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Also known as pavement milling, cold planing is the process of stripping off layers of roadway. This is usually done before resurfacing or repaving, and it ensures that there’s a level surface on which to lay the new material down.
With roadways needing regular care and attention, your crew likely stays busy. You may travel extensively, or you may work for a city or county maintaining all the roads in your local area. Either way, you may need to have your milling machine or cold planer moved. This may be for a new job that’s further than usual, or because you’ve bought or sold a new cold planer from an out-of-state seller or buyer.
Professional Transport Required
Transporting these large and extremely heavy pieces of machinery, is no easy task. This is compounded by the fact that it will be traveling at highway speeds - so it must be completely secure. Not something that an amateur can take on safely, you’ll need the expertise that a professional transport company can provide.
We Have Decades of Experience
A1 Auto Transport has over 20 years of experience moving heavy, difficult and custom machinery - both across the country and even to the other side of the world. Our infrastructure, equipment and personnel are all top-notch, allowing us to deliver stellar service to our customers. We offer express shipping options, on-time delivery, satellite tracking of your shipment and door-to-door pickup and dropoff.
We’re the Clear Choice
If you need the best in the business, then A1 Auto Transport is the clear choice. We’ll create a custom rate that’s based on your cold planer’s size and weight, as well as the distance it must be hauled.
Speak with us about your transport needs today, to receive your no-obligation quote at no charge.
Frequently Asked Questions
You may not realize the importance of informing your transport company about your delivery well ahead. You should hire a company and place your order three months beforehand.
The main reason is that since it's an oversize load, the company has to work out the logistics, like the route, weather, and traffic. At times, oversize loads require escort vehicles. The company must also sort out the permits for every city and state the truck crosses.
The earlier you hire a company, the more efficient the delivery is because they can perfectly work you into the schedule.
While flatbed trailers are usually the most popular option for transporting pieces of equipment, lowboy trailers are designed to take heavier loads, so they're perfect for cold planers.
Although not a super load, cold planers are well above the 46000-pound weight limit. An average planer weighs around 60,000 to 90,000 pounds and is an oversized load.
A standard two-axle lowboy can take around 40,000 pounds, while a four-axle variant can hold up to 80,000 pounds, making it the best choice for something as heavy as a cold planer. It also lowers the center, making it easier for the driver to navigate the truck.
While a cold planer can't fit inside a container, a company can transport it easily using either roll-on roll-off shipping or lift-on lift-off shipping, depending on which variant you own. The first method is standard for vehicles with wheels.
It's cheap since the loaders can roll the planer onto the carrier and buckle it on, so it doesn't budge during the journey. It's the most commonly-used method for equipment that is too large to fit in containers.
On the other hand, LoLo shipping is for equipment that doesn't have wheels. A crane is used to pick up the cold planer and place it onto the carrier, and the loaders secure it using chains. It's more expensive than RoRo shipping because it considers the cost of using the crane, but it's still suitable for vehicles that can't be wheeled onto the carrier.
If you want to transport your cold planer overseas or on land, you won't be able to use a container. The reason is that cold planers are very big, oversized, and have wide loads. While it's possible to overcome the weight factor, the other dimensions don't allow a planer to fit in 20 feet or 40 feet container.
A container is around 13.5 feet high, while a cold planer is approximately 16 feet high. At 55 feet, they're also too long to fit in a container. Since they're heavy equipment, it's unnecessary to use enclosed transport, whether shipped overseas or across the USA.
A cold planer easily qualifies as an oversized and wide load in every state, so it's challenging to transport it long distances, so it's necessary to choose a suitable transport company ahead of time.
The weight limit is 46000 pounds, while the weight range for a cold planer is 60,000 to 90,000 pounds. At the same time, the height limit is 13.5 feet, but a planer's height is around 16.5 feet.
They may fall under the 8.5 feet width limit since they’re approximately 7 feet wide, but they also go over the specified 48 to 53 feet length in most states with a 55 feet length.
These specifications mean that several permits are required before your delivery can be made since different states have different regulations.
For regular loads, flatbed trailers are used, but since cold planers are heavy equipment, an RGN or lowboy trailer is used. Both of these are designed to hold heavier weights without breaking under pressure.
An RGN trailer has a removable gooseneck to load the cold planer quickly without worrying about another ramp's placement and balance. Since the ramp is part of the trailer, it can be rapidly raised.
Similarly, the lowboy trailers are made to hold high weights. They get their name because they're nearer to the ground to accommodate height limits in different states. A standard two-axle lowboy can carry 40,000 pounds, while a four-axle one can hold around 80,000 pounds, making it ideal for cold planers.
You might not realize how big logistics plays when planning the optimal routes for drivers to make your delivery.
The shipping company must consider various factors like the weather (especially if the destination is in a storm-prone area), traffic, and the time of year because holidays also affect traffic density and flow.
Roads must be surveyed for heavy loads like a cold planer to ensure plenty of space and minimize risk chances.
It can be challenging to transport any oversized load. A cold planer must be loaded and secured carefully with chains, so it doesn't topple over at sharp turns during the journey.
The driver must also be careful because the slightest mistake can cause significant repercussions because of how expensive his cargo is. Even if a lowboy trailer makes things more accessible, navigating a heavy load is still not easy.
Of course, the permits are also part of it because they must be obtained from different states' websites and go over the route. After all, some cities and towns have separate permits. There are also inspections at each border.
It's best to choose a qualified and vetted shipping company to ensure your machine is safe when you pay them for the transport. You're entitled to feeling comfortable since you're paying them.
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