Machinery movers & riggers
Machinery movers and riggers. One crew.
Industrial machinery moving and rigging by purpose-built machinery movers on our own payroll, using our own equipment: single-lift pick-and-carry to 118,000 lb, and engineered rigging systems for loads over 400,000 lb. We move presses, CNC machines, injection molders and complete production lines, from the truck to the anchors.
Tell us about the move Call 877-898-4377
Same-day pricing. Give us the details and you get a number back the same day, not in three to five business days.
Pictured: crated machinery unloaded from a shipping container with one of our machinery movers.
How our machinery movers run a move.
Every move follows the same four steps, and most of the work happens before moving day.
- Survey and plan. Weight and center of gravity confirmed, route walked, floor loading and door dimensions measured, dock or no dock established. We choose the equipment after the plan is done.
- Equipment matched. Pick-and-carry machinery mover, skates, jacks or an engineered rigging system, sized to the machine and brought on our own trucks by the crew that runs it.
- The move. Our riggers lift, carry and set the machine along the planned route, with one signal person directing the lift.
- Set, level, verify. Set on the anchors, shimmed and leveled to spec. Our machinery movers are also millwrights, so alignment, reconnection and startup support are done by the same crew, not a second contractor.
Certificates of insurance and the full safety record are available on request for GC and Avetta/ISNetworld prequalification.
What industrial equipment movers get called for.
Most of what we move is production equipment: injection molding machines, stamping and forming presses, press brakes, CNC machining centers and lathes, grinders, industrial ovens, compressors and chillers, transformers, robots and complete automation cells, among others. As a certified installer for equipment including ENGEL, LS, Woojin, Arburg, Amada, JSW, Trumpf, Okamoto, MultiCam and Stamtec, among many others, our crews know each machine’s lift points before it is moved.
- Injection molding machines
- Presses & press brakes
- CNC machining centers & lathes
- Complete production lines
- Ovens, compressors & chillers
- Robots & automation cells
This list is representative. If you have a heavy machine to move, ask us.
Machinery moving company or general freight crew: the difference.
Freight and warehouse crews move pallets. A machinery moving company plans the lift, the route and the set for each machine.
General freight & warehouse crews
- Warehouse forklifts used on loads they are not built for
- No route survey, no floor-loading check, no lift plan
- The machine is handled like general freight
- Damage is often not found until startup
Heavy equipment movers built for it
- Single-lift pick-and-carry machines rated to 118,000 lb
- Engineered rigging systems for loads over 400,000 lb
- Riggers who are also millwrights, so setting, leveling and alignment are included
- EMR 0.72, zero OSHA recordables 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 to date
We survey the route and plan the lift before we quote, so the price covers the whole job.
Machinery moving or rigging? The two terms, defined.
Customers use both terms, often for the same job, and plant managers, OEMs and insurance adjusters use them differently. We have done both for 25 years. Here is how they differ.
Machinery moving
- The whole job: getting a machine from where it sits to where it runs
- Pick it up, carry it, transport it, land it, set it, level it
- Purpose-built movers, pick-and-carry to 118,000 lb in a single lift
- The goal: the machine arrives undamaged, on schedule and ready to run
Rigging
- The lifting work inside a move, plus lifts that are not moves
- Weights, centers of gravity, pick points, slings, beams, gantries, jacks
- Engineered rigging systems for loads over 400,000 lb
- The goal: every lift goes as planned
In short: rigging is how the load is lifted. Machinery moving is everything needed to get the machine running at its new location. A move done without rigging skill can damage the equipment, and a machine set without millwright skill is not ready to run. Our riggers and machinery movers are the same crew.
What machinery moving covers.
A machine has to leave a truck, a floor or a plant, and arrive at another one ready to work. That is machine moving: the survey, the route, the equipment sized to the load, the carry, the set, and the leveling at the end. OEMs and plant managers usually use this term when the job is about the machine: a machining center changing plants, a press coming off a lowboy, or a line being rearranged inside one building.
