Pillar guide
Heavy Equipment Shipping Cost: Rates Per Mile & What Drives Them (2026)
Shipping heavy equipment on an open deck typically runs $2.85 to $5.90 per mile depending on trailer on hauls over 500 miles, with a $700 minimum on short moves under 350 miles. RGN and permitted loads run higher because the trailer, escorts, and routing all cost more. The exact number depends on distance band, equipment class, and permits.
As of July 2026. These ranges come from real heavy-haul loads brokered by AIG Enterprises, licensed freight broker MC 931605.
Our rate engine prices from live market signals on the corridor, adjusted for equipment and dimensions. Every price you see below matches what the Rate Desk will offer today, and every quote is confirmed by a dispatcher on the record.
How open-deck pricing actually works
Three inputs move the number more than anything else: distance, equipment class, and permits. Everything else (fuel, market season, pickup zone) rounds into the offer band you see on the calculator.
Distance is not a straight per-mile line. Short hauls carry a fixed minimum because a truck still burns a full day whether it runs 80 miles or 300. Long hauls run cheaper per mile because the deadhead in and out gets amortized across the load. Equipment class then multiplies against that base. A skid steer on a flatbed and a tracked excavator on an RGN can run the same corridor with a 60 percent price gap because the trailer, the permits, and the driver skill set are different animals.
AIG offer ranges by distance band
Ranges below are our post-margin offer to the shipper, not raw market data. Same curve the Rate Desk quotes from.
| Distance | Flatbed | Step-deck | RGN / heavy haul |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 350 mi | $700 min to $1,600 | $900 min to $1,950 | $1,400 min to $2,900 |
| 350 to 800 mi | $3.75 to $5.25 / mi | $4.25 to $5.90 / mi | $5.75 to $7.90 / mi |
| 800 to 1,500 mi | $3.25 to $4.50 / mi | $3.75 to $5.15 / mi | $5.10 to $7.10 / mi |
| 1,500 mi and up | $2.85 to $4.05 / mi | $3.30 to $4.65 / mi | $4.60 to $6.50 / mi |
Weekly fluctuations run inside these bands. When they do not, the Rate Desk widens the band and tells you why.
What makes a load oversize
Federal legal limits are the fence line. Cross any of them and your load becomes a permit load in every state you touch:
- Width: more than 8 feet 6 inches (102 inches)
- Height: more than 13 feet 6 inches loaded (14 feet in a handful of Western states)
- Length: more than 53 feet on the trailer, or overhang past state limits
- Weight: more than 80,000 pounds gross combined
Most 20-ton and up excavators bust the height limit the moment they load onto a step-deck. Most wide bucket attachments bust the width limit. Most compact track loaders do neither. Knowing which side of the line your unit sits on is the difference between a $1,900 quote and a $3,400 quote on the same 600-mile lane.
Permit and escort cost adders
Here are the honest ranges we build into a quote when your load needs paperwork:
- Permits only (over-width or over-height, no escorts): $250 to $600 total across the states on the route.
- Permits plus one escort (typically triggered past 12 feet wide): $900 to $1,650 across the route.
- Permits plus dual escorts or police (past 14 feet wide, or superload weight in some states): $1,600 to $2,200 and up, quoted per state.
State permit fees themselves vary wildly, from a $15 single-trip in one state to $500 plus in another for the same 100-mile crossing. Superloads (extreme weight or dimension) sit outside these bands and are quoted state by state.
Why marketplace quotes grow after you commit
Marketplaces price the load once to win the click, then reprice it when a carrier actually reads the dimensions. If the number you booked assumed a flatbed and the truck shows up needing an RGN, the driver goes home and the load rebids at real cost. That is the mechanic behind the classic "the quote was $2,400, then it turned into $3,700 at pickup" story.
The AIG desk avoids that in two ways. First, the calculator refuses to price a load with missing dimensions. Second, the dispatcher who confirms the truck is the same person whose name is on your receipt, so nobody hands the load off to a stranger who wants to renegotiate.