Every equipment move starts with four numbers: length, width, height, and weight. Those numbers decide whether the load fits on a standard trailer, needs a lowboy, or crosses into oversize territory where state permits and escort rules apply.
Measure with attachments in transport position and be honest about weight. A load that arrives heavier than declared can be refused on the spot, and a re-dispatch costs far more than measuring twice would have.
Route planning matters just as much: bridge clearances, axle limits, and site access at both ends. Tell us how the machine loads, whether it runs, and what is waiting at delivery, and the plan will match reality instead of surprising everyone on the day.
Attachments cause more surprises than machines do. A bucket, a blade, or forks left in working position can add a foot of height that turns a legal load into a permitted one. Transport position, or better yet detached and secured, keeps dimensions inside the numbers you quoted.
Fluids and batteries have rules of their own on some lanes. Draining is rarely required for road transport, but leaks are: a machine that drips will be refused by yards and ferries alike. Fix the leak before transport week, not during it.
Loading is where most equipment damage happens, so the plan should say who loads and with what. If the machine drives on under its own power, the operator should be arranged in advance. If it needs a crane or a dock, that is part of the transport plan, not an improvisation.
Give the destination the same attention as the origin. Soft ground after rain, gates narrower than the trailer, overhead lines at the unloading spot: a two-minute phone call with the receiving site prevents the classic last-hundred-feet problem.