Struts

This may have been previously stated, but here it is again.

Don't know who's reading this, if anybody at all...from Davis let alone across the country.

DON'T USE STRUTS (or more simply - angled braces going from bottom of pier to underdeck and/or up into the truss). All they do is kick out the bottom of your free standing foundation and cause more rotation/moment into the critical areas at midspan. Keep it flat, even hinged if possible. Do not strut, no matter what John Travolta says, it's a waste of time and energy. Focus your efforts into keeping a truss or a beam as flat as possible. If you do anything, batter your piers like they do on highway bridges, do not strut.