Trailer Delivery: Should Your Trailer Be Towed or Carried?

Trailers are unusual cargo: they can roll to their destination on their own wheels or ride on the back of a truck. Which option makes sense — and what it costs — comes down to the trailer's condition, its coupling, and whether it is road-legal to tow.

In short: A roadworthy trailer with sound tyres, working lights (or a lighting board) and a standard coupling can simply be towed to you, which is usually the cheaper option. A trailer with seized bearings, perished tyres or a non-standard hitch needs to travel on a flatbed or inside a larger vehicle. Smart Taurus lets you post the trailer job free, collect competing quotes from verified transporters offering both methods, and book with real-time tracking and secure in-app payment.

Towed or transported — which is right for your trailer?

Tow it if it is roadworthy; carry it if it is not — that is the whole decision tree, but "roadworthy" hides several checks. Towing means the trailer's own tyres, wheel bearings, coupling and lights all do real work at motorway speed, so a transporter will want to know their condition before quoting. Carrying on a flatbed or inside a box truck removes every mechanical question but costs more, because the trailer now occupies paid deck space instead of rolling for free. When you post on Smart Taurus, describe the trailer honestly — age, tyre condition, when it last moved — and let transporters propose the method. You will often receive both kinds of quote and can compare them directly. A trailer that has sat in a field for five years should be assumed a flatbed job until proven otherwise: bearings seize quietly.

What's the difference between braked and unbraked trailers?

An unbraked trailer relies entirely on the towing vehicle to stop it, so the law caps how heavy it can be — in the UK, unbraked trailers are limited to 750kg gross weight. Braked trailers carry overrun brakes that apply automatically as the tow vehicle slows, plus a breakaway cable that locks the brakes on if the trailer detaches; unbraked models use a secondary safety chain or coupling instead. This matters for delivery in two ways: the transporter's vehicle must be rated to tow your trailer's gross weight, and a braked trailer with seized brakes cannot be towed at all until freed. Tell quoting transporters which type yours is (a braked trailer has a sliding damper section behind the coupling and a brake lever) and its plated weight — both are usually stamped on the chassis plate near the drawbar.

Lights, number plates and lighting boards

Any trailer on the road needs working rear lights, indicators, reflectors and a number plate matching the towing vehicle — and on a delivery job that means the transporter's plate, not yours or the seller's. Most transporters bring a magnetic or strap-on lighting board with their own plate for exactly this situation, which neatly solves the common problem of an older trailer with corroded wiring. If your trailer's electrics are known to be dead, say so in the Smart Taurus post; it is a non-issue for anyone carrying a board, but a transporter planning to plug into the trailer's own loom needs to know. Wider or unusual trailers (boat trailers, plant trailers) may also need their load-projection and width rules considered, which experienced transporters will handle in the quote.

Hitch and coupling types: will it even connect?

Most consumer trailers in the UK, Europe and Australia use the 50mm ball coupling, which nearly every tow-equipped van can take. But not all:

50mm ball — the standard for camping, box, boat and general-purpose trailers
Pin/eye (ring) couplings — common on plant, agricultural and ex-commercial trailers; needs a pin jaw, not a ball
US-style couplers — sized in inches (typically 1 7/8", 2" or 2 5/16" balls), so a matching ball mount is needed
Locked couplings — hitch locks must be removed before collection, so have the key ready or courier the key with the paperwork

Photograph the coupling head and the chassis plate and attach both to your job post — those two photos answer most of the questions a transporter would otherwise have to ask.

What affects the price of trailer delivery?

Distance leads, as with any transport job, followed by method: a tow-away on an existing route is the budget option, a dedicated flatbed run the premium one. Rural collection points, dead tyres that need inflating or replacing on site, and tight timescales all push quotes up, while flexibility pulls them down — transporters returning empty from another job (backloads) often bid keenly on trailers because they are quick to hook up. The same marketplace logic applies to bigger towables: see caravan transport and boat transport for their specifics, or car transport if the trailer is moving alongside a vehicle.

How Smart Taurus works for trailer moves

Post the job free with photos of the trailer, the coupling and the chassis plate, plus both postcodes and any access notes (field gates, narrow lanes).
Quotes arrive from verified transporters — some proposing tow-away, some flatbed — each with a profile and reviews to compare. Our guide on choosing a transporter covers what to look for.
Book, track, pay in-app — follow the collection in real time and pay securely through Stripe on completion.

Preparing a trailer for collection

Check and inflate the tyres, or warn the transporter if they won't hold air
Remove the hitch lock and wheel clamp; have keys at the collection point
Wind the jockey wheel up fully and confirm it is not seized
Empty the trailer — loose contents are usually not covered and add weight
Strap down or remove covers and boards that could lift at speed
Have proof of ownership or the sale receipt ready for handover

Frequently asked questions

Can a trailer with flat or perished tyres still be delivered?

Yes, but not by towing. Perished tyres fail at road speed, so a trailer in that state travels on a flatbed or in a box truck instead. Mention the tyre condition in your Smart Taurus post so you get quotes for the right method rather than a transporter arriving unable to do the job.

Whose number plate goes on the trailer during delivery?

The towing vehicle's — so on a delivery job, the transporter's plate, usually fitted on their own lighting board. You don't need to supply a plate, and a plate left on by the previous owner should be removed.

How do I know if my trailer is braked or unbraked?

Look behind the coupling: a braked trailer has a sliding overrun damper, a handbrake lever and a breakaway cable, while an unbraked trailer has a simple rigid drawbar with a safety chain. The chassis plate near the drawbar states the gross weight — unbraked trailers are capped at 750kg in the UK.

Do I need to be there when the trailer is collected?

Someone does — you, the seller, or a nominated person who can hand over keys for any hitch lock and confirm the handover in the app. For farm or storage-yard collections, exact directions and a gate contact save the driver real time.

Can a transporter deliver a trailer I've just bought at auction or online?

Yes — buyer-to-door trailer moves are common marketplace jobs. Share the auction house or seller's release requirements in the post, and ask the transporter to photograph the trailer and coupling at collection so its condition is recorded before the journey.

My trailer has a non-standard pin coupling — is that a problem?

Not if the transporter knows in advance. Pin/eye couplings need a pin jaw rather than a 50mm ball, and many transporters carry interchangeable heads. Photograph the coupling and include it in your job post so only suitably equipped transporters quote.

Is anything inside the trailer covered during transport?

Usually not — goods-in-transit cover on a tow-away job applies to the trailer itself, and loose contents are typically excluded. Empty the trailer before collection, or declare the contents explicitly and confirm the transporter's cover extends to them.