With today’s technology advancement, there is a trend of having more online auctions available to buy that one piece of equipment that is needed for your operations or business. You can now sit at the luxury of your home, office or even vehicle and bid at an online auction. Like any bidder, you have a budget to buy this equipment. But, does that budget include the cost of transportation to you? Did you get an accurate estimate from a broker or carrier, who understands that there may be hidden costs that goes into transporting oversize or overweight equipment? There are many more details to take into consideration when transporting heavy equipment.
To clarify what is a “legal” load of equipment, the load has to be:
| Less than 102” or 8’6” wide Less than 123” or 10’3” tall | Length: can vary but cannot hang over the back of the trailer Total weight of the equipment cannot put the truck/trailer over 80,000 gross pounds |
If any of your dimensions are over these, then you have an oversize load. There will be additional costs to consider besides just the costs of the carrier’s truck and trailer. At minimum there will be the costs for the permits in each State that will be traveled through. Depending on the size of the dimensions and each State law, you may need an escort or two. The above are just the basic extra costs for any heavy haul load. But here are some other points you need to consider that can easily add extra costs to your transport bill that is sometimes overlooked.
| Is there a way to load and unload the equipment at the pickup and drop off points? If not, then you will need either an RGN trailer or a trailer with ramps in order to load/unload your equipment. These types of trailers usually cost a little more per mile. Does the equipment start and move on their own accord? Or will a wrecker service need to be hired in order to get the unit running or possible load on the trailer? | Is the equipment so big that part of it will need to be to torn down or taken off in order to be transported? If so, then there will be extra costs for this service. Is the equipment going to a Port to be shipped overseas? There will be extra costs for washing, degreasing and fumigating in order to be placed on the ship to consider. Is the equipment crossing the border into Mexico or Canada? A customs broker will be needed for the proper paperwork and EPA statements in order to cross. |
There are many platforms like U-Ship, Veritread and Citizen Shipper that you can list your equipment on in order to get and estimate on transport. Each of these platforms have their own “rate estimators” that they provide for their clients that is supposed to give you a general idea of the cost of transport. Unfortunately, when it comes to oversize, overweight loads, it is not accurate because it does not take into consideration the extra costs of the things listed above. While their estimators are good for a legal load for a flatbed or van trailer, it cannot figure out the real and current market rates for the extra services needed to ship heavy equipment. We are here to help you with your transportation needs! Please give us a call at 605-528-2352. We can truly be the “missing piece to your transportation needs”.
