How Macarthur Hauls Skid Steers, Lifts, and Compressors Between Job Sites

An equipment move is quoted and planned from a short list of facts. Give them to the person who answers and the move goes right the first time.

Make, model, and weight. The operating weight on the data plate or in the spec sheet decides whether the flatbed can carry it and how it is chained. A skid steer model number tells us more than a description; two machines that look alike can differ by a thousand pounds.

Attachments. A bucket adds weight and changes how the machine sits on the deck. A breaker or auger needs its own tie-down. A forestry head or a wide brush cutter can exceed the deck width and needs to be removed before loading.

Does it run and drive? A machine that drives onto the deck is a quick load. A dead machine is winched, and a dead tracked machine or a forklift with locked wheels may need skates or a second approach. Tell us so the driver brings what he needs.

Leaks and condition. Hydraulic fluid on a deck is a hazard for the driver and the next machine. If the piece is leaking, say so and the driver brings absorbent and pads it. A machine with a cracked frame or failed brakes is chained accordingly.

Both addresses and both contacts. A job site with a gate code, a yard that closes at four, a lot where the machine has to be set down in a specific spot. Who is there at each end, and how do we reach them if the truck is early or late. The what to tell us section on the towing page covers the phone call for any tow, and the same applies here.

Timing. Most equipment moves are scheduled, not immediate. Tell us when the machine needs to be at the next site and we tell you honestly what day and window works. A machine down on a live job is treated as the emergency it is.

Most of the problems with an equipment move are at the ends, not on the road. Here is what the driver looks at and what you can do ahead of time.

The surface. A loaded flatbed sinks into soft lawn, fresh fill, or mud, and a stuck tow truck is a bad day for everyone. Gravel, pavement, compacted base, or dry firm ground is what the truck needs. If the machine is in the middle of a soft site, drive it to the firm edge before the truck arrives if it runs.

Gates, fences, and overhangs. The truck is wide and tall. A residential driveway gate, a low tree limb, or a carport roof stops it. Tell us the gate width and anything overhead, and the driver plans where to load. Overhead power lines near the loading spot are a hard stop; the deck and a raised boom both get close to them.

Slope. Loading on a slope means the machine rolls or slides on the deck before it is chained. The driver positions the truck so the deck tilt works with the slope rather than against it, or finds a flatter spot within reach.

Where it goes at the other end. A machine set down in the wrong corner of a job site has to be moved again by someone. Tell the driver where the crew wants it and whether it should face a particular way, and have someone there who can say so.

Curbside handoff. When a site cannot take the truck, the machine drives to the curb or a firm pad to meet it. That is normal and the driver will tell you on the phone if he thinks it is likely from the description. The commercial accounts section on the towing page covers how repeat moves for the same crew are set up so these details are already on file.

The honest answer to a hauling request is sometimes no, and it is better to hear that on the phone than at the site.

Weight. The deck is rated for compact and mid-size equipment. The operating weight on the data plate, plus the attachment, decides it. If the machine is at the edge of the rating, the driver confirms before loading, because the rating includes a margin for chaining and braking that we do not spend.

Length and width. A machine longer than the deck or wider than the truck's legal width is not a flatbed job. Some attachments can be removed to bring a machine within limits; a wide brush cutter or a forestry head is the usual example.

Height. The machine's height plus the deck's height has to clear overpasses and tree limbs on the route. A tall lift or a machine with a raised cab is checked against the route before we commit.

Tracked machines and deck protection. Steel tracks and aggressive rubber lugs chew a deck. We protect the deck or decline the move depending on the machine.

Trailer-mounted equipment. A compressor, light tower, or chipper on its own road-legal trailer is often better towed behind a truck than lifted. Tell us the condition of the trailer's tires, lights, and hitch, and we choose.

When it is beyond us. For large plant, oversize loads, or anything that needs a lowboy and permits, we say so. The heavy duty towing page covers the trucks, buses, and trailers the heavy wrecker handles, which is a different job from hauling a machine on a deck.

From the yard on the Nassau–Queens line, the trucks reach the south shore and southeastern Queens first: Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Elmont, Franklin Square, Hempstead, Rockville Centre, Oceanside, Baldwin, Freeport, Long Beach, Cedarhurst, Inwood, and across the line in Laurelton, Rosedale, Springfield Gardens, St. Albans, Jamaica, and Far Rockaway.

The same trucks cover the contractor yards and job sites of central and eastern Nassau, Garden City, Mineola, Westbury, Carle Place, Uniondale, East Meadow, Levittown, Hicksville, Plainview, Bethpage, Farmingdale, Seaford, and Massapequa, the north shore from Great Neck and Port Washington to Glen Cove, Syosset, and Oyster Bay, and the Suffolk border towns of Amityville, East Farmingdale, Melville, Dix Hills, and Huntington. Every town on the locations page has an equipment hauling page.