Guide to Truck for Heavy Construction Equipment
Many things go into the process of moving construction equipment, including planning, loading, transporting and unloading. Safety should always be the backbone of the process, and at Equip trucking, our main priority is keeping our employees, customers and equipment safe. A load is only as strong and safe as its weakest link. There is no room for passive or half-hearted work within the transportation process.
When you are researching transportation companies for moving your equipment, the ideal business will be proactive when inspecting machinery and take the necessary safety precautions with no room for error. Here’s a guide to how safe construction machinery transportation works and how to choose the right company for the job.
What Is Heavy Construction Equipment?
Heavy equipment consists of machines used for excavation, construction, mining and sometimes landscaping. These machines can include bulldozers, excavators, motor graders, wheel loaders and much more. You can determine if your machines count as heavy equipment if it takes a certain level of training to operate and transport the equipment. Various machine sizes and loads require special training to handle safely and come with specific guidelines for safe management.
Heavy Equipment Transporting Process
When beginning the heavy equipment hauling process, there must be an in-depth consultation with your chosen company before anything else is done. Each job site has specific needs, and every piece of equipment requires different tactics when loading, transporting and unloading. When the consultation is complete, you can determine what uniquely designed trailer to use. Trailers from Equip Trucking, for example, can accommodate many equipment hauling needs depending on the machinery’s size and weight.
Inspection
Before the loading process, a few inspections must be completed to ensure the greatest safety levels. These checks include inspecting employees’ safety attire and reviewing their specific duties to ensure a complete understanding of the roles. These roles can include the crane operator, equipment operators, spotters to deliver signals to the machine operators and any other necessary personnel. There must be no lingering personnel on the job site to avoid interrupting the equipment loading process.
This inspection also includes checking the machine tires, lights, brakes, weight and tie-down points. There must be at least four tie-down points for loads totaling 10,000 pounds or more, but regulations can differ depending on your state. When tying down equipment, professionals must ensure there are no machine cylinders, hydraulic hoses or braking components impeding the trailer’s tie-down points to avoid improper fastening or equipment damage.
When chaining or strapping the equipment down, on-site personnel must ensure all chains are fastened linearly with downward force and no slack. Chain sizes should also be reviewed to ensure adherence to state regulations.
Loading and Unloading
There are several ways to approach the procedure of loading the equipment for transport. The professionals you hire can disassemble the equipment depending on its size or shape or simply transport the machinery on the trailer while it’s on a level platform. Equip Trucking’s in-house lifts, including forklifts and a 100-ton bridge crane, can safely and efficiently assist with the loading process.
We transport construction equipment across short and long distances within a three-hour radius of Philadelphia. Upon departing with the equipment loaded, the driver receives custom routes that accommodate for the oversized load they’re hauling. Our drivers also receive routine training to be up to date with the latest industry knowledge and best practices.
We stay in contact with you throughout transportation. When a flat and open unloading spot has been determined, we can plan for an optimized on-site setup or rebuild. We start with another inspection of the equipment and trailer to make sure the machinery is safe to unload. If the load moves during transportation, the chains and tie-down points can be under extreme pressure, so we employ various tactics to release the pressure to keep everyone safe.
Once inspections are complete, we slowly free the equipment from the trailer, drive it off the ramp and ensure it is functioning properly.
Heavy Equipment Transport Challenges
When transporting construction equipment, various challenges can pop up. During assembly and disassembly, the slightest mistake can lead to equipment damage, reduced productivity or even injury. During transport, some challenges on the road can be out of the driver’s control, such as potholes and rough terrain that affect the load position or increased blind spots depending on how big the load is.
When determining which routes the driver will take, some sharp turns are unavoidable and can be challenging for the driver to complete with other traffic on the road. Meeting deadlines can also become more complex when transporting construction equipment due to traffic, breakdowns or slower routes. These obstacles can be mitigated with escort vehicles, which greatly increase the ability to receive help in a timely manner.
It can also be challenging to find drivers with the correct licenses, certifications and permits to haul oversized loads, especially in the face of truck driver shortages. The required qualifications can also vary state-to-state. Using the federal trucking handbook and your state handbook will help you learn more about the regulations and guidelines for hauling oversized loads. Being informed about the process can give you increased peace of mind.
Benefits of Using Equip Trucking for Heavy Equipment Hauling
Regardless of the size, scope or complexity of your transportation job, Equip Trucking can meet your needs using over 30 years of experience, superior customer service, expert team members, a high-quality equipment fleet and custom solutions. Our fleet of trucks and trailers includes flatbed trailers, various drop decks, gooseneck lowboys, hydraulic slide-axle tilt step decks and rollback tilt-bed trucks.
We utilize over 20 loading forklifts, which have capacities of 5,000-50,000 pounds, as well as a radio-controlled bridge crane with a capacity of 100 tons. We always adhere to the necessary safety precautions and put a huge investment into safety, risk minimization and expert route planning.
Contact Equip Trucking for Construction Equipment Towing Services
As one of the leading heavy equipment trucking companies in Philadelphia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, we serve your total transportation needs, including industrial rigging, warehousing and storage and crating and packing. Consider Equip Trucking when planning your next construction, landscaping, mining or excavating job. Contact us today by filling out our contact form or calling us at 610-521-8527 to get more information on our services and our expert experience in transporting construction equipment.