Some Tips for Shipping an Excavator
Like most heavy equipment, shipping an excavator provides vehicle transporters a unique challenge. Excavators come in many different shapes and sizes, but we’re going to be focusing mainly on the smaller ones like to the picture at the right. With a configuration far different from a standard vehicle, shipping an excavator requires a different kind of vehicle transport truck – typically a flatbed.
Article Overview
The basics of shipping an excavator
The overall process of shipping an excavator isn’t much different from shipping a car. You get some quotes, you find a company to haul it, and they dispatch a carrier to load it, transport it, and deliver it. The process isn’t different – but the method most certainly is.
An excavator simply cannot fit on a standard ten-car hauler, nor can it fir in an enclosed carrier. This means that flatbed shipping services are going to be required. Flatbed transportation is much different from regular vehicle shipping services because they’re designed to haul larger-than-average vehicles.
Couple this with the fact that larger-than-average vehicles don’t have the volume that standard vehicles do when it comes to shipping services, and you have a recipe for a pretty expensive shipment.
What to expect when shipping an excavator
So, probably the most shocking thing to expect is higher prices and longer wait times for pickup. Finding a flatbed carrier can take time because they aren’t near as common as open or enclosed shippers. So brokers are going to have to search a bit, often taking more time to find a shipper that can handle an excavator.
It’s important that you have the dimensions of your excavator on-hand when gathering quotes. This is important; without the dimensions, your shipper could get a shipper that can’t haul the excavator. Not only that, they could price it wrong, and you end up having to pay more once the carrier arrives.
But overall it shouldn’t be difficult to get quotes to ship an excavator. Plenty of companies have experience shipping them, and can do it easily so long as you work with them. The most important thing is to get quotes before you choose a company – and that’s where we come in.
Get a free quote with American Auto Shipping
We can get you a free quote to ship an excavator right away. All you need to do is fill out our free auto transport quote request form. However, for heavy equipment, we do recommend you call us at 800-930-7417. That way, you can get a quote right over the phone from one of our expert shipping agents. Either way, though, let American Auto Shipping help you ship your excavator today.
Since 2007 Dave has written all the content and blogs for American Auto Shipping and during this time added the duties of customer support and transport logistics.
He currently resides in Washington with his three kids and their mom and cat. A fan of Marvel movies and good stories, when not shipping cars Dave can be found working on his novel, enjoying a good book or playing some tournament HALO.
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