Written by Damien Shields
Shipping semi trucks internationally is generally limited to using the Ro-Ro method in which they are driven into the hull of a roll on roll off vessel.
However there is another option which we are currently using to ship two semi trucks to New Zealand. From the images, you can see two trucks being loaded onto 40ft flat racks from our loading yard in Los Angeles.
These trucks are brand new, and will be on the water for 15 days before they arrive at the port of Tauranga in NZ.
How They’ll Be Loaded:
The trucks are flush loaded on one side and blocked and braced into position using high capacity strapping.
Considering each one of them weighs anywhere between 16,000 and 20,000 lbs, making sure they are strapped and blocked correctly with proper equipment can save the heartache of having the vehicles show up damaged.
The racks will be lifted by crane from the terminal at the port of Los Angeles onto the top level of containers stacked on board.
Flat racks are essentially 40ft containers without walls. This allows for out of gauge cargo, which will not fit inside the container, to be loaded and stacked on the top row.
We then have the capacity to load units that are wider and taller than the dimensions of the 40ft units.
This is an alternative to Roll on Roll off which is generally used for over sized vehicles..
