not a flatbed, so confirm which container lengths a given chassis is pinned for.

Going over a used unit after it arrives

Set aside an hour when yours lands. Read the tire date codes on the sidewall and look for weather cracking even on deep tread, pull a wheel to see bearings and brake shoes, and test every light and the breakaway battery. Look along the frame and welds for cracks, and check floors closely, especially under horse trailer mats where moisture sits. Match the VIN to the title paperwork. The 30-day return policy gives you room to act if something is not what you expected.

Ordering and delivery

Checkout is by direct bank transfer, and your quoted price already includes free delivery to the Lower 48, with Puerto Rico billed at a flat $550. Browse the full catalog, read the delivery terms, or send us your haul details and we will point you at the units that fit.