Hauling machinery and pipe on a flatbed or step deck

Hauling machinery and pipe is where open-deck trailers earn their keep. Excavators, loaders, tractors and pipe do not fit in a box, and they bring their own securement rules. Get them wrong and the numbers are clear: machinery not secured to its rule drew 11,558 roadside violations in two years, almost all of them out-of-service (our analysis of FMCSA securement violations has the detail). This guide covers the machinery rule, the pipe rules and the working load limit math, with a worked example.

Heavy machinery hauling: the 393.130 rule

49 CFR 393.130 covers wheeled or tracked vehicles, equipment and machinery of 10,000 lb or more each: loaders, dozers, excavators, tractors, power shovels. Lighter units can use this section, the vehicle rule in 393.128, or the general rules.

Before you tie it down:

• Lower attachments (buckets, blades, booms, shovels) completely and secure them to the trailer.
• Lock articulated machines so they cannot bend at the joint.

Securement:

• Restrain the machine against forward, rearward, sideways and upward movement.
• Use at least four tiedowns.
• Attach them as close as practicable to the front and rear of the machine, or to tie-down points the maker designed for it.

Four is the minimum, not the answer. The working load limit total still has to reach half the machine's weight, and that is where many loads come up short.

The WLL math on a direct tiedown

How a tiedown counts depends on how it runs (393.106(d)):

Machinery is almost always chained direct, trailer to machine, so each chain counts half.

EXAMPLE: a 32,000 lb excavator on a step deck. You need at least 16,000 lb of aggregate WLL. Four 3/8 in grade 70 chains are rated 6,600 lb each (393.108), but chained direct they count 3,300 lb each: 13,200 lb, not enough. Options that pass:

Binders and anchor points must match or the assembly drops to the weakest part. Our load securement calculator runs this check, including the four-tiedown machinery minimum.

Machinery hauling: practical points

• Know the machine's weight and dimensions before you book. Ask for the model and attachments. A bucket or thumb can add thousands of pounds and a foot of width.
• Watch height. An excavator on a 5 ft flatbed deck goes over 13 ft 6 in quickly. That is why most machinery rides on a step deck. See our step deck dispatch page.
• Width means permits. Over 8 ft 6 in wide needs oversize load permits in every state on the route.
• Ramps and loading. Many step decks load machines over ramps. Confirm who drives the machine on and off; usually it is the shipper or receiver, not you.
• Grease, mud and tracks. Clean decks and wood blocking under steel tracks help keep the machine from sliding.

Farm machinery hauling

Tractors, combines, sprayers, planters and tillage tools follow the same rules: 393.130 for wheeled machines of 10,000 lb or more, the general rules for implements. What changes is size. A combine head, a wide planter or a big tillage tool is often over legal width, and some states limit the hours and seasons for wide farm moves. Check the permits before you quote, and ask whether the head ships separately on its own cart.

Hauling pipe

Concrete pipe (393.124)

49 CFR 393.124 applies to concrete pipe on flatbeds and lowboys, unless the pipe is bundled into a rigid unit that cannot roll.

• Group by size. Different diameters go in separate groups, each secured on its own.
• Load in wells. The bottom tier is blocked at each end; upper-tier pipes sit only in the wells of the tier below, and a third tier cannot start until those wells are full.
• Blocking is at least 4 x 6 in timber, placed symmetrically and held firmly against the pipe.
• Up to 45 in inside diameter: tiedowns through the front and rear pipes of the bottom tier, angled where practicable, plus either individual tiedowns or longitudinal chain or wire rope over the group and one transverse tiedown for every 10 ft of load length.
• Over 45 in: at least one tiedown through each pipe, angled rearward for the front half and forward for the rear half.

Steel pipe and other round stock

Steel pipe has no commodity section of its own, so the general rules apply:

• Stop the roll. Anything likely to roll needs chocks, wedges, a cradle or equivalent (393.106(c)).
• Count per article. Each pipe, or each tightly banded bundle, is an article under 393.110. A 40 ft joint not blocked at the front needs 2 tiedowns for the first 10 ft plus 3 for the rest: 5.
• WLL total of at least half the weight, as always.
• Protect strap edges at the pipe ends and on beveled ends.

Chains vs straps

Neither is required by the rules; both must be marked or counted at the default rating. Our flatbed gear checklist lists quantities and prices for each.

Who books machinery and pipe

Machinery moves through equipment dealers, rental companies, contractors and specialized brokers, and some lease-on carriers focus on it; see how flatbed companies compare if you are deciding between leasing on and your own authority. Small fleets mixing flatbeds and step decks often split the work: step decks take the tall machines, flatbeds take the pipe. Our flatbed fleet dispatch page explains how we plan both on one desk. More guides are on the guides page.