Rail transport of construction and road repair machinery and equipment (excavators, bulldozers, loaders, graders, cranes, rammers, asphalt work machinery)

Why to use rail transport

Rail transport is very convenient and advantageous for the long distance delivery of construction and road repair equipment, for the following reasons:

  • standard railway waggons (wooden platform or open waggons) allow the delivery of equipment having up to 60-70 tons in weight,
  • for the carriage of heavier equipment one can use lowbed transporter-waggons with loading capacity of 120-500 tons,
  • railway ensures minimum cost for the carriage of excavators, bulldozers, graders, cranes and other oversized construction equipment,
  • according to the railway regulation CIM / SMGS the railway administration shall be fully liable to the sender and the recipient of the cargo for the safety of carried goods and their timely delivery,
  • the transit time by rail does not depend on meteorological conditions.

Cost of rail transport of construction and road repair machinery and equipment.

The carriage cost related to a crane, excavator, bulldozer and other equipment depends on the following:

  • place of loading and place of delivery
  • the machinery weight
  • the size of the carried equipment. Based on the machinery drawing one may establish whether the machinery is in- or out-of-gauge.
  • the type of waggons used to carry forklifts, graders, cranes, rammers, asphalt work machinery and other equipment can be established based on the cargo weight and size;
  • the list of services and additional requirements requested by the client (for example, temporary storage in the customs terminal, sending the documents and/or the keys by courier to the final recipient, etc.).

Stages of rail transport of construction and road repair machinery and equipment

The process of carrying excavators, bulldozers, loaders, graders, cranes etc. has the following stages:

  • measuring the size of the construction machinery to be carried,
  • establishing the waggon type to be used for the carriage of excavators, bulldozers, loaders, graders, cranes, rammers, asphalt work machinery,
  • developing the plan on fixing the machinery on the waggon and approving it by the railway administration,
  • coordinating the carriage with all railway administrations involved in the carriage process,
  • ensuring the number of waggons needed to carry the machinery,
  • loading and anchoring on waggons the construction and road repair machinery and equipment,
  • dismantling the headlights, windshield cleaners, accumulators etc., loading them into the cabin, coverage of windows and fragile parts with protection material,
  • preparation of carriage documents,
  • delivery of loaded waggons to the loading station,
  • rail transport of construction and road repair machinery and equipment from the loading station to the destination point,
  • daily localization of waggons.

Sea transport of construction and road repair equipment.

For the delivery of excavators, bulldozers, graders, cranes from Turkey, USA, Europe or China the company Simplextrans uses sea transport (by bulk or Ro-Ro vessels) to bring such machinery to sea ports of CIS where they are transshiped from the sea vessel to rail waggons.

In some cases the construction and road repair machinery is carried by truck until the border station having broad gauge of 1520 mm, where it is loaded on Russian type waggons; for example, in case of transportation from Turkey the machinery is carried by truck to Poti or Batumi (Georgia), and in case of transportation from Europe, the machinery is carried to Chop (Ukraine) or Brest (Belarus).

Below you may find some cases of carriage of excavators, bulldozers, graders, cranes conducted by the company Simplextrans: