Shipping heavy machinery across long distances
Heavy machinery shipping is completely different than any other type of vehicle shipping. It’s a slower process and more dangerous than loading boats, cars, or RVs.
Depending on the size of the heavy machinery, you may need to get a permit from the state especially if you’re going to be on the freeway. You can often see this when there is a red flag hanging off the tail end of the tow truck. Normally a pickup truck follows and has flashing lights warning people that there’s a “wide load” ahead. This process is simple when the driver of the heavy machinery can just drive up the ramp and chain down the construction vehicle on the transport truck (usually a flatbed).
But what if the heavy machinery is still too big to ship whole?
It is possible to partially dismantle the heavy machinery and send it “parts”. The dismantled parts would then be put into 40ft containers and shipped across the US. If you are doing this, then permits won’t be needed like they are when towing on a flat bed. We have many companies that can assist in the disassembling, loading and re-assembling of heavy machinery.
Here are images of a partially disassembled Caterpillar being loaded into a 40ft container. This container is then loaded onto a ramp where the transport truck can back up and haul away the heavy machinery.
Although we ship large construction vehicles, we also ship Bobcats and small loaders. These are much easier to ship. Most likely something this size will go into an enclosed transport truck along with other vehicles. Our transport truck drivers run routes all over the US and Canada so this reduces the cost of making a special trip to your city. Truck routes are run from East to West, North to South, corner to corner; don’t worry, you’re covered!
We can also assist in shipping heavy machinery overseas. In these cases, we can take your shipment to the departure shipping port. From there an international shipping company will take over since Customs will get involved. If you have a large piece of machinery that has been dismantled, it can be sent as parts, but will need to be reassembled once it get to its destination country.
Getting heavy machinery shipping rates is a longer process because it will depend on many factors. We encourage you to contact us via our quote form and tell us the year, make, model, dimensions and weight of the heavy machinery you are shipping. This will help us know if dismantling or permits will be required.
For any questions or comments regarding heavy machinery shipping, you can ask in the comments below.