Amarillo Crane Rental Co.
(806) 855-8168Free quotes for heavy haul and machinery moving in Amarillo, TX.
Heavy Haul and Machinery Moving in Amarillo, TX
Heavy haul is moving a machine or load that is wider, taller, longer or heavier than a Texas road allows without a permit, and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles draws those lines at a gross weight of 80,000 pounds, a width of 8 feet 6 inches and a height of 14 feet, with separate caps on each axle group. Past any of them the move needs an oversize/overweight permit from TxDMV; permitted loads generally travel by daylight, and bigger ones add escort vehicles, red flags and holiday limits. Machinery moving is the work at each end: getting a press, a skid or a plant unit off its base and onto the trailer, then setting it at the new site. Loads leaving Amarillo use Interstates 40 and 27 and US 60, 87 and 287, and TxDOT is upgrading Loop 335, so the route belongs in the plan.
$2 to $4 per mile on most Amarillo heavy equipment jobs (national freight marketplace's Amarillo page, no date shown) · full pricing guide
The loads fall into two groups. Cranes moving between jobs often travel in pieces: Link-Belt says its 175AT all-terrain crane travels with "a full 81,000 pounds of counterweight in just two overflow loads," and its 298 Series 2 lattice crawler, 416,538 lbs in working trim, ships with an 89,440-lb main load. Plant equipment moving between buildings or sites needs a carrier and rigging at each end: inside the plant that can be a carry deck crane, and on the road a lowboy, a trailer whose deck drops low between the gooseneck and the rear wheels. Taking a machine off its base is a lift in its own right, worked out under rigging and lift planning before a trailer is booked.
Hauling is priced by distance, size and paperwork. A national freight marketplace's undated Amarillo page says there is no flat rate for heavy equipment but "most jobs average $2-$4 per mile." The same marketplace's national guide (updated 2023) puts an 8,000-lb mini excavator at around $1,500 and a 30,000-lb crane at $3,500 or more, adds $500 to $1,000 for a trailer built for oversized loads, and says prices often rise 10-20% in peak construction season. TxDMV's permit fees are set by the state, and our cost page with published rates lists them. When the haul delivers a machine rented from us, the Comptroller's Rule 3.294 states that "All transportation charges billed by the lessor to the lessee related to the leased property are taxable."
TxDMV says a load past legal size or weight "must have an oversize/overweight (OS/OW) permit," and you must know its exact dimensions and weight before applying. The TxDMV size and weight limits also set permitted axle weights, from 25,000 pounds on a single axle to 81,400 on a five-axle group, figured at 650 pounds per inch of tire width. Permits are applied for in TxPROS, TxDMV's online system, where most can be self-issued. Texas Health and Safety Code section 752.005 reaches transport too: no tool, machine or piece of equipment may be carried inside six feet of a high voltage overhead line unless the work is guarded as section 752.003 prescribes; the permit and power line guide covers that side.
Panhandle conditions set the schedule. TxDMV tells holders of its annual crane permit, "You are responsible for routing and obtaining current restrictions prior to movement." TxDMV's curfew list for time permits, in effect since September 30, 2025, carries no entry naming Amarillo, Potter County or Randall County, though TxDMV links a separate restriction list for the Amarillo district. Wind limits a tall load. On March 14, 2025 the Amarillo airport's weather station measured a record 83 mph, and the National Weather Service said the winds "created problems for high profile vehicle such as tractor trailers and semi-trucks"; our Amarillo wind records show the windy months. Water matters too: in June 2023 the full Lawrence Lake overflowed and flooded Amarillo streets, the Weather Service reported.
To price a haul or a machinery move we need the make and model, the weight, and the length, width and height as it will ride, with any parts that come off listed separately; the pickup and delivery addresses; what loads and unloads it at each end, such as a dock, a forklift or a crane; the ground and any overhead lines at both sites; and the dates. A spec sheet or a scale ticket settles the figures TxDMV will ask for. There is no fee for the written quote, which shows the trip, each permit and escort, any crane or rigging used to load, and every other charge, with tax broken out.
Free quote
Texas Size and Weight Limits, With Permit and Escort Triggers
The middle column is what TxDMV allows on a Texas road with no permit. The right column is where a permit, an escort or another step begins, from TxDMV's limits, single-trip, escort and crane permit pages. Width, height and gross weight apply to the truck, trailer and load together.
| Measure | Legal without a permit | Where more rules start |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 8 ft 6 in | 1 escort over 14 ft; front and rear over 16 ft |
| Height | 14 ft | Front escort with a height pole over 17 ft |
| Length | 45 ft single vehicle; 59 ft semitrailer | 1 escort over 110 ft overall |
| Overhang | 3 ft front; 4 ft rear | Rear escort when either end passes 20 ft |
| Gross weight | 80,000 lb | Permit over 80,000 lb; superheavy over 254,300 lb |
| Axles: single, tandem, triple, quad | 20,000 / 34,000 / 42,000 / 50,000 lb | With permit: 25,000 / 46,000 / 60,000 / 70,000 lb |
| Crane on its own wheels | Legal limits apply | $100 annual permit: up to 10 ft wide, 120,000 lb |
These are the State of Texas's own values from TxDMV pages that show no revision date; weights are in pounds. They are thresholds, not a route approval: a load past any legal value needs its permit before it moves, and TxDMV links district restriction lists, Amarillo's included, from its permit restrictions page.
