Measures To Consider When Transporting Oversized Loads

23 May Measures To Consider When Transporting Oversized Loads

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It is a common business in Australia to transport oversized loads. Transporting oversized loads can be very challenging without an expert’s assistance.

It is critical to conduct a lot of studies about transporting oversized loads or large equipment safely. Without doing your due diligence, you’ll risk ignoring specific rules and regulations can be overlooked, resulting in severe consequences and extra costs.

Here are some considerations to take when transporting oversized loads in Australia:

Choose the Appropriate Transport Vehicle

When transporting over dimensional loads, the first decision to make is the size of trailer required.

You may need extendible, drop deck, float, flat top, additional single bogie’s.

Consider the footprint of your freight, its weight and the frequency of the transport required (if you are going to be doing the over dimensional moves regularly, it may warrant hiring, leasing or purchasing the specific equipment to make the chosen rig suited to the operation.

Research the Truck’s Limit

Apart from looking into the legal limits for oversized shipments, you’ll need to determine the maximum weight that your vehicles can carry. Doing this will ensure that you’re compliant throughout all the states you’ll traverse to deliver the freight, preventing any surprises in penalties or rule violations.

Additionally, it will help to learn more about the requirements around load weights that you must follow to ensure everyone’s safety. Specific load weights require a precise number of axels to distribute the weight evenly. Australia has also implemented restrictions around a container’s length and dimensions, preventing the incorporation of more axels.

Check Company Policy on Safe Loading and Unloading

Dealing with oversized shipments has its dangers without instituting property safety protocols, so you’ll need to ensure that you create, follow and update policies about securing a correctly packed load. Review your company’s qualifications and insurance policies to guarantee road safety while transporting your shipment.

Look Into Required Safety Signs

You’ll have to bring safety signs to accompany the vehicle and trailer when delivering an oversized load. However, there are different rules about these throughout Australian states, so you’ll need to clarify the safety standards with the transport department to make sure you can meet them. Tegral stocks a range of signs to ensure you remain compliant. Find our range here and a blog here which helps you choose the correct signage.

Avoid Transporting at Night

Lastly, Australian law dictates restrictions for specific oversized vehicles when traveling at night. To abide by this, check the vehicle’s dimension limit and assess whether it fits with the regulations, allowing you to determine if you can transport your shipment overnight. Otherwise, you’ll have to account for stopovers which means extra expenses.

Ensuring everyone’s safety is your number one consideration when transporting this kind of transport. Any advice given here is of a general nature and does not take into account specific circumstances which only can be addressed case-by-case.