Continuous Miner Shipping for Underground Mining Operations
A continuous miner is heavy, wide, and built low, and moving one is a job of clearances and weight rather than miles. The cutting head and the crawler tracks concentrate fifty tons or more into a machine that often has to ship in sections to clear bridges and tunnels. Get the trailer, the permits, and the route survey right, and the miner reaches the portal ready to run.
Texas International Freight ships continuous miners and the wider underground mining spread out of Houston, by road across North America and by ocean to mining projects worldwide.
What Makes a Continuous Miner Hard to Move
The weight sits in a compact frame, so axle loading and lift points come first. Width often exceeds a standard lane, and the cutting drum and conveyor boom are exposed, so we plan the configuration around them. Heavier models ship in sections, with the cutting head, the body, and the gathering arms separated, loaded, and recombined at the mine, which keeps each piece within road limits.
Trailers and Loading
A continuous miner rides on a lowboy or RGN so the deck sits low enough to clear overhead structures, and the heaviest units move on multi-axle trailers that spread the weight. We set the loading plan from the machine’s drawings, then chain the tracks and frame with rated lashing at the manufacturer’s tie-down points.
Moving the Wider Mining Spread
A mine relocation is rarely one machine, and we move the equipment that travels with it.
- Shuttle cars and scoops: the material-handling units that feed the section, shipped on lowboys or flatbeds by size.
- Roof bolters and longwall components: heavy modular systems, often shipped in pieces and sequenced to the install order.
- Conveyors and drive units: structure and drive systems moved as breakbulk or in containers.
- Surface equipment: excavators, loaders, and dozers for the surface side of the operation.
For a full move, project logistics keeps the miner and its support equipment on one schedule so the section comes together in order.
Shipping Mining Equipment Overseas
For export, a continuous miner ships as breakbulk or on flat-rack equipment, lifted aboard with gear sized to the piece. The choice between heavy lift and breakbulk follows the weight and the section sizes. From Houston we load at Port Houston terminals onto services reaching mining regions in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Permits, Route Surveys, and Escorts
An oversize miner needs a permit in every state on the route, and a superload needs a route survey to confirm bridge ratings, turn radii, and overhead clearance. We pull the permits, plan the route, and arrange the pilot cars and escorts the load calls for. For export and cross-border moves to Mexico or Canada, we prepare the documentation and coordinate customs clearance as an FMC-licensed forwarder.
Move Your Equipment With Texas International Freight
Send us the make, model, dimensions, weight, and destination, and we return a routing plan and a quote.
Contact Information:
- Phone: +1 877-489-9184
- Email: ship@txintlfreight.com
- Address: 11511 Katy Fwy #320, Houston, TX 77079
- Web Form: Request a Quote
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What types of continuous miners do you ship?
We ship drum miners and borer-type miners across the major makes, new and used. We assess each machine’s weight, width, and height, confirm whether it ships whole or in sections, and build the loading and permit plan from there.
Do continuous miners ship in one piece or in sections?
It depends on the model and the route. Lighter units ship whole on a lowboy, while heavier miners ship in sections, with the cutting head and body separated to keep each load within road limits, then recombined at the mine.
How do you handle permits for an oversize mining load?
We secure the state and local permits for every segment of the route, run a route survey for superloads, and account for restricted hours, escort requirements, and bridge ratings so the machine moves legally from origin to portal.
Can you transport mining equipment overseas and across borders?
Yes. We ship continuous miners and mining equipment as breakbulk and flat rack by ocean, and we handle cross-border moves to Mexico and Canada, preparing the documentation and coordinating customs clearance on both sides.
What do you need to quote a continuous miner shipment?
Send the make and model, the dimensions and weight, whether it can be sectioned, and the pickup and destination points. From that we set the trailer, the route, and the permits and return a quote.
