We handle the freight
Shipping Class, Weight and the Transport Decision
A working guide for Ohio sellers: what decides the number and how the unit leaves.
What we buy
What we buy here
Shipping Class, Weight and the Transport Decision is one of those subjects where the wrong assumption is expensive and the right one takes ten minutes. A transformer that has been idle for two years may still be perfect, and the test sheet is how you find out. A transformer is a boring asset until the day it fails, and then it is the only thing anyone discusses.
Do the cheap checks first, because they eliminate most of the expensive possibilities. Paint is a cosmetic question, and seam rust is a structural one, and the two are often confused. The question that decides most purchases is not what the unit is but where it has to go next.
Who we buy from
Six kinds of seller, one desk
- Recyclers
- Electrical contractors
- Equipment dealers
- End users
- Demo contractors
- Distributors
Fast offers
A nameplate photo is usually enough to price a unit the same day.
Dedicated logistics
We arrange the crane, the permits and the flatbed, not you.
No broker fees
You are dealing with the buyer, so nothing is shaved off the offer.
How it works
Six steps from your yard to the money
- 01
Take pictures
The nameplate, the cabinet interior and the tank in daylight. Three photographs are usually enough to place a unit in the right class and the right price band.
- 02
Send them to us
The form on this page, a text or an email all reach the same desk. Include the city, the access and any deadline the site is working to.
- 03
Review the offer
A buyer reads the photographs, asks one or two questions and sends a written offer with the assumptions stated, so nothing changes on the day.
- 04
We schedule freight
Crane, flatbed and permits are booked around your access. You get a date and a window, and we carry the cost of getting it right.
- 05
Testing on arrival
Winding resistance, megger and turns ratio, plus oil analysis where the unit is liquid filled. The results decide the final number, and you see them.
- 06
Get paid
Payment is released on the agreed terms once the unit is received and tested, by check or ACH. No retention, no sixty-day terms.
What we handle for you
The parts sellers dread, done for you
Rigging
Crane and forklift arranged around your access, not the other way round.
Oil containment
Bunds, absorbent and disposal handled before the unit moves.
Bill of sale
A clean title document for your records, signed on collection.
PCB paperwork
Pre-1979 units get the testing and the manifest they need.
Guide
The four numbers
Shipping weight includes the oil at shipping level, the bushings if they travel fitted, and the skid or the pallet. Overall height includes the bushings, and removing them can change a permitted load into a legal one. Overall width and length decide the trailer type and the escort requirement.
A transformer with its original documentation is easier to insure, easier to resell and easier to explain. A purchase is a handover of risk as much as a handover of metal.
The classes of move
A legal load fits within standard dimensions and needs no permit, which covers most padmounts. An oversize load needs a permit and often an escort, which covers most substation units. A superload needs an engineering review, a route survey and sometimes a police escort, which covers the largest units.
Details that seem trivial on the phone become decisive on the pad, which is why they are asked about early. The paperwork at the end is short, and it is the part that keeps everybody out of trouble.
Choosing the trailer
A step deck suits a padmount because it lowers the deck and keeps the height down. A lowboy suits a heavy unit with a low centre of gravity. A rail car suits a unit too heavy or too wide for a practical road move.
A unit that has been looked after is obvious within a minute, and so is one that has not. A decommissioning is orderly, which makes it the easiest kind of large project to buy from.
The mistake
The common mistake is planning the lift and leaving the route until the day before, which is the wrong order.
Checklist for shipping class, weight and the transport decision
Questions about shipping class, weight and the transport decision
Related guides
Get started
Get an offer in minutes
Five fields and a phone number is all we need to start. We reply the same business day, and a firm number follows the nameplate photo.
(614) 715-3047or send the form and we will call you.
Questions
What sellers ask before they call
Equipment types
Does shipping class, weight and the transport decision change what a transformer is worth?
A step deck suits a padmount because it lowers the deck and keeps the height down. A rail car suits a unit too heavy or too wide for a practical road move.
Service area
Where does a seller start with shipping class, weight and the transport decision?
Overall height includes the bushings, and removing them can change a permitted load into a legal one. A buyer who cannot say where the unit will go is a broker, and brokers add a day and a deduction.
Payment
Is shipping class, weight and the transport decision part of what a buyer checks on site?
The common mistake is planning the lift and leaving the route until the day before, which is the wrong order. The common mistake is planning the lift and leaving the route until the day before, which is the wrong order.
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