The plastics and rubber manufacturing sector is one of the most equipment-intensive industries in the United States. Injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, compression molding, and calendering operations all rely on large, heavy specialized machinery that must be moved when plants expand, consolidate, relocate, or replace aging equipment. Much of this machinery — particularly large-tonnage injection molding presses, wide-format extrusion lines, and industrial rubber calendering mills — is oversize or overweight by highway transport standards, requiring permits, specialized trailers, and experienced heavy haul coordination.
R&RM LLC has been transporting industrial process equipment and overweight loads for manufacturers, machinery dealers, and plant relocation contractors across all 48 continental states since 2011. This guide covers the major equipment categories in plastics and rubber manufacturing that generate heavy haul demand, the transport requirements for each, and the permit and logistics considerations that matter when moving this equipment between plants, dealers, and port facilities.
Injection Molding Machines
Large-Tonnage Injection Molding Presses
Injection molding machines are rated by clamping force — the force applied to hold the mold halves together during injection. Small machines below 300 tons of clamping force are typically within standard highway width and weight limits and can be moved on standard flatbed trailers. Large-tonnage machines — 500 tons and above — are where heavy haul requirements begin, and the largest machines (2,000 to 9,000 tons of clamping force) are substantial oversize and overweight loads. Transport specifications by size class:
- 500–1,000 ton presses: Machines in this range — common in automotive, appliance, and large consumer products molding — weigh 50,000 to 120,000 pounds and are 15 to 25 feet long. Most require overweight permits; the clamping unit width (platen-to-platen) on two-platen machines in this class may exceed 8 feet 6 inches, requiring overwidth permits as well. These typically ship on RGN lowboy trailers with appropriate axle configurations.
- 1,000–3,000 ton presses: Heavy-duty automotive structural part presses, large pallets and crate molds, and thick-wall container tooling run in this range. Machine weight is 120,000 to 400,000 pounds. Two-platen presses in this class are often 10 to 14 feet wide and 20 to 35 feet long — requiring overwidth permits with pilot car escorts in most states and overweight permits for multi-axle trailer configurations. These typically require 7 to 13 axle hydraulic platform trailers (Goldhofer, Scheuerle, or Nicolas type) or heavy-axle RGN combinations.
- 3,000–9,000 ton presses: Very large presses for bumper fascias, instrument panels, and structural foam parts. Machines at this scale weigh 400,000 to over 1,000,000 pounds and must be disassembled into major sub-assemblies — clamping unit, injection unit, machine base, hydraulic power unit — for highway transport. Each sub-assembly ships as a separate load, often requiring superload permits for the heaviest pieces. A full disassembly-and-transport project at this scale may involve 8 to 20 individual loads with individual permits for each. See our guide on multi-state oversize permit coordination for how we manage permit applications across multiple states for large plant relocation projects.
Injection Molding Machine Disassembly for Transport
Large injection molding machines are not designed for routine highway transport — they are installed in a plant, leveled on a foundation, and intended to remain in place for 20 to 30 years of production. Disassembly for relocation requires coordination with the machine manufacturer (Engel, KraussMaffei, Husky, Arburg, Milacron, Sumitomo Demag, or Toshiba, depending on the machine) or a specialized machinery moving contractor. The machine must be drained of hydraulic fluid and coolant before transport. Tiebars — the large-diameter steel columns that connect the clamping unit to the injection unit — are typically removed on machines over 1,000 tons to reduce transport width. The machine base on very large machines may need to be section-cut to fit within state height limits and then welded back together at the destination. We coordinate closely with machinery riggers for large injection molding press relocations to ensure the trailer configuration and securement meet the manufacturer's transport requirements.
Plastic Extrusion Lines
Single-Screw and Twin-Screw Extruders
Plastic extrusion — the continuous process of melting polymer pellets and forcing them through a shaped die — uses extruder machines that range from small lab-scale units to large production extruders with 24-inch diameter screws and outputs of several tons per hour. The extruder barrel-and-drive assembly is typically the heaviest single piece in an extrusion line:
- Standard production extruders (4.5 to 12-inch screw diameter): These machines weigh 15,000 to 60,000 pounds and ship on standard or oversized flatbed trailers. The barrel is typically 15 to 30 feet long, with the gearbox and drive motor adding length. Most fit within standard width limits but may require overweight permits for the heaviest barrel-and-drive assemblies on single flatbeds.
- Large-bore production extruders (16 to 24-inch screw diameter): Used in pipe extrusion, large-profile extrusion, and compounding of filled compounds. These machines weigh 80,000 to 200,000 pounds and require overweight permits and multi-axle lowboy trailer configurations. Barrel lengths of 40 to 60 feet (20 to 24 L/D ratio for a 24-inch screw) may also require overlength permits.
