Heavy Haulage
Transport in Melbourne
Oversize and Overmass Loads Across Victoria
Heavy haulage covers loads that exceed standard legal limits for width, height, length or mass. As a general guide, a load is oversize once it passes about 2.5 meters wide, 4.3 meters high or 19 meters long, and overmass once total mass exceeds around 42.5 tonnes.
Past those thresholds, the job stops being a delivery and becomes a permitted movement. Permits, route assessment, pilots and timing restrictions all apply, and the paperwork usually takes longer to arrange than the drive takes to complete.
The Permits Are the Job
People often assume heavy haulage is about trucks. It is mostly about approvals. A single oversize movement can involve several authorities. Access permits for Class 1 heavy vehicles are processed by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator through its online portal, while travel on local roads also needs approval from the relevant council or road manager. In Victoria, taking an over-dimensional load across railway or tramway tracks requires a separate permit, with guidance recommending at least fifteen business days between lodging and the planned move. Each approval has its own timeline and conditions, and missing one means the load cannot move. We manage the full process, including load classification, permit applications, pilot arrangements and route planning. Send us the dimensions, mass and two addresses for transport across Melbourne, Geelong, Bacchus Marsh and Western Victoria.
What Heavy Haulage Involves
Five things that separate it from ordinary transport:
Permit management across authorities. National, state and local approvals identified and lodged, since a single movement frequently needs more than one.
Route assessment before travel. Bridges, overhead clearances, roundabouts, level crossings, tram infrastructure and turning geometry checked along the whole route.
Pilot and escort coordination. Pilots arranged where the load’s dimensions require them, with communication between the vehicle and pilots maintained throughout the movement.
Specialized trailers. Low loaders, extendables, drop decks and floats selected to keep the load as low and as legal as the configuration allows.
Timing and curfews managed. Movements scheduled around restricted hours, peak periods and network conditions rather than assuming any time will do.
What Heavy Haulage Involves
A Franna is a mobile pick and carry crane designed to remove the delays and hidden costs of conventional crane hire. On your job, that means:
Permit management across authorities
Route assessment before travel
Pilot and escort coordination
Timing and curfews managed
What We Move
Cranes and Lifting Plant
Crawler cranes, tracked machines and crane components floated between sites, including our own fleet where tracked machines cannot drive to site.
Construction and Civil Plant
Excavators, dozers, graders, rollers and earthmoving machinery moved between projects, yards and hire depots across Victoria.
Industrial Machinery
Presses, tanks, vessels, transformers and production equipment relocated between facilities, often as part of a plant installation or decommissioning.
Modular and Prefabricated Structures
Transportable buildings, site offices, plant modules, bathroom pods and prefabricated assemblies delivered to construction sites.
Infrastructure Components
Bridge beams, culverts, precast segments, poles and structural elements delivered to civil and infrastructure projects.
Energy and Renewables
Transformers, switchgear, battery units and component sections delivered to substations, solar and energy infrastructure sites.
Call us now at 0457 000 637.
How a Movement Comes Together
How a Movement Comes Together
Start with the dimensions and the mass.
Start with the dimensions and the mass.
Send the load details
Exact dimensions, mass, center of gravity if known, lifting or loading points, both addresses, and any date constraints.
Send the load details
Exact dimensions, mass, center of gravity if known, lifting or loading points, both addresses, and any date constraints.
Classification and assessment
Movement classified, approvals identified, route assessed, trailer configuration selected, and a quote issued with permits and pilots itemized.
Classification and assessment
Movement classified, approvals identified, route assessed, trailer configuration selected, and a quote issued with permits and pilots itemized.
Approvals and scheduling
Applications lodged and tracked, pilots booked, timing set around restrictions, and loading and unloading arrangements confirmed at both ends.
Approvals and scheduling
Applications lodged and tracked, pilots booked, timing set around restrictions, and loading and unloading arrangements confirmed at both ends.
The movement
Load secured, escorted where required, transported to the approved route and timing, and unloaded at destination.
The movement
Load secured, escorted where required, transported to the approved route and timing, and unloaded at destination.
How We Work
Six things that apply to every movement:
Load classified first. Dimensions and mass assessed against current requirements to determine exactly what the movement is and what it needs.
Approvals identified and lodged. National, state and local applications prepared and submitted, with conditions checked against the actual route.
Route surveyed properly. Physical constraints verified rather than assumed, particularly heights, bridge capacity and turning geometry.
Pilots arranged where required. Escort and pilot arrangements organized in line with the conditions attached to the movement.
Restraint engineered. Load restraint designed for the specific item rather than adapted from a general arrangement.
Lift and load coordinated. Cranes, crews and traffic management arranged at both ends where loading or unloading requires them.
Moving plant onto a site with no hardstand or restricted entry? Call 0457 000 637 early, because access at the destination decides the trailer configuration as much as the load does.
How We Work
Six things that apply to every movement:
Every Lift Meets Safety Standard
What is heavy haulage?
The transport of loads that exceed standard legal limits for width, height, length or mass. These movements require permits, route assessment, specialized trailers and often pilot vehicles, and they operate under conditions that ordinary freight does not.
What makes a load oversize in Victoria?
As a general guide, a load is oversize once it exceeds about 2.5 meters wide, 4.3 meters high or 19 meters long, and overmass once total mass exceeds around 42.5 tonnes. Exact limits depend on the vehicle configuration and the access instrument the movement travels under, so each load is assessed individually.
Who issues oversize permits?
Access permits for Class 1 heavy vehicles are processed by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator through its online portal, which covers Australia other than Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Travel on local roads additionally requires approval from the relevant council or road manager.
Do I need a separate permit to cross tram or railway tracks?
In Victoria, over-dimensional loads crossing railway or tramway tracks require an Over Dimensional Load Permit. Victorian guidance advises allowing a minimum of fifteen business days between lodging the application and the planned move, which matters in Melbourne given how widespread tram infrastructure is.
How long do permits take?
Allow weeks rather than days. Victorian guidance for over-dimensional load permits is a minimum of fifteen business days, and complex movements involving multiple authorities, arterial roads or rail interfaces take longer. Permit timing determines the move date far more often than truck availability does.
What is a route survey?
A physical assessment of the intended route, checking overhead clearances, bridge capacity, turning geometry, road widths, level crossings, and any obstruction that would stop the load. For tall or wide movements,s it is the difference between a completed job and a truck stuck under a bridge.
Can you load and unload at both ends?
Yes. Cranes, crews and traffic management are arranged where the load needs lifting on or off. For wheeled and tracked machinery, a tilt tray or ramp loading is often simpler, and we will say which suits.
What does heavy haulage cost?
It depends on the dimensions, mass, distance, trailer configuration, permits and whether pilots are required. Permit fees are set by the issuing authority. Call 0457 000 637 with the load details and both addresses for a figure.
Do you do interstate heavy haulage?
Victorian work is our focus, and interstate movements are arranged on request. Interstate oversize loads involve additional route planning and approvals, so allow meaningful lead time.
Which areas do you cover?
All Melbourne metro suburbs, with Maidstone, Werribee and Caroline Springs among the areas we attend most often, extending through Geelong, Bacchus Marsh, Melton and Ballarat, plus regional Victoria and interstate on request.
0457 000 637
Open 24 hours
25 Rowsley Station Rd, Maddingley VIC 3340
Contact Us
Our depot at 25 Rowsley Station Rd, Maddingley VIC 3340 sits directly on the Western Freeway, which is a genuine operational advantage on oversize work. Loads reach the metro area and regional Victoria on a corridor built for heavy vehicles, rather than being routed through suburban streets where clearances and turning geometry create problems. Maidstone and the inner west present the tightest constraints. Established streets, close boundaries and tram infrastructure across the wider area mean route assessment carries more weight there than anywhere else in the corridor, and rail and tram crossings need their own approvals.