Oversized Cargo

When cargo stops being standard

Cargo is out of gauge the moment it will not fit inside a closed container, by height, width, length or weight. From that point the whole operation changes: the equipment, the vessel, the route, the permits and the price are all decided case by case.

There is no rate sheet for this. What there is, is a survey, a plan and a cost built from it.

How it moves

• Flat rack: open-sided platform for cargo wider than a standard box
• Open top: a container without a roof, for cargo loaded by crane
• Breakbulk: loaded directly into the vessel's hold, with no container at all
• RoRo: rolled on and off, for anything with wheels or on a trailer
• Permitted road transport: low-loaders, extendable trailers and escort vehicles

The route study is the job

Moving a transformer from the port to a mine is not a trucking problem, it is a geometry problem. Every bridge clearance, every roundabout radius, every power line and every road-weight limit on the route has to be checked before anything is booked.

We do that study first, and it frequently changes the answer: a different port of entry, a different time of day, or a disassembly at origin that costs less than the permits would have.

Permits and escorts

Oversized road movements in Chile need authorisation from the roads authority, and depending on the dimensions, police escort and movement restricted to certain hours. Those approvals take time and have to be factored into the schedule from the start, not requested once the cargo lands.

We handle the applications as part of the service and build their lead time into the plan we give you.

What we need to quote

• Exact dimensions and weight of each piece, and the centre of gravity if it is not obvious
• Photographs or drawings, which answer more questions than a description does
• Lifting points, and whether the piece can be disassembled
• Origin and the exact delivery address, not just the city
• Any date it has to be in place by