22 Loads in 2 Days: Moving Two Link-Belt Crawler Cranes from Lakeside to Reno
Moving one crawler crane requires planning.
Moving two crawler cranes, totaling 22 truckloads, with two days' notice requires an entirely different level of coordination.
For this project, we were tasked with relocating a Link-Belt 298 and Link-Belt 348 crawler crane from Lakeside, California, to Reno, Nevada.
Each crane required 11 separate truckloads, bringing the project total to 22 loads. Cranes, counterweights, car bodies, tracks and additional components all had to be transported using a combination of flatbeds and step decks.
The timeline made the project even more challenging.
We received approximately two days' notice to put the transportation plan together, and once the project began, all 22 loads were moved within two days.
Here's what went into making it happen.
Moving a Crawler Crane Is Really a Multi-Load Project
Crawler cranes are built to lift extremely heavy loads while maintaining stability on challenging jobsites.
Transporting one is another story.
Unlike a smaller piece of construction equipment that can be loaded onto a single trailer, large crawler cranes have to be broken down into multiple transportable components.
For this project, both the Link-Belt 298 and 348 required 11 trucks each.
The loads included the cranes themselves along with:
Counterweights
Car bodies
Tracks
Crane components and supporting equipment
A combination of flatbed and step-deck trailers was used based on the dimensions, weight and configuration of each individual component.
Instead of planning one oversized shipment, we were essentially planning 22 individual shipments that all belonged to the same project.
22 Trucks With Two Days' Notice
Equipment was only one part of the challenge.
The bigger challenge was time.
We were given approximately 48 hours to assemble the capacity necessary to move both cranes.
That meant sourcing and coordinating 22 trucks capable of handling the different components while making sure the correct trailer types were assigned to the correct loads.
On a project this size, simply finding 22 available trucks isn't enough.
You need the right 22 trucks.
A trailer assigned to a track or counterweight load may not work for another crane component. Equipment dimensions, weight, deck height and securement requirements all influence which trailer gets assigned to each piece.
Those decisions had to be made quickly enough to keep the entire project moving.
Sequencing the Move
Multi-load crane projects also require a different approach to dispatch.
Twenty-two trucks can't simply arrive at the same time and figure it out from there.
Trucks have to be coordinated around loading capacity, available space and the components that are ready to move.
That creates a constantly moving operation:
Truck arrives. Component gets assigned. Equipment is loaded and secured. Truck departs. The next trailer moves into position.
Meanwhile, trucks already loaded are beginning the trip from Lakeside toward Reno while additional equipment is still being prepared at the origin.
The objective is to maintain enough capacity to keep the project moving without creating congestion at the loading site.
Lakeside to Reno
Once loaded, the equipment still had to make the trip from Southern California to Northern Nevada.
With 22 separate loads moving as part of one project, visibility becomes critical.
Instead of tracking a single shipment, you're keeping track of an entire fleet of trucks at different stages of the move.
Some may be loading.
Others may already be traveling.
Others may be approaching delivery.
And the customer still needs to know where the overall project stands.
That requires communication between the transportation team, drivers, origin and destination throughout the move.
22 Loads Completed in Two Days
Despite the short lead time, the entire transportation portion of the project was completed in two days.
Two crawler cranes.
11 loads each.
22 total truckloads.
From Lakeside, California to Reno, Nevada.
And only two days' notice to put the transportation capacity together.
Projects like this demonstrate something that's easy to overlook about heavy-haul transportation:
The challenge isn't always moving the biggest load. Sometimes it's coordinating all of the pieces.
Finding one truck is transportation.
Coordinating 22 specialized loads under a compressed timeline is project logistics.
And when the planning, equipment and communication come together correctly, even a project this large can move quickly.