- Co-extrusion lines and multi-layer film lines: Multi-layer film extrusion systems combine 3 to 11 extruders, a multi-layer die, a blown film or cast film cooling tower, and a winding system into a large, interconnected line. The die and blown film tower — the tall vertical structures used in blown film lines — may be 20 to 40 feet tall in the collapsed transport position, requiring overheight permits and careful route planning to avoid low bridges. See our guide on route planning for oversize loads for how we identify height restrictions on delivery routes.
Pipe and Profile Extrusion Downstream Equipment
Downstream cooling tanks, haul-off units, saws, and coilers for large pipe extrusion lines are long, narrow equipment trains — each component 10 to 30 feet long and 4 to 8 feet wide. A complete large-diameter pipe extrusion cooling train may be 100 to 200 feet of connected water bath and vacuum calibration tanks. These disassemble into individual tank sections for transport on flatbeds, typically within standard width and weight limits but requiring overlength permits for the longest tank sections.
Blow Molding Equipment
Extrusion Blow Molding Machines (EBM)
Extrusion blow molding machines for large containers — automotive fuel tanks, industrial drums, water tanks, and agricultural storage vessels — are large machines with wide platen openings and tall parisons. EBM machines for 500-liter to 1,500-liter industrial containers are typically 10 to 15 feet wide, 15 to 25 feet long, and 12 to 16 feet tall in the transport position. Height over 13 feet 6 inches requires an overheight permit. Width over 8 feet 6 inches requires an overwidth permit. Weight of 40,000 to 100,000 pounds may require overweight permits depending on trailer configuration. These are among the most straightforward heavy haul moves in plastics — a standard RGN lowboy with oversize permits handles most large EBM machines.
Injection Stretch Blow Molding (ISBM) Systems
Large rotary ISBM machines for PET bottle production — 24 to 48 cavity rotary machines for high-volume beverage and packaging applications — are wide, heavy equipment packages with a large rotary blow wheel that extends the machine's overall width. Machines of this class weigh 60,000 to 150,000 pounds and may be 12 to 16 feet wide in the transport position, requiring overwidth permits with pilot car escorts. The preform injection unit is often shipped separately as a second load.
Rubber Processing Equipment
Rubber Mixing Mills and Internal Mixers (Banbury Mixers)
Internal mixers — the large, enclosed, high-torque machines used to compound raw rubber with carbon black, sulfur, accelerators, and other additives — are among the heaviest single pieces of equipment in rubber manufacturing. A large Farrel Banbury or HF Mixing mixer in the 270F or 370F class weighs 100,000 to 300,000 pounds and is 8 to 14 feet wide and 10 to 18 feet tall. Transport requirements:
- The mixer body is the heaviest piece — a 270F Banbury rotor chamber assembly can weigh 80,000 to 160,000 pounds on its own. This ships on a multi-axle hydraulic platform trailer (SPMT or conventional multi-axle lowboy) with overweight permits. See our equipment page on self-propelled modular transporters for the trailer types used for extremely heavy process equipment loads.
- Rotor assemblies, mill housing, and drive gearboxes ship as separate loads on RGN or lowboy trailers, each requiring individual overweight permits based on piece weight.
- Drop mill assemblies, feed conveyors, and batch-off cooling conveyors associated with the mixer are large but typically within standard weight limits as separate loads.
Rubber Calenders
Rubber calenders — machines with multiple large steel rolls that compress and sheet rubber compounds into precise thickness and width — are wide, heavy machines used in tire manufacturing, conveyor belt production, and industrial rubber sheeting. A 4-roll L-shaped calender for tire ply fabric calendering may have rolls 24 to 30 inches in diameter and 72 to 84 inches wide, with the assembled machine frame weighing 150,000 to 350,000 pounds. Like Banbury mixers, large calenders are disassembled for transport — rolls, frames, and drive systems ship as separate loads on multi-axle lowboy trailers with overweight permits.
Tire Building Machines and Curing Presses
Large tire building machines for off-road, aircraft, and large truck tires are wide, low-speed assembly machines — typically 10 to 16 feet in diameter (for the turret-type machines) and weighing 30,000 to 100,000 pounds. These require overwidth permits when the assembled machine exceeds 8 feet 6 inches in transport width. Tire curing presses for large off-road and agricultural tires — the hydraulic presses that vulcanize the assembled tire in a mold — can weigh 50,000 to 150,000 pounds per press and may require overweight permits on multi-axle lowboy trailers.
Permit Considerations for Plastics & Rubber Equipment
Height Restrictions for Tall Equipment
Blown film towers, vertical blow molding machines, and tall calender frames present overheight transport challenges. The standard legal height limit is 13 feet 6 inches — anything above this requires an overheight permit and a careful route survey to identify all overhead obstructions on the planned delivery route. Overhead obstructions encountered on industrial and rural routes include low-clearance railroad bridges, utility line crossings, and overhead door headers at the destination facility. Our drivers use height poles to verify clearance at all overhead structures on the route before committing to passage. See our guide on oversize load route planning for a complete discussion of height restriction management.
