Construction Equipment Transport Across South Texas

Machinery moves price on four things: the machine's actual operating weight, its dimensions as it sits on the deck, the distance, and whether TxDOT oversize/overweight permits and escorts are required. A legal-weight machine on a corridor lane prices nothing like a permitted 100,000-pound gross move, so any carrier who quotes you a flat per-mile number without asking is guessing. Send the model, weight, dimensions and both addresses and we quote all-in — permits and escorts inside the number, not added later. Most machinery quotes come back the same day. Call 956-701-5070.

Usually not on weight alone. Legal gross for a standard combination in Texas is 80,000 pounds, and the tractor and trailer already account for a large share of that, so machines up to roughly 48,000 pounds typically ride legal. Past that — or if the machine is over 8 feet 6 inches wide, or over legal height or length as loaded — the move needs a TxDOT oversize/overweight permit with an approved route. Force files permits in-house on its own TxPROS account, so you are not waiting on a permit service to open a ticket.

Step deck for machines that fit legal height and weight: skid steers, backhoes, telehandlers, attachments, buckets and forks. Lowboy or RGN for tall and heavy tracked machines — excavators, dozers, wheel loaders, motor graders and rollers — because the low deck height is what keeps the loaded height legal. On an RGN the gooseneck drops so a self-propelled machine drives on instead of being lifted. Force runs two 60-ton Load King lowboys and a 53-foot Fontaine step deck. Past 60 tons the machine moves on our 85-ton Aspen 9-axle.

For legal-weight moves on the Laredo–San Antonio–Corpus corridor, often yes. Our yard is in Laredo, so there is no half day of mobilization before we reach you. Permitted oversize or overweight moves depend on TxDOT routing and permit approval, which adds lead time on top of the drive. Tell us the date it has to be standing on site and you'll get a straight answer about whether that is possible — including when it isn't.

Yes, and it's a large part of what we do. Equipment dealers, rental branches and civil contractors across South Texas own lowboys and still call us — for peak weeks, driver-out weeks, one-way moves they don't want their own trailer stranded on, and permitted moves they'd rather not run in-house. We set a standing rate sheet on your recurring lanes, you get a named contact instead of a dispatch queue, there is no minimum and no monthly commitment, and we do not solicit your customers. That last one goes in the agreement in writing.

Five things: make and model; actual operating weight with the attachments that are staying on; overall length, width and height as it will sit on the deck; exact pickup and delivery addresses — a pin, not a city name; and whether the machine drives on under its own power or has to be loaded. With those five the quote is firm. Without them, whatever number you get is going to move before the invoice.

The core corridor is Laredo–San Antonio–Corpus Christi plus the Rio Grande Valley: Webb, La Salle, Dimmit, Duval, Nueces and San Patricio counties, and the Bexar, Cameron and Hidalgo metros. We also run Laredo to Houston and the I-35 corridor up through Austin and Dallas. Outside those we'll quote it — the rate just won't look like a corridor rate, and we'll tell you that up front.

Force Logistic Services LLC operates under DOT 3496920 and MC 1152805 with active motor carrier authority, and carries cargo and liability coverage. A certificate of insurance is available on request before the first load moves — ask for it. Worth knowing: the federal minimum financial responsibility for general freight is $750,000, and a minimum is not the same as coverage sized to your machine. Verify the authority is active in FMCSA SAFER before you release equipment to any carrier, including us.