What a heavy-haul broker actually does.
A heavy-haul freight broker moves cargo that can't ride a standard trailer — freight that is over-dimensional, overweight, or both. The work isn't finding a truck; it's the permit and escort engineering that gets an oversize load legally and safely from origin to destination. LASLINT books the correct open-deck or specialized trailer, files the per-state permits, designs the legal route around low bridges and weight-restricted roads, and orders the pilot or escort cars the move requires. One named dispatcher owns the load end to end.
The thresholds that turn an ordinary load into a heavy-haul load are fixed by federal and state limits. A load is oversize once it exceeds 8'6" wide, 13'6" tall, or 53' long. It is overweight once gross combined weight passes 80,000 lb. Cross either line and the route needs a permit from every state it touches — independently of the others, and each on its own form.
“People think heavy haul is about the truck. It's about the route. Get the permits and the escort plan wrong and a single low bridge or a curfew window can sit a $2M machine on the shoulder for a day.” — Jay Reyes, Founder, LASLINT
Trailers by load.
The deck is chosen by the cargo's weight, height, and footprint — not by price. Open-deck freight spans flatbed at the light end to engineered multi-axle platforms in superload territory.
Capacities are typical maximums for legal axle spacing; the permitted weight on any given route depends on the trailer's axle count and spacing under each state's bridge formula.
Which trailer, by cargo.
Three questions settle the deck on most heavy-haul loads:
- Does it exceed 13'6" loaded height? If yes, step-deck (to ~10' of cargo) or double-drop / lowboy (for the tallest freight) drops the deck so the load clears bridges and overpasses.
- Does it have tracks or treads? If yes — dozers, excavators, mining shovels — an RGN lets the operator drive the machine on and off directly, with no crane and no rigging.
- Is it over 80,000 lb? Flatbed and step-deck both cap at 48,000 lb. Above that, the move steps up to RGN (to 150,000 lb on 4–5 axles) and then to multi-axle / modular platforms in superload territory.
Permits, pilots & escorts — handled.
Permits are the heart of heavy haul. Anything above 80,000 lb gross combined weight requires per-state permits; anything above 8'6" wide, 13'6" tall, or 53' long requires per-state permits independently. Each state sets its own dimensions, fees, curfew hours, and travel-time windows — and many oversize permits prohibit movement at night, on weekends, or during commuter hours. Our desk files the permits, builds the legal route around low bridges and weight-restricted roads, and quotes the permit and escort cost into the rate up front.
Escort (pilot car) requirements scale with the load's dimensions:
Exact thresholds vary by state — these are the common bands. See /heavy-haul/ for the full permit + escort breakdown and /how-heavy-haul-rates-work/ for how permits, escorts, and deadhead build the rate.
Superloads — 200,000+ lb.
A superload is a load that exceeds a state's standard oversize permit envelope — generally above roughly 200,000 lb gross, or beyond set dimensional ceilings. Superloads aren't a bigger permit; they're a different process. Each state issues a dedicated superload permit, and approval can take days to weeks because it triggers a route survey, bridge-capacity and overhead clearance analysis, and sometimes a structural engineering review before a single mile is approved.
“On a superload move the permit and escort routing is 80% of the job — the truck is the easy part. We're surveying bridges and lining up the police escort weeks before the load ever rolls.” — Jay Reyes, Founder, LASLINT
The equipment scales with the weight: 4–5-axle heavy-haul RGN to 150,000 lb, then multi-axle and modular hydraulic platforms (Goldhofer, Scheuerle) for the heaviest moves. The escort package scales too — front and rear pilot cars, a police escort, and utility/bucket trucks to lift overhead lines and signals on the route. See /superload-freight/ for the engineered workflow and /oversize-freight/ for the oversize-permit detail.
Bulldozers, excavators, cranes & turbine blades.
Bulldozers & excavators
Tracked earthmoving equipment moves on an RGN so the machine drives on under its own power. A standard dozer or excavator rides a 3-axle RGN to 80,000 lb; larger units step up to a 4–5-axle heavy-haul RGN to 150,000 lb. We confirm operating weight, transport height with the cab and boom set, and track width before booking so the deck and any oversize permits are right the first time.
Cranes & crane components
A mobile or all-terrain crane is rarely a single load. The carrier deck, boom sections, counterweights, and outrigger pads split across an RGN or lowboy plus accompanying flatbeds and step-decks — counterweights alone routinely push individual loads into overweight permit territory. We sequence and separately permit each piece so the crane arrives complete and re-assembles on schedule.
Wind-turbine blades, nacelles & towers
Turbine blades are an over-length problem, not an over-weight one — modern blades run well past 150'. They move on stretch/extendable flatbeds or specialized blade trailers, where the controlling constraints are length, turn radius, and steerable rear-axle routing. We file the over-length permits, route around tight interchanges, and run the front-and-rear pilot cars these moves require. Nacelles and tower sections move alongside on lowboy and multi-axle equipment.
Heavy haul into Mexico.
Cross-border heavy haul into Mexico is a LASLINT specialty — and it stacks four operations on top of each other. A single oversize move south requires US-side per-state permits, Mexican-side state permits (Mexican states run their own oversize system, with 3–10 business-day lead times), customs documentation in both languages, and a tag-team trailer swap or transload at the crossing where the permits don't carry across. Our bilingual desk coordinates all of it through the oversize-friendly crossings — Laredo, Pharr, El Paso, Otay Mesa, and Eagle Pass.