Signs a Move Needs a Permit, Escorts or a Machinery Plan
Most of what decides a haul can be measured before a truck is booked. Measure the machine as it will sit on the trailer, weigh it with the rig, and set the numbers beside the state's. Any of these means the job needs more than a flatbed and a driver.
- Loaded on its trailer, the machine stands taller than 14 feet or spreads wider than 8 feet 6 inches.
- Truck, trailer and machine together top 80,000 pounds, or one axle carries more than 20,000 pounds even when the gross is legal.
- Part of the load hangs past the trailer's sides or more than 4 feet behind it, which calls for 12-inch red flags at its extremities.
- The machine sits in a shop, plant unit or feed mill with no truck access, so it must be rigged out or carried to the dock.
- The move date is Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day or New Year's Day and the load is over 14 feet wide, 16 feet high or 110 feet long.
- Gross weight passes 200,000 pounds, which brings a vehicle supervision fee, an axle-spacing test and, past 254,300 pounds, a superheavy permit.
Escorts, Flags, Lamps, Daylight and Holidays Under TxDMV Rules
TxDMV's escort and equipment requirements set escorts by the load's size. Width "Exceeding 14' to 16'" takes one escort, in front on a two-lane highway or behind on a multi-lane one, and anything past 16 feet takes one front and one rear on all roads. Height over 17 feet takes a front escort "equipped with height pole," and "Exceeding 18'" takes front and rear. Length past 110 feet takes one escort and "Exceeding 125'" takes two.
"If a load exceeds escort requirements in two dimensions, front and rear escorts are required," and TxDMV may also require law enforcement escorts. A load sticking out past the sides or more than four feet behind wears 12-inch red flags at its extremities, and one reaching more than four feet past the bed adds two red lamps visible from at least 500 feet. Under 43 TAC section 219.11 a permitted load moves only in daytime, which Transportation Code section 541.401 sets at one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset, unless it is overweight only or rides an interstate at no more than 10 feet wide and 100 feet long with legal overhang. Loads over 14 feet wide, 16 feet high or 110 feet long may not move on the listed holidays without a TxDMV exception; the current list names Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day in 2026 and New Year's Day in 2027.
Moving a Crane on Texas Roads: the Unladen Lift Equipment Permits
In Texas rule language a crane driving between Panhandle jobs is an unladen lift equipment motor vehicle: 43 TAC section 219.2 defines one as "A motor vehicle, such as a crane or a concrete pump truck," built to raise, shift or lower heavy weights with a projecting, swinging mast. Transportation Code section 623.181 lets the state issue it an annual permit when its design as lift equipment puts it over the weight or width limits, and section 623.182 fixes the fee at $100. TxDMV's annual unladen lift equipment permit expires one year from the "movement to begin" date and caps tires at 650 pounds per inch of width, and cranes no wider than 10 feet 6 inches, no taller than 14 feet and no longer than 95 feet may move at night with front and rear escorts.
The single-trip mileage permit is priced by miles, size and weight, lasts up to seven days, holds any single axle to 30,000 pounds and calls for front and rear escorts when a unit over 175,000 pounds crosses a bridge. Big crawlers split up: Link-Belt says "All overflow loads transport under 45,000 pounds" for its 298 Series 2, and our crawler crane rental page covers assembly. When a crane only drives on and off its trailer at the site, OSHA's crane FAQ says the construction standard does not apply, but under 29 CFR 1910.180(b)(3) the person moving it "must be qualified to operate the crane."
Panhandle Routes, TxDOT Projects and Project Matador's Turbine Loads
Heavy loads in and out of Amarillo ride a short list of corridors: Interstates 40 and 27 and US 60, 87 and 287, the U.S. highways the Handbook of Texas says merged at Amarillo along with Route 66. TxDOT's Amarillo District profile for FY 2024 counts "Lane Miles 9,516" and "Bridges 840," and its planned major projects include six mainlanes on Interstate 27 from US 87 to Loop 335 ($312 million), a freeway conversion of Loop 335 from Coulter Street to FM 2590 ($238 million) and a $26 million expansion of the Loop 335 and Interstate 27 interchange. TxDOT's Loop 335 project page shows frontage roads from SW 9th Avenue to Western Street under construction with completion expected in 2026, and the second phase of Loop 335's south interchange with Interstate 27 starting in 2028.
