Founder and President · Bear Down Logistics
Frequently Asked Questions
01 — Dimensions
Is my load oversize?
Measure the load on the trailer, not on the ground. Deck height counts toward total height, and the widest point counts toward width — including mirrors, buckets, and anything that cannot be removed.
A load is oversize when it exceeds the legal limits a state allows without a permit. Federally that means wider than 8 feet 6 inches, and in most states taller than 13 feet 6 inches or heavier than 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. Cross any one of those thresholds and the shipment needs a permit before it moves.
Width of 8 feet 6 inches, height of 13 feet 6 inches to 14 feet depending on the state, and 80,000 pounds gross with 20,000 pounds on a single axle and 34,000 pounds on a tandem. Length limits are set per trailer type rather than per load.
A superload exceeds a state’s routine permit thresholds — commonly above 16 feet wide, 16 feet tall, 150 feet long, or 200,000 pounds. Superloads trigger engineering review, bridge analysis, and a physical route survey, and they are approved case by case rather than over the counter.
Give us length, width, height, and weight of the item itself, plus whether anything can be removed or lowered — booms, cabs, buckets, exhaust stacks, and counterweights. We add deck height and calculate the loaded dimensions, because a 12-foot machine on a 3-foot deck is a permit load.
Often yes, and sometimes it is the cheaper route. Removing a boom, tracks, or counterweights can bring a machine inside legal limits and eliminate permits and escorts entirely. We price both options so you can compare the disassembly cost against the permit cost.
02 — Compliance
Permits & escorts
We do. Bear Down Logistics secures every state and local permit your route requires, and handles routing and escort scheduling before the load is picked up. You never file paperwork with a DOT office.
Routine single-state permits are often same-day or next-day. Multi-state moves run two to five business days because each state issues on its own timeline. Superloads requiring bridge analysis or a route survey can take two to six weeks — build that into your project schedule early.
Thresholds are set by each state, but escorts commonly start around 12 feet wide, and a second escort or a height pole is added as width and height climb. Police escorts and utility crews come in on the widest and tallest moves, or where a route crosses a metro area. Every escort requirement is priced into your quote up front.
Yes. Most permits restrict movement to daylight hours, prohibit travel on holidays and weekends, and impose metro curfews during rush hour. Wind and weather can also halt tall loads. Those windows shape transit time more than distance does.
Bear Down Logistics is licensed, bonded, and insured, and is certified as a Small Disadvantaged Business, Minority Business Enterprise, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise under Cage Code 9D3Q7. Documentation is available before a load is dispatched.
03 — Cost
Pricing & quotes
No. There is no money down and no deposit required. You get a discounted, no-obligation quote and commit only when the plan and the price work for you.
Loaded dimensions and weight set the trailer type, the trailer type and route set the permits, and the permits set the escorts. Add mileage, fuel, lane density, and any crane or rigging at either end. Two loads of the same weight can differ sharply in price if one is a foot wider.
Make and model, length, width, height, weight, pickup and delivery addresses, your target date, and whether loading equipment is available at each end. Photos help. Accurate numbers up front are what keep the quoted price the final price.
Not if the load matches what you described. Rates move when actual dimensions or weight differ from the quote, when a state reroutes the permit, or when site access requires equipment that was not planned. You hear about any change before it is incurred.
04 — Equipment
Trailers & equipment
Flatbed for legal-height freight that loads from the side, step deck for taller cargo, removable gooseneck for machinery that drives on, and multi-axle or double-drop configurations as weight and height climb. The loaded height requirement usually decides it.
A removable gooseneck detaches at the front so the deck drops to the ground and equipment drives on under its own power — no crane required. The low deck also buys back roughly two feet of height, which often keeps a tall machine inside permit limits.
Yes. Where a site has no loading equipment we arrange cranes, forklifts, and professional rigging at pickup, delivery, or both. Tell us what is available on the ground at each end and we build it into the plan and the price.
Excavators, wheel loaders, cranes, graders, forklifts, and boom lifts, plus industrial machinery, transformers, drilling rigs, plant equipment, and full factory relocations. If it is too large, too heavy, or too awkward for a standard trailer, it is the work we do every day.
05 — Logistics
Booking & transit
Legal loads can often be covered within a day or two. Permitted oversize moves want a week. Superloads need a month or more because of engineering review and route surveys. That said, call regardless — expedited coverage is part of what a 30,000-carrier network is for.
Yes. Every load runs with 24/7 ELD tracking, and the dispatch team pushes proactive status updates rather than waiting for you to ask. If a delivery window comes under threat, you hear it from us first.
A legal load covers roughly 500 miles a day. A permitted oversize load is slower — daylight-only travel, curfews, and escort availability typically cut that to 300 miles or less. Your quote carries a transit estimate built on the actual permitted route, not straight-line mileage.
We are headquartered in Winter Garden, Florida and run heavy haul lanes nationwide, with dedicated coverage across Texas, California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and every other major freight market.
06 — Coverage
Insurance & claims
Yes. Every carrier in our network carries active cargo and liability coverage, verified before dispatch. High-value machinery can be booked with additional coverage — tell us the declared value and we will confirm the limits in writing.
We work through a network of over 30,000 A+ rated carriers, matched by equipment type and corridor experience rather than by whoever quotes cheapest that day. Authority, insurance, and safety record are checked before a load is assigned.
Note it on the bill of lading at delivery, photograph it, and call us the same day. We file with the carrier’s insurer and manage the claim through to resolution — you deal with us, not with an underwriter you have never spoken to.
Still have a question?
Talk to someone who has moved it before
Send the dimensions, the weight, and where it needs to be. You get a discounted no-obligation quote — no money down, no deposit.