Machine Freight - Flatbed or Conestoga?

Looking to ship a 4500lb vertical mill from California to Ohio. This is my first machine for private use so budget is tight, but I'm willing to spend when necessary. I have the option of using a flat bed trailer with the machine tarped or using a conestoga trailer. Both trailers are air ride equipped. The conestoga is obviously more expensive. Is the extra cost warranted?

The covered wagon should not be any more costly, maybe cheaper, no tarping.

Steve

The problem with box freight is there is no way to secure the load, they might try using those load braces, made from aluminum tubing. I would use the flatbed.

dalmatiangirl61 said:

The problem with box freight is there is no way to secure the load, they might try using those load braces, made from aluminum tubing. I would use the flatbed.

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Conestoga or "covered wagon" is a term for a flat bed trailer with a rolling tarp system. They are not van trailers.

Steve

Steve in SoCal said:

Conestoga or "covered wagon" is a term for a flat bed trailer with a rolling tarp system. They are not van trailers.

Steve

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Yes, this sort of thing.



I don't personally see the advantage other than avoiding damage to exposed fittings or shrouds from manhandling a large tarp over the top.

Ok, can't say I've heard that term, thought he was just referring to a box van.

I would rather my machines were shipped by flatbed and tarped. A good flatbed trucker will have tarps with D rings for tarp straps and lots and lots of tarp straps. The tarps are his, he will make sure it doesn't flap in the wind. Proper tie downs will be easier with a flatbed, and there are a lot more flatbeds on the road. The only exception to me would be a machine with features that couldn't support the weight of a tarp and the tarp tie-downs.

Conestoga is way better than a flatbed. Tarps can scratch up machine and damage machine. We ship almost all Machinery loads on Conestoga.

That being said, a small item like we are talking about here would be fine in a regular van, you’ll just have to build a skid for it, and secure it with braces and nails to the floor of the trailer. Van will be the cheapest.

A manual machine tool? I think you'll be fine with either. Just go with the cheapest. If you are worried abut scratches then a person could always ask for the machine to be stretch-wrapped ahead of time. It would be about a 10 minute job assuming the stretch wrap roll is present.

A conestoga has the advantage of speed but the disadvantage of potentially losing height due to the curved roof. There's also a thing at the very tail end of the trailer where it takes a good bit of work for the driver to roll the roof system all the way to the front. So it also is limited in length.

A conestoga is also not totally sealed, either. The roof rolls essentially on the rub-rail and the strap or chain system goes inside of the rub-rail. So there's a small gap all the way around I can't say I've ever seen water or road salt inside but the dozens I've unloaded usually come from custom MI-based machine builders so a relatively short trip.

Biggest thing I would recommend if you are just getting into semi trucks is to have an ~8k truck and long forks 60" or greater. The single loads usually ride down the long centerline of the trailer and looking to lift a heavy machine thats ~4ft out from the mast and 36-42" off the ground is where the extra capacity comes in handy to build confidence. There are ways to use a lighter truck to crab or drag the pallet back close to the edge but the pucker factor is high.

Thanks for all the replies. This is a small CNC tapping center, not a manual machine. The conestoga is only $300 more, but I'd rather spend that on more tooling if I can.

How about a Tautliner
Cheaper perhaps
Here I expect 70% of trailers to be a tautliner Few flatbeds Almost no conestoga`s
On modern tautliners you can roll open the roof And you can also secure loads like on a flatbed

Peter

jhov said:

Thanks for all the replies. This is a small CNC tapping center, not a manual machine. The conestoga is only $300 more, but I'd rather spend that on more tooling if I can.

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I wonder how much to have it crated ?

want to save money get multiple quotes. I have had good experience with a guy called Tom Roedl From Total Quality Logistics.

digger doug said:

I wonder how much to have it crated ?

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Probably more than $300.

You’re cheapest rate will be through a broker, but I refuse to use them. It does no good to save a few hundred in shipping cost, only to have a crew and a forklift sitting on a job for half a day or more waiting on a truck. This is something to consider.