To the north, TxDOT has studied bringing US 87 and US 287 up to interstate standards on the 57-mile route from Loop 335 to beyond Dumas; our Dumas and Moore County page has the local detail. In Carson County, a September 18, 2026 news release from Fermi America reports that each Siemens Energy gas turbine reaching its Project Matador site, the first power equipment there, tops 480,000 pounds and required "Route surveys, permitted heavy-haul transportation" and "escorted convoys." That is past the general permit's 254,300-pound ceiling. The Carson County jobs around Panhandle page follows that project.
Which TxDMV Permit Fits the Move
Every move past the legal limits runs on a TxDMV permit, chosen by what is moving, how heavy it is and whether it drives itself. Three cover the loads on this page. TxDMV also sells 30-, 60- and 90-day width or length permits ($120, $180 and $240 in its February 2021 fee table) and a company-specific annual envelope permit at $4,000.
General single-trip permit
One movement of a load that cannot be divided, up to 254,300 pounds gross. TxDMV charges $60 plus a highway maintenance fee once gross weight passes 80,000 pounds, for totals of $210 up to 120,000 pounds, $285 up to 160,000, $360 up to 200,000 and $435 above that, plus a $35 vehicle supervision fee over 200,000 pounds. It suits a one-time move of an excavator, a dozer or a plant skid.
Superheavy single-trip permit
Needed above 254,300 pounds gross, or when a load of 200,001 to 254,300 pounds rides on less than 95 feet of total axle spacing. TxDMV asks for the application three to four weeks ahead so the route can be approved and bridges or pavement analyzed. The fee is $60 plus the $375 highway maintenance fee and the supervision fee; TxDOT's review of an outside engineer's report adds $500. It suits loads like the turbines Fermi America says weigh more than 480,000 pounds each.
Annual crane permit
A crane that drives itself to the job is unladen lift equipment, and TxDMV's annual permit for it, $100 a year, covers widths to 10 feet, legal height and length, 120,000 pounds gross, 25,000 pounds on a single axle and 46,000 pounds on a tandem group. Permitted cranes "9' wide or less, 14' high or less" and "65' long or less" get "24-hour movement." TxDMV also issues a single-trip mileage permit for these cranes: $31 minimum, valid up to seven days.
Heavy Haul and Machinery Moving FAQs
Do I need a permit to haul an excavator or a dozer in Texas?
You need a TxDMV oversize/overweight permit whenever truck, trailer and machine together go over a legal limit: 80,000 pounds gross, an axle limit such as 34,000 pounds on a tandem group, 14 feet in height or 8 feet 6 inches in width. A national equipment-rental marketplace's March 2026 cost guides say a large excavator delivery "requires lowboy trailer, possibly oversize permits" and price a large dozer move at $1,000 to $2,000 or more round trip on a lowboy with oversize permits. A load inside every legal limit, axle weights included, needs no permit.
How much does it cost per mile to haul heavy equipment in Amarillo?
A national freight marketplace's Amarillo page, which shows no date beyond its 2026 copyright, says most heavy equipment jobs average $2 to $4 per mile and that there is no flat rate. Its national guide (updated 2023) gives the same range for long hauls and says moves over 500 miles might cost $1,000 to $2,000. State fees come on top: TxDMV's general single-trip permit is $60, with a highway maintenance fee of $150 to $375 by weight once a load passes 80,000 pounds. Escorts, special trailers and crane loading are separate lines on a quote.
Can a crane move machinery inside a plant or shop?
Yes, where the floor and the maker's chart allow it: a carry deck crane picks a machine and drives it. Broderson rates its IC-80 at 18,000 lbs on outriggers but up to 11,400 lbs in pick-and-carry. On construction work, OSHA section 1926.1417 forbids carrying a load on the move if the crane's maker forbids it; when the maker permits it, a competent person, meaning one who can spot existing and predictable hazards and has authority to fix them, must settle the load and boom positions, the footing, the route, overhead obstructions and the speed, and tires stay at the maker's pressure. A machine no carrier can reach is rigged out to one first.
How do I get an oversize load permit in Texas?
You apply in TxPROS, TxDMV's online permit system, where its Permit Wizard asks a series of questions to find the permit that fits the load. Most permits can be self-issued; some go to the Permits Office for review first, and a superheavy load should be applied for three to four weeks ahead. TxDMV says you must know the exact dimensions and weight of the vehicle and load before applying, and its toll-free permit line closes at 4:30 p.m. each business day. Our written quote names the permit class and its fee.
Related Services in Amarillo
Free Heavy Haul and Machinery Moving Quote — Amarillo
Free quote