Out of gauge containers: a practical UK guide for logistics teams
Navigate the complexities of out of gauge containers in the UK. Discover essential tips for measurement, equipment, and permits to ensure…
Out of gauge
Out of gauge and abnormal load haulage
Flat racks and open tops carry cargo that does not fit a closed box, and the road has its own rules for cargo that does not fit a normal vehicle. We check the dimensions at quote stage and tell you what the load needs and whether we can move it.
- Containers
- Flat racks and open tops, 20ft and 40ft
- Abnormal on the road
- Over 2.9 m wide, 18.65 m rigid length or 44,000 kg gross
- Our answer
- At quote stage, before anything is booked
Price an out of gauge load
What it is
Out of gauge at sea, and what it means on the road
Out of gauge is a shipping term. It means the cargo breaks the outline of a standard box: a machine standing above the sides of an open top, or wider or longer than the base of a flat rack. The shipping line has to plan the stowage around it.
On the road the question changes. What counts there is the loaded vehicle: how wide, how long and how heavy it is, and how high against the bridges on the route. Some out of gauge boxes stay inside the road’s normal limits and move as ordinary loads. Others cross a threshold and become abnormal loads, with notice to give and sometimes permission to get before they move.
The rules, in brief
National Highways treats a vehicle as an abnormal load when it is more than 2.9 m wide, has a rigid length over 18.65 m, weighs more than 44,000 kg, or puts more than 10,000 kg on a single non-driving axle or 11,500 kg on a single driving axle. Moves are notified through ESDAL, its online system, which reaches the police, highway authorities and bridge authorities on the route.
The notice depends on the load. A normal vehicle may carry a load up to 4.3 m wide: over 2.9 m it needs two clear working days’ notice to the police, and over 3.5 m an attendant as well. Over 5 m wide the move also needs National Highways’ approval on form VR1, and over 6.1 m it takes a Special Order. A load overhanging the front or back by more than 3.05 m needs police notice, an attendant and marker boards. There is no statutory height limit, so height is settled by the bridges.
None of that can be arranged on the morning of a collection, which is why the dimensions come first.
Road thresholds at a glance
- Width
- More than 2.9 m
- Rigid length
- More than 18.65 m
- Gross weight
- More than 44,000 kg
- Axle weight
- More than 10,000 kg single non-driving, 11,500 kg single driving
- Height
- No statutory limit: the bridges decide
Thresholds and notice periods from National Highways, attendant rules from GOV.UK guidance on overhanging loads.
How we handle it
Measured, checked, then booked
Every out of gauge load is priced on its own. The work is in the check before the quote, because that is where a move is made possible or ruled out.
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The measurements
You send the length, width, height and weight of the cargo as loaded, and the type of box it is in. Drawings or photographs of the load on the flat rack or in the open top help.
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The check
We set the loaded dimensions against the road thresholds and look at the route, including bridge heights for anything standing above the box.
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The answer
At quote stage we tell you what the load needs, whether it moves as a normal load or needs notice or permission, and whether we can move it. If we cannot, we say so rather than quote.
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Collection and delivery
Collected on the port booking and delivered to your site on the agreed day. How it comes off at your end is agreed before collection, not when the vehicle arrives.
What we need from you
The measurements that decide it
The answer turns on a handful of measurements, so the more exact they are, the more exact the answer. Give us the dimensions of the cargo as it sits on the flat rack or in the open top, not the nominal size of the box: a 40ft flat rack tells us nothing about how far the machine on it overhangs.
Weight matters as much as size. Flat racks are built for heavy cargo, and Hapag-Lloyd’s published specification rates its 40ft flat racks at up to 60,000 kg gross, well beyond what a normal vehicle may weigh on the road. If the load is heavy rather than wide, our overweight containers page covers how that is planned.
Send with the request
- Box type: flat rack or open top, 20ft or 40ft
- Length, width and height of the cargo as loaded
- Any overhang beyond the ends or sides
- Gross weight, and where the heavy part sits
- Drawings or photographs, if you have them
- How the load comes off at your site
Ports
The port is part of the check
We collect containers from six ports. For a flat rack or open top, the port and the route away from it are checked with the dimensions, so tell us where the box lands when you ask for a price.
