How Specialised Freight Services Simplify Heavy Equipment Movements?

Transporting heavy equipment from one place to another involves lots of tiring planning schedules, special tooling and setups, careful loading and unloading, and many other cumbersome tasks. Carrying out everything by yourself is not at all feasible as it will keep you occupied for days, leaving no room to focus on other core activities you are needed at. Besides, you may not be able to arrange everything on time required for transporting different heavy equipment units within Canada or have to spend way more than expected in renting every tool or hardware component necessary. 

That’s why it’s more feasible to book specialised freight services that can further help streamline the transportation and logistics of heavy-duty equipment units. But what exactly do these services include and how can they help you transport the components from one place to another in a hassle-free manner, promising more efficacy and tailored plans? To answer your questions, we have crafted a comprehensive guide below, explaining specialised freight services to manage transportation and logistics of heavy equipment units, like tractors, forklifts, tower cranes, excavators, and many more. 

What Are Specialised Freight Services for Heavy-Duty Equipment?

In textbook terms, specialised freight services are tailored and highly customized transportation solutions designed to move oversized and large machinery pieces and other equipment units, which otherwise cannot be handled using regular freight mediums. Expert knowledge in handling these elements safely and securely is necessary so that no damage is rendered to their physical and mechanical parts. 

Key Inclusions in Specialised Freight Services for Heavy-Duty Machinery

Route Planning

The service provider will be responsible for finding the best route for transportation in consideration of weight limits, road conditions, height restrictions, and other challenges that might occur by choosing any random route. For this, you will have to provide a detailed document about the machinery pieces that need to be transported in the concerned shipment, along with their dimension measurements, weights, and other key parameters. The freight service vendor will use these datasets to map out the perfect route so that transportation time or efficiency won’t be compromised. 

Escort Services

Since traffic and road hurdles are quite unexpected and cannot be predicted, you can request for an escort or convoy van to be added to the plan. The convoy van will have experts who can navigate well around the unexpected circumstances arising due to legal compliances, road taxes, traffic blocks, and other such events. Additionally, they will also ensure that heavy and colossal machinery items are transported to the destination safely through constant monitoring and tracking. 

Licensing and Permitting

You may need to acquire special permits and licenses to transport the heavy equipment pieces by road or any other medium. It involves detailed documentation, timely submission, and frequent follow-ups with the concerned organizations. Besides, the chances of your license or permit application being rejected will be quite high. Hence, most freight service providers handling heavy equipment deal with the acquisition of the necessary permits and licenses on time before the shipments are rolled out. 

International Shipping

If you require cross-border transport of heavy equipment units, your freight service provider will handle all the interim tasks, like acquiring the customs clearance, adhering to international shipping regulations, and dealing with all the needed paperwork at both docks. Hence, you won’t have to worry about these time-consuming and high-risk tasks, which if not handled correctly could put your shipping plans at a halt for an indefinite time. 

Insurance

Since most heavy-duty equipment parts and components are valued at extremely high prices in the market, any damage caused to them during transport will certainly increase your financial liability. Besides, damaged equipment units cannot be used in the line of production or for their dedicated tasks, thereby causing business disruptions and heavy monetary losses. That’s why several providers carrying out specialised freight services offer comprehensive insurance plans to protect the shipment and reduce your liability.

Storage and Warehousing

For heavy equipment shipments that need to be transported over longer distances or from one region to another, you may have to arrange warehouses for temporary storage, both before and after the transportation. Rather than handling it by yourself, you could outsource the task to your freight service vendor. Their professionals will find the best warehouse according to the special needs of the shipped equipment units and your budget limit. 

Tracking and Monitoring 

Lastly, specialised freight services also include tracking and monitoring heavy equipment units using real-time GPS trackers and sensors. Since the location will be monitored during transit in real-time, you won’t have to worry about the equipment units being lost or the shipping vehicles going off the pre-determined transportation route. 

What Methods Are Implemented to Transport Heavy Equipment?

Heavy equipment units are shipped and transported using three primary methods, which have been briefly described below. 

1. Container shipping: If a waterway is involved in shipping heavy-duty equipment, containers form the best medium. Here, the elements are first loaded in containers of varying sizes, which are then loaded or unloaded on a flat deck trailer. 

2. Lowboy trailer shipping: Often considered the cheapest transportation option, a lowboy trailer houses the heavy equipment piece on its surface and is towed to its destination.

3. Flatbed trailer shipping: Having a higher deck than a lowboy, a flatbed trailer is much lighter and used for carrying mini-sized heavy equipment units.

Why Invest in Specialised Freight Services for Heavy Equipment?

Before you decide any further, it’s better if you have comprehensive knowledge of the advantages of outsourcing heavy equipment shipping and transportation to vendors offering specialised freight services in Canada.

1. Safer transportation: Freight service providers ensure careful loading and unloading of heavy-duty machinery pieces and organize everything necessary for transporting them safely without causing any damage. 

2. Customized route planning: They will plan Specialised routes for transportation according to on-road laws, height restrictions, weight limits, traffic patterns, and other such parameters so that the shipment can be delivered on time without any hassle. 

3. Flexible carrier options: You can choose from a wide range of carriers for the transportation of heavy-duty equipment units, like containers, flatbed trailers, and lowboy trailers according to the machinery type, weight limits, distances to be covered, and many more. 

4. Permit and license handling: They will handle all the necessary tasks involved with acquiring the special road and transit permits and licenses in Canada for transporting heavy equipment units of multifarious types. Hence, you won’t have to worry about any legal complications or compliance problems. 

5. Reduced financial liability: Since you will get comprehensive insurance coverage plans, you won’t have to worry about bearing financial liability if the heavy equipment units to be transported suffer from any physical damage during transit. 

6. Risk mitigation: Thanks to specialised freight services, you can easily mitigate the risks involved with the transportation of heavy-duty equipment units within Canada and for international destinations. 

7. Cost-effectiveness: Having a Specialised freight service provider on board will help you make the transportation and logistics operations more cost-effective. From reduced financial liabilities to the elimination of rental and other types of overhead charges, you can stick to your budget without going overboard.

Conclusion 

Now that we have described what specialised freight services are and how they are beneficial for transporting heavy-duty equipment units, your main job will be to hire the best provider like Zenith Canada. Ensure to check the service add-ons they offer, like escort services, international shipments, licensing and permits, and many more so that you won’t have to worry about all these cumbersome tasks.