Everything You Need to Know About Heavy Haulage

Heavy haulage is a big industry. It requires heavy transport vehicles to move machinery and oversized objects. You’ll often need to use a heavy haulage company if you have to transport large items as it’s unlikely you’ll have the correct vehicles and equipment to do it yourself. Building sites regularly use heavy machinery and you may be wondering how it got to the building site. Heavy haulage is responsible for transporting all of this machinery so that building can happen.

What is heavy haulage?

In simple terms, heavy haulage is the movement of oversized objects. Heavy haulage companies, plant haulage and crane hire companies, for example, will provide you with the correct specialist equipment as well as the staff that know how to use it. This will ensure that it is done safely and responsibly and helps lessen the workload on building and construction sites. Heavy haulage often uses transport methods such as Hiab lorries to move your machinery quickly and safely.

Safety on building sites is the most important factor when planning construction. That is why it is so important to hire professionals for your heavy haulage needs. A variety of industries will require the use of heavy haulage services to get larger items where they need to be. Heavy haulage deals with items that are too big to be carried with standard methods, so specialised transportation is necessary.

What industries require heavy haulage?

Many industries utilise the help of heavy haulage in order to make the process quicker and more simple.

Renewable energy companies

Renewable energy companies deal with large items regularly. Have you ever gotten close to a wind turbine and been able to comprehend just how big they are? You would probably be wondering how on earth they got there in the first place. Once these large items are constructed they need to be transported to the place where they will be used. Wind turbines, components and towers all require heavy haulage to be moved into the right place.

Aerospace and aviation

Rockets and planes are composed of large parts that often need to be moved via heavy haulage. This could be during construction or after and is the only way to transport planes and other large items to airports ready to be operated.

Agriculture

Growing crops and managing livestock is a big task. Tractors, harvesters and other large machinery are essential in the agriculture industry. If you purchase a piece of agriculture machinery, it needs to be transported via heavy haulage. These services can make sure that farms are able to run smoothly and effectively.

Oil and gas industry

Heavy haulage is required to transport oil and gas vessels from ports to the factory or from the manufacturer to the port.

Engineering and infrastructure

The movement of abnormal loads such as heavy steel castings and steel components from one place to another.

Civil and infrastructure

Our towns and cities wouldn’t exist without the work of heavy haulage companies. They are required to transport steel bridges, complex structures, tunnel boring machines and abnormal loads from where they are made to where they need to be installed.

What are HIAB-equipped trucks?

The word HIAB refers to a truck-mounted crane and is an acronym for Hydrauliska Industri AB. This refers to the Finnish company that first invented the crane. A HIAB truck allows you to load and unload heavy items without needing too much equipment and can save you time and money. Heavy haulage companies will have these cranes ready to help you with any large item transportation.

The advantages of heavy haulage

In some cases, these industries could attempt to transport items themselves, using their own equipment. So why choose a heavy haulage company to complete the task? Here are the advantages of using a professional heavy haulage company.

Cost-effective

One of the key considerations when running a business is profitability. Therefore, it’s unlikely you’ll want to fork out a large amount of money to purchase the vehicles required to transport heavy items when you can hire a haulage company for much cheaper. These companies already have the equipment, expertise and resources to successfully move overweight or large cargo. Using these haulage companies will be much more cost-effective and allow you to safely transport goods over long distances. They can also offer you a door-to-door service to ensure the job is complete.

Flexibility

Another advantage of heavy haulage is flexibility. Haulage companies are able to accommodate all sorts of cargo, no matter the shape or size. You can contact your local plant hire or heavy haulage company to check that they are able to accommodate your needs. They are more than likely able to transport any kind of items for a range of industries from construction and mining to oil and gas and much more. Depending on what you need you can also find container haulage and crane haulage that will be able to help you with specific requirements and large items.

Faster transport times

Haulage companies are very experienced and will have transported hundreds of cargo already. This means that they know exactly what they are doing and will reduce the transport time significantly. With a point-to-point service, you can reduce the number of stops and delays and make sure that your cargo is delivered on time and safely. This is ideal if your cargo is time-sensitive.

Safety

As a business, no matter what you deal with, it’s important to keep you, your staff and the cargo safe. By using a haulage company you can be sure that oversized and overweight cargo is transported safely and there will be no accidents or mishaps that could be expensive to fix.

Environmentally-friendly

One key factor for heavy haulage is that it is more environmentally friendly than other types of transportation methods. For example, air and sea freight generate high levels of carbon emissions and can impact your businesses’ emissions. Instead, by choosing heavy haulage, you can reduce your carbon footprint through fuel-efficient trucks.

Rules and regulations for heavy haulage transport

When it comes to heavy haulage, there are certain rules and regulations to follow. Loads are classified into different categories and will have to be aware of different weight restrictions and set speed limits to ensure transport is safe and regulated. Not all large vehicles will be classified as heavy haulage vehicles.

It is measured on its size, load and set speed limit.

Generally, most heavy haulage vehicles come under category 2 or 3. This means that these vehicles will be limited to a speed limit of 40 mph on motorways and 35 mph on dual carriageways. Some vehicles also need special permission to transport goods depending on their weight.

If the load exceeds 78 tonnes then you will have to notify the Highway and Bridge authorities at least 2 days before you need to move the goods. Anything with a load weight of over 147 tonnes needs a longer notice period of at least 5 days. You will also have to inform the police of this haul size.

As you can see, the rules and regulations regarding heavy haulage can be confusing so it’s always best to contact a heavy haulage company to complete the job for you.

Nick Sampson: Plant Haulage and Crane Haulage

We are a heavy haulage company with a modern and versatile fleet that can provide a variety of crane haulage and container haulage services. We are also able to deal with other heavy haulage transport requirements such as crane hire and machinery moving and transport. Whether you need to move cranes, containers, boats, other vehicles, machinery or any other large items, our professional team can get the task done safely and efficiently. We purchased our first HIAB-equipped truck in 1996 and since then have completed hundreds of heavy haulage transportation. We are the best team to call if you need heavy haulage in Barnstaple or the surrounding area. Get in touch today to learn more.