One 41-tonne transformer, and the only pad that would take it
Most freight problems are ordinary. This one was a single indivisible object heavier than any other terminal on the network could lift.
A distribution transformer, crated, 41.2 tonnes, going for export through Ashport. Nothing about the routing was difficult. Everything about the lifting was.
The constraint
The Thorne Vale pad is rated for 42 tonnes under the spreader; every other inland terminal on our network is rated lower. That single fact determined the entire movement — the origin terminal was not chosen for its position but because it was the only one that could pick the load up.
The plan
A flat-rack with the crate secured against longitudinal shift, a route confirmed for gauge on every structure, and a lift plan signed off in advance at both ends. The consignment moved on a normal Corridor path rather than a special, which kept the cost within a factor of ordinary freight rather than a factor of ten.
The honest note
It arrived eleven hours late. A gauging check at an intermediate structure had to be repeated after a measurement disagreed with the survey, and we held the consignment rather than proceed on the more optimistic of two numbers. The customer was told at the point we made the decision, not on arrival.