Immediately upon arrival from Germany to City Docks in Houston, TX, Perkins set its experienced superintendents and crew with the task of the initial assembly of the latest hydraulic platform trailer innovation available on the international market for moving super-loads over the highways of North America, our Goldhofer dual lane hydraulic trailers! After a thorough hands-on education in Houston under the supervision of a German factory engineer, our veteran crew rigorously put the equipment through its paces around the Houston ship channel area to become completely with its safe operation to prepare for its first move; a newly fabricated coker fractionator tower bound for a refinery in southeastern Kansas. At nearly 119’ long and over 13’ in diameter with a net weight of 225,000 lbs, Perkins' dual lane platform trailer system was the ideal method for shipping this big tower by the highways.
Perkins timed the loading at the fabricators’ facility near the end of what had been expected to be a typical 5-week allowance for Texas DOT hauling permit issuance in anticipation that we would be moving shortly thereafter. However, as most super load carriers and shippers found out the hard way, we were unable to depart because of the lack of a hauling permit and felt the frustration and disappointment of significant transport delays due to TX DOT’s continued backlog of super load permit requests. Perkins was advised through the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) that Texas DOT had a backlog of over 530 permits with each one taking weeks to process due to bridge review.
Perkins patiently waited its turn in line with Texas DOT to get the needed permit to legally move its loaded transporter. Once the long-awaited permit was in hand, Perkins’ expert crew made short work of the circuitous 1,250 mile haul route into southeast Kansas by way of the Oklahoma panhandle as designated by the respective states in just 6 days.
It should be noted that on its way, the Perkins’ dual-lane transporter had to back in to the final 1,000 feet of this delivery inside the refinery in order to place the tower in the correct orientation for offloading, dress out, and erection. At minimum, a very difficult accomplishment for a typical “dolly transporter” that consists of house-moving dollies and structural beams, the modular 10-line Goldhofer dual-lane transporter’s hydraulic steering made it look easy by backing down a refinery road into a 90-degree turn under a low pipe rack with inches to spare on either side of columns, then down another plant road before pulling forward with its load through another 90 degree turn to the designated offloading site. Texas permit notwithstanding, it was a very successful maiden voyage for Perkins’ hydraulic modular dual lane transporter.
“Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.”- Early Internet Whiz Stewart Brand
It is rare in the world of project transportation that a real innovation or improved technology comes along. After all, people have been moving huge, heavy things over long distances not too long after the wheel was created and the earliest wagons were developed. However, we at Perkins can now make the exclusive claim of owning cutting edge technology that might be a “steamroller moment” in the area of super load highway transportation.
Perkins was an early adopter in owning one of the first modular hydraulic platform trailer equipment by German manufacturer Goldhofer specifically designed for dual-lane long distance highway transportation on North American highways. With the footprint of “beam & dolly systems” originally created by the house-moving industry that are loved by permitting agencies in the US and Canada for its ability to spread the load wide over bridges, the new modular dual-lane transport system also has all of the features of typical hydraulic trailer.
- Easy to mobilize/demobilize.
- Easy to assemble and operate.
- Hydraulic steering and suspension.
- And best of all, it can back up as easily as it can be pulled forward!
Although there’s always room for future improvements, this system is still the best super load transport technology on the highway today. Perkins will strive to remain the best, most innovative heavy hauling company in North America.
“The challenge isn't to keep your eye on big competitors. It's to pay attention to the innovators.”- Dave Duffield, former CEO of PeopleSoft
