Shipping a wheel loader, dozer or backhoe overseas

Yes. Assembled it will not, because a machine like a Caterpillar 420F stands about 3,577 mm tall against a container door of 2,597 mm. But with the cab off, the bucket off and the arm off where length requires it, a backhoe goes into a container as routine work. A great many quotes put backhoes on flat racks unnecessarily.

Because they cannot dismantle it. A forwarder without a yard, a crew and lifting equipment can only book what is in front of them, and an assembled backhoe is flat rack cargo. It is the limit of what they do rather than an attempt to overcharge, but the result is the same for your invoice.

Not when it is done properly. The cab is unbolted, the connections are disconnected in order and protected, and everything is documented so it goes back on. Reassembly is within the capability of any competent workshop. If you have no reassembly capability at destination, tell us, because that is a real reason to ship it whole instead.

A loader in the Caterpillar 950 class dismantles into a 40ft high cube, with the bucket off, the cab off and the wheels off where width demands it. Larger loaders exceed the roughly 28,650 kg payload of a single box, and are either split across two containers or shipped out of gauge, depending on which works out cheaper.

On most mid-sized loaders, yes, and often by a clear margin, because container rates sit well below flat rack rates. It frequently removes the need for oversize permits on the road leg to the port as well. There are machines where the arithmetic does not favour it and we tell you when yours is one of them.

The bucket first, then the cab, then the wheels where the width calls for it, and the counterweight on some machines. The base unit goes into the container with its parts packed and braced around it, all documented for reassembly.

Smaller dozers at the bottom of the D6 range can be, with the blade and ripper off and enough else removed. Larger machines such as a D8 at around 39,750 kg exceed any container payload and go breakbulk or roll-on roll-off. The blade comes off every dozer that ships, whichever method it travels by.

Usually weight combined with track width rather than height. A container carries roughly 28,650 kg in a 40ft high cube, so once the machine is above that even stripped, the question becomes which vessel and which discharge port rather than which box.

Not every terminal can, and it is worth settling before booking rather than discovering on arrival. For breakbulk and out of gauge cargo the crane capacity and the yard equipment at the discharge port matter. We check this as part of routing your shipment.

Two fit a 40ft comfortably, nose to tail with the buckets nested, well inside the weight limit, and one fits a 20ft. A machine like a Bobcat S650 at 2,065 mm tall clears even a standard container door, so it does not need a high cube and nothing has to come off it.

Yes, and you should. There is space around a small machine in a 40ft and attachments travel far more cheaply alongside it than shipped separately later. Everything goes on the export filing, so send the full list rather than adding items on loading day.

The moldboard comes off, which brings the width down toward the over-tires figure of about 2,511 mm on a 140M. Length is the harder constraint, since a grader runs 8,754 mm before a ripper is fitted, so graders commonly end up on a flat rack or roll-on roll-off for length rather than for weight.

Often yes, where the machine drives and a suitable service runs to your port. It avoids the dismantling entirely, which suits a long machine that is otherwise awkward to pack. Whether it beats a container depends on the lane, so it is worth pricing both.

Compare the dismantling cost plus the container rate against the flat rack rate, and factor in whether dismantling also avoids oversize permits on the road. Add one non-financial question: can anyone at the destination put the machine back together. If not, shipping whole may be worth the premium.

Ask whether they can dismantle the machine and what the container option costs against the flat rack. A company with the capability gives you both numbers without hesitation. A company without it tells you the machine has to go on a flat rack. That one question is the most useful filter there is.

It depends on the machine far more than on the distance. The decisive factors are whether it containerizes after dismantling, how far it travels by road to the port, and whether that road move needs oversize permits. Send us the make, model, year and location for a real figure within 24 to 48 hours.

Often yes, particularly smaller machines and attachments. Larger machines generally fill a box once their own parts are in with them, but a single booking can sometimes carry more than one unit. If you are bidding on several lots at one auction, tell us beforehand.

On many lanes yes. Countries commonly require earth-moving machinery to arrive free of soil and plant material because of pest and disease controls, and machines have been held and cleaned at the owner's expense on arrival. Steam cleaning before loading is inexpensive by comparison and we arrange it where the destination calls for it.

They are governed by different rules depending on whether the machine travels in a container, as breakbulk or on roll-on roll-off, with carriers adding their own booking conditions. We prepare the machine to the requirements of the route we book, so it is not something you have to work out.

In several countries yes, and they often differ from the limits applied to cars. Some countries that restrict used car imports are much more open to machinery because it serves industry. Check before you bid, and ask us, because we track the rules on the lanes we run.

The bill of sale or auction invoice, proof of ownership, and the machine details including the serial number. We handle the US export filing through the Automated Export System. Duty, permits and clearance at destination are handled by your own customs agent and we supply what they need.

Yes, anywhere in the USA. Note that most auction yards will not load a self-propelled machine that can reasonably be driven, and they require a bill of lading for anything going to a foreign country. We issue that document as the ocean carrier, so it is already in hand.

We are the carrier. Cassandra Logistics is a federally licensed Ocean Transportation Intermediary under FMC license OTI No. 025125NF, legally Royal Port Container Lines, Inc. DBA Cassandra Logistics. The license is public and verifiable with the Federal Maritime Commission.