Felixstowe
Our home port. The yard at Woolpit is about 35 miles from the gate.
20ft, 40ft, high cube, reefer, overweight
Container haulage from FelixstoweLondon Gateway
Deep-water Thames terminal, planned alongside Tilbury and Purfleet.
20ft, 40ft, high cube, reefer, overweight
Container haulage from London GatewayTilbury
Port of London container work, on the same Thames runs.
20ft, 40ft, high cube, overweight
Container haulage from TilburyPurfleet
Thames terminal collections, planned with London Gateway and Tilbury.
20ft, 40ft, high cube
Container haulage from PurfleetSouthampton
South coast deep-sea boxes, delivered inland across the UK.
20ft, 40ft, high cube, reefer, overweight
Container haulage from SouthamptonLiverpool
North west collections, including the Liverpool2 deep-water berths.
20ft, 40ft, high cube, overweight
Container haulage from Liverpool
Licences and cover
What stands behind an out of gauge move
The same freight liability limit as every other load we move.
- Operator licence
- OF2023521
- 40 vehicles and 40 trailers, on the DVSA public register.
- Freight liability
- £6,500 per tonne
- Under RHA 2024 conditions, five times the RHA standard of £1,300. Subcontracted loads carry the same limit. Up to £10,000 per tonne by arrangement for high value freight.
Questions
Out of gauge haulage, answered
Is every flat rack an abnormal load?
No. A flat rack or open top is out of gauge because its cargo does not fit a closed box. It becomes an abnormal load on the road only if the loaded vehicle crosses a threshold: more than 2.9 m wide, a rigid length over 18.65 m, more than 44,000 kg gross, or over the single axle limits. Which side of those lines a load falls on is what we check at quote stage.
Do you move abnormal loads?
We tell you at quote stage, load by load. Send the dimensions and the weight and we check what the move needs, whether that is notice to the police, approval on form VR1 or more, and whether it is a move we can make. If it is not, we say so rather than quote for it.
How much notice does an abnormal load need?
It depends on the load. On a normal vehicle, a load wider than 2.9 m needs two clear working days’ notice to the police. A vehicle over the normal weight limit, up to 80,000 kg, needs two clear working days’ notice with an indemnity to the road and bridge authorities. National Highways asks for a VR1 application two weeks before the move and a Special Order application ten weeks before.
Those are the minimums in the rules. The move still needs a vehicle and a port booking behind it.
What about an over-height open top?
There is no statutory height limit for a load in Great Britain, so height is decided by the bridges on the route. An over-height open top is planned around the lowest structure between the port and your site, and a vehicle more than 3 m high must normally show its travelling height in the cab.
Who arranges the unloading?
Normally the receiver, and we need to know how it will be done before collection. Cargo lifted into an open top or onto a flat rack by crane at origin will usually need lifting gear to come off at your end.
Why do you need the dimensions before you quote?
Because the rules turn on them. A few centimetres of width can be the difference between an ordinary load and one that needs police notice, and notice runs in clear working days. A price without the dimensions would be a guess.
Further reading
Out of gauge and abnormal loads, in more depth
Abnormal load haulage in the UK: a complete guide
Discover what is abnormal load haulage in the UK. Learn essential regulations, legal criteria, and tips for seamless transportation…
Oversized Container Haulage UK Explained
Oversized container haulage UK requires careful planning, permits, timing and secure delivery to keep freight moving and avoid costly port…
Other services
More of what we move
Merchant haulage
You book the haulage, not the shipping line. Your slot, your rate, your say.
FCL container transport
Full container loads in 20ft, 40ft, high cube and 45ft, port to door.
Overweight containers
Heavy boxes planned against axle weights and route, legal on the road.
Refrigerated containers
Reefers moved with the power and timing the temperature needs.
Animal feed, Category 3
APHA registered to carry Category 3 feed in containers. Most hauliers are not.
Out of gauge box on its way?
Send the dimensions, the weight and the port. We check what the load needs and tell you at quote stage whether we can move it.