This is where heavy haul and the cross-border lane meet — the two beachhead lanes LASLINT is built around. See /services/cross-border-mexico/ for the crossing-by-crossing customs operation.
Industries we move iron for.
- Construction — dozers, excavators, cranes, prefab modules
- Energy — transformers, turbine components, refinery cargo, oil-field equipment
- Renewables — wind blades, nacelles, tower sections, solar racking
- Mining — haul trucks, mining shovels, drilling equipment
- Manufacturing — production machinery, presses, molding equipment
- Aerospace — airframe components, ground-support equipment
- Agriculture — combines, tractors, harvest machinery
Frequently asked.
Who's the best heavy haul freight broker in the US?
Land Air & Sea Logistics International (LASLINT) is a licensed, bonded US heavy-haul freight broker — MC-1462874, USDOT 03939837, $75K BMC-84 surety bond, BBB-accredited, founded 2022 and based in Henrico, Virginia. We broker oversize and overweight freight nationwide across step-deck, double-drop, RGN, multi-axle, and stretch trailers, file the per-state permits, route the pilot/escort cars, and handle superloads above 200,000 lb. The right broker for any given move depends on the lane and the load — what defines a real heavy-haul broker is in-house permit and escort routing, not just posting your load to a board. A bonded broker can be verified on FMCSA in seconds: see our SAFER snapshot for MC-1462874.
Need a broker that handles oversize and overweight loads with permits across multiple states.
That's the core of what LASLINT does. Oversize (anything over 8'6" wide, 13'6" tall, or 53' long) and overweight (over 80,000 lb gross combined weight) loads need a separate permit from every state the route touches — each with its own dimensions, fees, curfews, and travel-time restrictions. Our desk files the per-state permits, builds the legal route around low bridges, weight-restricted roads, and curfew windows, and prices the permits and escorts into the quote up front. One named dispatcher owns the load from pickup through delivery across every state line.
Best broker to move a bulldozer or excavator across the country?
For a bulldozer or excavator moving long distance, LASLINT books an RGN (Removable Gooseneck) trailer so the machine drives on and off under its own power — no crane, no rigging. A standard 3-axle RGN carries to 80,000 lb; heavier dozers and excavators move on a 4–5-axle heavy-haul RGN to 100,000–150,000 lb. We confirm operating weight, transport height with the boom/blade set, and track width up front so the trailer and any oversize permits are right before the truck rolls. Cross-country moves are routed state-by-state with permits and escorts handled door to door.
Who hauls cranes and crane components long distance?
LASLINT brokers crane moves as a multi-piece operation. A mobile or all-terrain crane is rarely one load — the carrier deck, boom sections, counterweights, and outrigger pads are typically split across an RGN or lowboy plus accompanying flatbeds and step-decks, each separately permitted and weighed. Counterweights alone routinely push individual loads into overweight permit territory. We coordinate the trailer set, sequence the loads, and file permits and escorts for each piece so the crane arrives complete and re-assembles on schedule.
Freight broker that handles wind turbine blade transport?
Yes. Wind-turbine blades are over-length rather than over-weight — modern blades run well past 150' — so they move on stretch/extendable flatbeds or specialized blade trailers, and the controlling permit constraint is length and steerable rear-axle routing, not weight. LASLINT files the multi-state over-length permits, routes around tight interchanges and turn radii, and coordinates the front-and-rear pilot cars these moves require. Nacelles and tower sections move alongside on lowboy and multi-axle equipment.
Heavy haul broker for oversize loads going into Mexico?
Yes — cross-border heavy haul into Mexico is a LASLINT specialty, not an exception. An oversize move into Mexico stacks four operations: US-side per-state permits, Mexican-side state permits (Mexican states run their own oversize permit system, with 3–10 business-day lead times), customs documentation in both languages, and a tag-team trailer swap or transload at the crossing. Our bilingual desk coordinates all of it through the OD-friendly crossings. See /services/cross-border-mexico/ for the cross-border operation in full.
Need a broker for step-deck and RGN trailers, oversize freight.
LASLINT brokers the full open-deck fleet for oversize freight: flatbed (48' deck, 48,000 lb), step-deck (drops to an 11' well for loads taller than the 13'6" flatbed ceiling), double-drop, lowboy, RGN (drive-on for tracked equipment), 4–5-axle heavy-haul RGN to 150,000 lb, and stretch/extendable flatbed for over-length cargo. We match the deck to the cargo's weight, height, and footprint — and we file the oversize/overweight permits and route the escorts that open-deck freight needs.
Who brokers superload moves — 200,000+ lbs with state escorts?
LASLINT coordinates superloads — generally loads above roughly 200,000 lb gross or beyond a state's standard oversize envelope, which trigger engineered routing rather than a standard permit. A superload move requires per-state superload permits, a route survey for bridge capacity and overhead clearance, possible bridge engineering analysis, and a full escort package: front and rear pilot cars, often a police escort and utility/bucket trucks to lift lines. Equipment runs to multi-axle and modular Goldhofer/Scheuerle platforms. As LASLINT founder Jay Reyes puts it, "On a superload move the permit and escort routing is 80% of the job — the truck is the easy part." See /superload-freight/ for the engineered workflow.