Have you ever been in a modular building?
You might have been, and you wouldn’t even know it. It’s a structure that is made from prefabricated blocks which are fitted together on site.
It’s a fantastic idea if you want to construct something quickly, with no need to store materials and no weather delays!
It could be considered a nearly perfect method for construction for some project but with only one major snag. How to transport a 20ft building down the road to wherever the building site is.
Have you ever seen someone trying to freight a building? It’s not easy.
That’s where Baxter Freight and our suppliers make it possible.
The challenge of “out of gauge”
We call loads that are this size “out of gauge” and they require a specific type of transportation. You need trailers like a flatbed or low loader and the modular building will have to be loaded and unloaded by crane.
Transporting something this size need to have an escort vehicle accompanying it on route to make sure that it is safe for the building to pass or to control traffic in difficult areas. Plus, the route will need to be planned beforehand as you can get in a lot of bother if you try and tackle a road that is too small for the load.
Most customs stops are designed to take vehicles rather than buildings, so we must be very careful about which route we choose beforehand.
Fitting together the solution
Creating the Baxter Freight transport solution is Aimie Humphreys, our European Freight Team Leader.
Together with our suppliers, she has to navigate the complex world of UK permits, EU permits and working around building site access.
She needs to be good at reacting to last minute changes as there are frequent delays to when the loads can be delivered. Not having a crane available, issues on site or even high winds will stop us from being able to offload.
As the building needs to be put together in a certain order the loads need to arrive at site in order. The Baxter Freight Operations team arranged for the loads to be registered before being delivered to site via an app which addressed the security concerns of the customer.
Aimie arranged for the suppliers trailers to be held in an area near there site and be dropped off as and when the project needed it. That way the trailers could be cycled out when they were unloaded, and the supplier could get them back to use on the next job.
She likes to handle projects in a collaborative and equal way as it allows the customer, the supplier, and Baxter Freight to thrive together!
If you would like to know more about delivering out of gauge loads, get in contact with Aimie and our Accelerate Team today
