August 9 - The Netherlands headquartered heavy haulage specialist Van der Vlist has transported heavy construction machinery on behalf of Bergerat Monnoyear - Poland's official dealer of Caterpillar machinery.
A major Polish steelworks recently ordered four special wheel loaders designed for use in extremely high temperatures. The CAT 988H can operate in conditions up to 600 °C.
The machines were shipped to Europe from the USA via Antwerp. Van der Vlist was tasked with delivering the four units from the Belgian gateway. Because of the height of the units and the additional time required to manufacture specialist tyres, the CAT 988Hs were shipped without wheels. Even with the wheels removed each unit measured 10.3 m x 3.6 m x 3.81 m and weighed 41 tonnes.
Due to the heavy nature of the consignment, police escorts accompanied the convoys as it moved through Germany and into Poland. Private escorts provided by Van der Vlist were present throughout the journey.
The convoys moved across Europe for three days before reaching its destination near Katowice in the south of Poland.
