Plant & Agricultural Unit Shipping.

Plant and agricultural machinery is the most technical vehicle freight there is. Units are heavy, awkwardly shaped, frequently wider than a deck lane and often fitted with attachments that push them past the height limit of a standard vehicle deck. Get the method wrong and a machine sits on a quay for a fortnight accruing storage; get it right and a twenty-tonne excavator leaves the UK on schedule for a very reasonable price.

We move wheeled and tracked excavators, backhoe loaders, telehandlers, site dumpers, rollers, dozers, tractors, combine harvesters, balers, sprayers, forestry machines and mobile cranes from UK ports to buyers, hire fleets and contractors worldwide. Where a unit can be driven, RoRo is usually cheapest. Where it cannot, or where it exceeds deck height, we use a flat rack, an open-top container or a breakbulk lift, and we produce the lifting and lashing plan the carrier requires.

Costs vary widely with weight and dimensions, so treat the table below as a starting point and send us the make, model and attachment list for a firm figure.

Used machinery is inspected hard on arrival almost everywhere, and agricultural units are inspected hardest of all. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Chile and many African and Middle Eastern states require machines to be free of soil, plant material, seeds, insects and animal residue. Tracks, undercarriages, radiator packs, cabs, tool boxes and grain tanks are the places inspectors look first.

A machine that fails inspection is either cleaned at the border at a cost that dwarfs a UK pressure wash, or re-exported. We will tell you the standard your destination applies and, where required, arrange a professional pre-export clean with photographic evidence and a cleanliness declaration that travels with the paperwork.

Every plant & agricultural unit shipping booking with NLX Logistics follows the same simple sequence, and you keep the same reference number and the same contact from the first email to final delivery. You send us the details, we send you a written quotation, and once you are happy we confirm space and issue a booking pack with everything you need to prepare.

We never ask for paperwork you do not need, and we never spring charges on you at destination without warning. If a cost is likely to arise at the other end — terminal handling, customs examination, quarantine inspection, storage after free time expires — we tell you about it in the quotation so you can budget for it rather than discover it later.

Good paperwork is what keeps freight moving, so we front-load it. For commercial cargo we need a commercial invoice and packing list, your EORI number, the commodity codes and the incoterms you have agreed with your buyer. For vehicles we need the V5C or bill of sale, photographic identification for the owner and the keys. For personal effects we need a detailed inventory and, where relevant, evidence of residence.

If anything is missing we will tell you exactly what to obtain and where to get it. We would far rather spend ten minutes on the phone before the cargo moves than deal with a detention charge at destination because a certificate was never applied for.

Standard carrier liability is limited by international convention and is calculated on the weight of the cargo rather than its value, which means an expensive, lightweight shipment is barely protected at all. We therefore recommend all-risks marine cargo insurance on the declared commercial or replacement value of every consignment, which we can arrange at the point of booking for a small percentage of the insured value.

Cover runs warehouse to warehouse, includes general average contribution, and is underwritten on Institute Cargo Clauses A for most cargo types. Claims are handled with a single point of contact, and we will help you assemble the survey report, photographs and commercial evidence a claim requires.