Home / Equipment Transport / Dozer
Agency of CRST · All 48 States
Dozers are the machine that taught me heavy haul. They are wide, they are heavy for their size, and the blade is a decision on every move. Here is how each class ships, when the blade comes off, where the permit and escort lines fall, and what it costs.
Dozer transport, nationwide
An excavator's width is set by its tracks. A dozer's width is set by its blade, and the blade is usually two to four feet wider than the machine. That single fact drives every dozer transport decision: ship it with the blade on and accept a wider permit, angle the blade to save width, or pull the blade and send it on a flatbed alongside.
The weight is the other half. Dozers are dense. A D6 is about the size of a mid-size excavator and weighs as much as a 35 ton one. A D8 is overweight on a 3-axle. A D10 or D11 is a project with the blade, ripper, and sometimes the cab coming off and the tractor alone riding on a multi-axle.
By the numbers
Approximate shipping figures for common classes. Blade widths are for the common blade configuration on each machine; wide and semi-U blades run larger. Height is the machine with cab or ROPS.
| Class | Examples | Operating weight | Width w/ blade | Width w/o blade | Height | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | CAT D3/D4, Deere 450/550, Komatsu D39 | 17,000 to 28,000 lb | 8 to 10.5 ft | Under 8.5 ft | About 9.5 to 10 ft | Legal with blade angled or off, on a step deck or RGN. Over-width with a wide blade on. |
| Mid | CAT D5/D6, Deere 650/750, Komatsu D51/D61 | 30,000 to 50,000 lb | 10.5 to 13 ft | 8.5 to 10 ft | About 10.5 to 11 ft | Over-width with blade. RGN. D6 is the first class where weight alone means a permit on a 2-axle. |
| Large | CAT D7/D8, Komatsu D85/D155, Deere 950/1050 | 55,000 to 90,000 lb | 12 to 14.5 ft | 9.5 to 11 ft | About 11 to 12 ft | Over-width and overweight. 3-axle lowboy. Escorts on many two-lane routes with the blade on. Blade often ships separately. |
| Very large | CAT D9, Komatsu D275/D375 | 105,000 to 160,000 lb | 14 to 17 ft | 11 to 13 ft | About 12 to 13 ft | Multi-axle lowboy, blade and ripper off and shipped separately. Escorts. Superload thresholds in some states. |
| Mining | CAT D10/D11, Komatsu D475 | 150,000 to 250,000 lb | 17 to 22 ft | 13 to 15 ft | About 13 to 15 ft | Project move. Tractor on a multi-axle, blade, ripper, and sometimes cab and tracks shipped separately. Engineering review in most states. |
The verdict column assumes a typical route. A D8 with the blade on at 14 ft wide is an escort load almost everywhere; the same tractor with the blade on a flatbed behind it is a routine over-width permit at 10 to 11 ft. Two trucks can be cheaper and faster than one wide one.
Equipment
A dozer that is too heavy for its trailer is an axle-weight citation and a reload, not a warning. We size the trailer to the machine, not to what happens to be available.
Before pickup
Pricing
As with any heavy haul, treat these as the shape of the answer, not a quote. Lane, season, and market move the numbers.
Example: CAT D6, 13 ft blade, 11 ft tall, 48,000 lb, Bend, OR to Boise, ID. Two options: blade on, over-width permit in both states with a pilot car on the two-lane stretches, one truck. Or blade angled to about 11 ft, over-width permit, no pilot, one truck. Same price class, a day's difference in scheduling risk.
A D8 on that same lane is a 3-axle lowboy, overweight permits, and the blade almost certainly on a second flatbed.
Instant answer
Punch in the piece you need moved. We will tell you whether it runs legal, what trailer it belongs on, and what to expect before you ever pick up the phone. Add origin and destination and we will map the route and break down permits state by state.
Estimates based on standard federal and state limits as of June 2026. States change fees and rules, and exact requirements depend on route and axle configuration, so check with your broker for current information. Permits, routing, and escorts are exactly the work we handle for you. Routing by OSRM, geocoding © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Questions we get
Not always. Small and mid-size dozers often ship with the blade angled, which brings the width down enough to run on a routine over-width permit. Large dozers, D8 and up, usually ship with the blade on a separate flatbed because the blade alone is 14 feet or wider and turns the move into an escort load. We make that call on every quote based on the route.
Small dozers ride on a step deck. D5 through D7 class ride on an RGN lowboy, 2 or 3 axle depending on weight. D8 and up need a multi-axle lowboy, and the blade and ripper often ride on a separate flatbed.
Yes. A D6 is 10 feet 6 inches to 13 feet wide with the blade on, over the 8 foot 6 inch legal width, and at 40,000 to 50,000 lb it is at or over legal gross weight on a 2-axle RGN. It is a routine over-width and overweight permit load with no escort on most routes.
A D8 is a multi-axle lowboy move with overweight permits in every state on the route, plus either escorts with the blade on or a second flatbed for the blade. Cost depends heavily on the lane and whether two-lane routes are involved. We quote it on the actual route, both ways, and tell you which is cheaper.
Yes. Vector Logistics moves dozers in all 48 states as an agency of CRST, with asset-based capacity and CRST cargo insurance behind every load. Cross-country dozer moves are daylight-only permit loads and typically run five to seven days.
Decide on the blade (angled, on, or off), raise or remove the ripper, lower any exhaust stack or cab features that come down, clean the tracks, run the fuel under half, and make sure the truck can reach firm level ground. We walk through all of it before pickup.
Keep reading
Call (310) 989-6530 or send the details. Same-day answer, CRST capacity behind it.
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