Axle Weight Distribution for Heavy Presses
Large injection molding presses and Banbury mixers — loads in the 200,000 to 1,000,000-pound range — require careful axle weight engineering to keep individual axle loads within state legal limits. Federal bridge formula limits apply to all axle groups on public highways; state limits may be more restrictive on specific routes and bridge approaches. Multi-axle hydraulic platform trailers (7 to 24 axles of 8 to 12 wheels per axle) spread the load over enough axle groups to keep individual axle loads compliant. We perform axle load calculations before trailer selection and permit application for all overweight loads over 150,000 pounds. See our guide on axle weight limits for heavy haul for the federal and state rules that apply.
Travel Windows and Night Hauling
Very wide loads (over 14 feet) and very tall loads (over 15 to 16 feet, depending on state) are restricted to daytime travel on weekdays in most states. Weekend travel is prohibited for the widest loads in many states, and federal holiday travel is restricted across the board for oversize loads. For large equipment relocations with tight installation schedules, the travel window restrictions must be factored into the delivery timeline from the start. Our guide on oversize load night hauling and curfew rules covers the state-by-state travel window requirements that apply to plastics and rubber equipment moves.
Plant Relocation and Machinery Dealer Moves
Complete Plant Relocations
When a plastics or rubber manufacturing plant moves — whether from one building to another within the same industrial park, from a domestic facility to a new greenfield site, or across state lines — the project involves dozens to hundreds of individual equipment moves coordinated over weeks or months. R&RM LLC works with machinery moving contractors and plant relocation project managers to provide heavy haul transport for the oversize and overweight pieces in a complete plant move, while standard freight carriers handle the lighter equipment. Our role typically includes the large injection molding presses, extruder lines, mixing mills, and calenders — the equipment that exceeds standard highway limits and requires permit coordination. We provide dedicated dispatch support for large plant relocation projects and can accommodate the phased loading and delivery schedules that plant moves require.
Machinery Dealer and Auction Acquisitions
Used plastics and rubber machinery dealers — companies like Wottle, Stork-Plastics Machinery, and dozens of regional dealers — regularly transport equipment between their facilities, to auction venues, and to buyer locations. Auction platforms like Hilco Industrial, Heritage Global, and IronPlanet conduct regular manufacturing equipment auctions that generate immediate transport demand for sold machinery. R&RM LLC hauls auction and dealer inventory purchases for buyers and dealers throughout the US, handling the oversize permit applications, trailer selection, and delivery coordination so buyers can focus on their acquisitions rather than logistics.
Key Manufacturing Regions We Serve
Midwest Plastics Manufacturing Belt
The Midwest — particularly Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin — is the historic heart of US plastics and rubber manufacturing, anchored by the automotive supply chain. Ohio and Michigan alone account for a significant share of total US injection molding press capacity, driven by automotive plastic component production. R&RM LLC hauls injection molding and extrusion equipment throughout this corridor, with the industry knowledge to handle automotive supplier timelines and the permit experience for Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana oversize regulations.
Southeast Manufacturing Growth
The rapid expansion of automotive assembly in the Southeast — BMW in South Carolina, Mercedes-Benz in Alabama, Volkswagen in Tennessee, Toyota in Georgia — has drawn tier 1 and tier 2 plastic parts suppliers to the region, driving demand for injection molding equipment transport. R&RM LLC is based in Cumming, Georgia — centrally positioned to serve plastic parts suppliers throughout the Southeast automotive corridor.
Texas and Gulf Coast
Petrochemical complex expansions along the Gulf Coast generate demand for large extrusion and compounding equipment, and the concentration of pipe manufacturing and industrial rubber products plants in Texas and Louisiana creates steady movement of large extrusion and calendering equipment within the region and between Gulf Coast and Midwest manufacturing clusters.
Getting a Quote for Plastics & Rubber Equipment Transport
To provide an accurate transport quote for plastics and rubber manufacturing equipment, we need:
- Machine type and manufacturer/model (injection molding press, extruder, blow molder, calender, internal mixer, etc.)
- Shipping weight and dimensions (length, width, height as it will be on the trailer)
- Whether the machine will ship as a single piece or disassembled — and if disassembled, how many loads and approximate weight of each piece
- Origin address (plant, dealer facility, auction site, or port)
- Destination address and any known site access constraints (low overhead doors, narrow plant approaches)
- Required delivery date and any installation schedule requirements
- Name of the rigging contractor if one is already engaged for the move
R&RM LLC handles the full heavy haul side of plastics and rubber equipment moves — permits, trailer selection, escort coordination, and delivery confirmation. Call us at (404) 987-6225 or use the online quote form to start your equipment transport project.