If it could be split onto pallets, it would not be project cargo.
The limits it is on the wrong side of
“Too big for parcel” is vague. The published numbers are not. Here is where each service actually stops.
| Service | Max weight | Max size | Above that |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS Ground Advantage | 70 lb | 130 in length + girth | Not accepted |
| UPS and FedEx ground parcel | 150 lb | 108 in long, 165 in length + girth | Over-maximum-limits charge, and refusal beyond it |
| Standard LTL on a pallet | Practically to a few thousand lb per pallet | Fits a 48×40 footprint and a dock door | Moves to flatbed or specialized equipment |
| Project cargo | Tens of thousands of pounds and up | Beyond the legal road envelope | Permits, engineering, and purpose-built equipment |
The jump from the third row to the fourth is not a price increase, it is a change of industry. Rows one to three are bought from a tariff. Row four is engineered: somebody drives the route first, measures the bridges, and prices the answer.
What a project move actually involves
Equipment
Flatbed for the merely heavy; step-deck and double-drop to buy back height; multi-axle and self-propelled modular transporters for the genuinely large. Ocean legs go breakbulk or on a heavy-lift vessel with its own cranes, because the piece will not fit a container.
Permits and route
Anything outside the legal envelope needs an oversize or overweight permit from every state on the route, and the states do not all agree on limits or on which hours you may travel. Route surveys check bridge ratings, overhead lines and turning radii before a truck is booked.
Both ends
Cranes, rigging and a pad to set the piece down on. A large share of project cost is not the miles at all — it is the lift at origin, the lift at destination, and the waiting time around both.
This is why project cargo has no rate table anywhere on the internet, including this one. Two identical machines going to two different addresses can differ several-fold, because the difference is what stands between the highway and the door.
Where SMKlog stops, plainly
What we can do is the part below the line. SMKlog sells parcel labels only and does not arrange pallet or freight shipments. If it is parcel-sized after all — and machine parts often are, once they are crated individually — the calculator prices it instantly against USPS, UPS and FedEx.
If your piece is genuinely indivisible and over the road limits, the right call is a project or heavy-lift forwarder with permit and engineering capability in the states you are crossing. That is a specialist trade and it is worth going to it directly rather than through a parcel service.
Where these limits come from
- USPS, Ground Advantage service page at usps.com. Read 2026-08-15. Source for 70 lb and 130 in length plus girth.
- UPS, package size and weight limits at ups.com. Read 2026-08-15.
- FedEx, packaging and weight guidance at fedex.com. Read 2026-08-15.
Permit thresholds are set by each state and change; nothing on this page should be read as a permit rule for a specific route. Carrier limits are quoted from the carriers' own published pages on the date shown and are revised without notice.
Common questions
What counts as project cargo?
Freight oversized, overweight or indivisible enough that it cannot be broken onto standard pallets: transformers, turbines, presses, pressure vessels, plant modules, mining and drilling equipment. The defining feature is that the piece cannot be split, so the transport is engineered around it.
Why can't it move by parcel or LTL?
It exceeds the published limits by an order of magnitude. USPS stops at 70 lb, UPS and FedEx at 150 lb and 165 in length plus girth. A single project piece is routinely tens of thousands of pounds, so no parcel tariff applies at all.
What does it move on instead?
Flatbed, step-deck, double-drop or multi-axle trailers by road; breakbulk or heavy-lift vessels by sea; often rail in the middle. Road moves above the legal envelope need state permits, and frequently route surveys and escorts.
Does SMKlog handle project cargo?
No. A genuine project move needs a heavy-lift forwarder with permit, engineering and rigging capability. SMKlog sells parcel labels only and does not arrange pallet or freight shipments.
How is it priced?
Individually, against a route survey, permit costs, equipment type and crane time at both ends. There is no tariff. Two identical machines to two different addresses can differ several-fold.
Can a machine be crated down into parcel?
Sometimes, and it is worth checking before assuming freight. Machine parts crated individually often land inside the 150 lb parcel envelope, which is a different price bracket entirely. The calculator will tell you in seconds.