Four numbers determine almost everything about an equipment haul: transport length, width, height, and weight. On level ground, set up the machine the way it will travel and measure to the furthest point in each direction. Don’t rely on a manufacturer’s spec sheet. It describes a base machine and often does not list “transport height” at all. Width matters most because 102 inches is the federal legal limit.
Why Manufacturer Spec Sheets Give the Wrong Transport Dimensions
Looking up your model and copying its dimensions may seem reasonable, but that’s how many quotes go wrong. A spec sheet describes one factory configuration of that model. Your machine may have wider tires, a different bucket, duals, tracks instead of wheels, a counterweight the base machine never had, or an aftermarket cab.
Spec sheets also use labels that don’t all mean the same thing, and most do not include a line called “transport height.” Check exactly what each label measures before copying the number.
One job from our records shows the problem. We hauled a marsh buggy excavator that measured 18 feet wide. The standard version of that model is much narrower. Its wide-track undercarriage made the difference, and the base machine’s spec sheet would not have described that load.
How to Measure Transport Length, Width, Height, and Weight
First, set up the machine the way it will travel: blade down, boom stowed, bucket curled and resting, outriggers in, and mast lowered. Then measure to the furthest point in each direction, not just to the machine body.
| Measurement | Measure from | What usually sets the measurement |
| Transport length | Furthest forward point to furthest rearward point | A stowed boom extending from the front or a counterweight hanging off the back |
| Transport width | Widest point on one side to the widest point on the other | A bucket or blade that extends past the tires or tracks |
| Transport height | The ground to the highest point, with the machine in travel position | Exhaust stack, cab roof, beacon, ROPS bar, or a stowed boom |
| Operating weight | The machine as it sits, with attachments on | Counterweights, full fluid levels, and all bolted-on equipment |
*Measure on level ground. A machine on a slope or in soft ground will read short on height.
Height is where a missed measurement can cause the most trouble. One published spec sheet shows why.
Consider a 5-yard-class wheel loader. The manufacturer’s own dimension table lists height to the top of the hood at 8 feet 10 inches. Height to the top of the exhaust pipe is 11 feet 2 inches. Height to the top of the ROPS is 11 feet 4 inches. Height to the top of the warning beacon is 12 feet 3 inches.
The same machine has four height figures spanning nearly three and a half feet. Only the tallest one matters at a bridge. If you measure to the hood, your figure is three feet short.
Length and width also depend on the measuring point. For the same loader, overall length without the bucket is listed at 23 feet 1 inch, while shipping length with the bucket level on the ground is 27 feet 4 inches. Width over the tires is 9 feet 3 inches, and the general-purpose bucket measures 9 feet 7 inches. On that machine, the bucket is wider than the tires.
Large dozers can present an even bigger measurement problem. On a published spec sheet for a big track-type tractor, the tractor’s width and the blade’s width sit in two different tables and never get added together, so the sheet never prints the number you actually need.
Other parts that can be the highest or widest point include:
- Exhaust stacks and pre-cleaners
- Beacons, work lights, and antennas
- Cab-mounted air conditioning units
- Mirrors that don’t fold all the way in
- Duals and track pads wider than standard
- Quick couplers and thumbs
If you’re unsure where to place the tape, send us photos and rough measurements. We do this every day and can check your numbers before you rely on a guess.
When Attachments Can Stay On, Be Repositioned, or Ship Separately
Attachments are the most common reason a machine measures larger than its owner expected. An attachment can travel in one of three ways.
- It stays on when the machine remains a legal-size load with the attachment installed and the carrier can fully lower and secure it
- It gets repositioned by curling a bucket in, stowing a boom, or turning a blade. Repositioning is often the difference between legal and permitted
- It travels separately when its width or height cannot be brought within the limits or when it is too large for the same deck
Federal securement rules also affect how attachments travel. For equipment over 10,000 pounds, 49 CFR 393.130 tells the carrier to lower accessory equipment completely and secure it to the trailer before the load moves. That’s the carrier’s job, not yours. For measuring purposes, measure the machine in the position we’ll use to haul it.
If removing a bucket takes a load from permitted to legal, the work is usually worthwhile. Tell us what comes off easily and what doesn’t. We’ll tell you whether the change makes sense on your route.
Have Us Check Your Measurements
Legal Width and Height Limits for Equipment Transport
Width is the limit machines cross most often. The Federal Highway Administration sets the National Network limit at 102 inches, or 8 feet 6 inches. A machine that measures 102 inches is a normal load. At 103 inches, it needs oversize permits in every state it crosses.
Height has no single number to measure against. FHWA sets no federal height limit. States set their own limits, commonly from 13 feet 6 inches at the low end to 14 feet 6 inches at the high end. A machine can meet the height limit in one state and exceed it in the next.
The trailer also counts toward the load’s total height. The height on the road is the machine height plus the deck height. That’s why we ask for the machine first and choose the trailer second.
A lift and an ag sprayer from our job records show why width can matter more than weight. The lift measured 8 feet wide, weighed 18,500 pounds, and moved as a normal load on a hotshot trailer. The ag sprayer weighed 14,000 pounds, four and a half thousand pounds less, and measured 12 feet wide. The lighter machine was the oversize one. Width often affects a shipment more than weight.
What to Send Us If You Can’t Measure the Machine Yourself
You don’t need a survey crew. Ten minutes with a tape on level ground gets you close enough to plan around. Photos from the front, both sides, and the rear help us catch any point you missed. If you can’t get to the machine, tell us where it is and who is there.
Send the year, make, and model, the four measurements, and the two locations. Before assigning a truck, we check the measurements against the trailer deck and route clearances. That helps pickup day go as planned. For the full planning process, see what goes into planning an equipment move.