Moving a whole plant or a complete line? Plant relocation is the same crews on a larger job.
What rigging covers.
Rigging is the work of lifting a load safely: verified weights, centers of gravity, pick points, sling angles, spreader beams, hydraulic gantries, jacks and skates, planned by people certified to run them. Engineers and insurance carriers usually use this term when the job is about the lift. It also covers work that is not a move: uprighting a vessel, setting equipment onto mezzanine steel, or tilting a module into a pit.
For engineered lifts, tandem picks and tight-headroom placements, see industrial rigging.
Accuwright has done both for 25 years and has never missed a startup.
Machinery moving and rigging in the field.
Where our industrial movers work.
Home ground is the Southern Industrial Corridor, South Carolina to Texas, run from two shops: Greenville, Georgia for the eastern corridor along I-85 and I-20, and Fort Worth, Texas for DFW and the western corridor. Beyond it, crews, machines and lowboys mobilize from those shops coast to coast and from Mexico to Canada. When we quote the North, the Northeast and the West Coast, we win work.
For moves between states, our EMR is an NCCI interstate experience rating, issued by a third party and available with our certificates.
Related services.
Each service has its own page. Pick the one that fits your job, or go straight to the form below.
Tell us about the move.
Weight, dimensions and access set the price. The more you can give us here, the closer the first number will be. Same-day pricing: a number back the same day, not in three to five business days.
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Prefer to call? 877-898-4377.
Machinery movers and riggers, answered.
How heavy a machine can you move?
Single-lift pick-and-carry to 118,000 lb with purpose-built machinery movers. Above that, engineered rigging systems handle loads over 400,000 lb, using different equipment engineered for each lift. To quote your move, we start with the machine’s weight.
How much does it cost to move heavy machinery?
Four things set the number: the machine’s weight and dimensions, access at both ends (dock, door sizes, floor condition), the distance between them, and whether the scope includes disconnect, reconnect and leveling. Send those through the form and pricing is same-day. Want a ballpark before talking to anyone? The free Rigging Cost Estimator gives a rough range in minutes, no contact details asked.
Is machinery moving the same as rigging?
Not exactly. Rigging is the lifting work: calculating weights and centers of gravity, choosing gear and pick points, executing the lift. Machinery moving is the whole errand: rig it, carry it, transport it, set it, level it. Every machine move contains rigging; not all rigging is a machine move (uprighting a vessel or setting equipment onto steel is pure rigging). Many people use the words interchangeably, and in practice a good contractor carries both trades in the same crew.
Do I need a machinery mover or a rigging company?
Describe the job, not the trade. If a machine has to end up somewhere else and run, that is machinery moving with rigging inside it. If a load has to be lifted, tilted, uprighted or precisely placed, that is rigging. Either way, hire one contractor that does both, so one crew is responsible for the whole job.
What is the difference between a rigger and a millwright?
A rigger moves and lifts the machine. A millwright makes it run: setting, anchoring, leveling, precision alignment and reconnection. On an Accuwright crew they are usually the same certified people, so there is no handoff between delivery and startup. Never missed a startup in 25 years.
Who moves CNC machines and machining centers?
Machinery movers with the right equipment and OEM knowledge. CNC equipment is dense, top-heavy and easily damaged by shock loads. It moves on purpose-built machines, wrapped and protected, using the OEM’s lift points. As a certified installer for equipment including Amada, Okamoto, MultiCam and Trumpf, among many others, we move machine tools with the same crews that install them.
Do you move machines inside the plant, not just between plants?
Yes. In-plant relocations, line reconfigurations and moving a machine to make room for the next one use the same equipment and crew, usually inside a window set by your production schedule. Never missed a startup in 25 years.
Can you move a machine out of a building with no dock?
Yes, that is common. Pick-and-carry machines bring the load to grade, and when the door is the problem, enlarging an opening and restoring it afterward is part of the plan. The route survey happens before the quote, so the plan covers it before moving day.
Can you store the machine between locations?
Yes. Dry indoor storage and secure outdoor laydown, received on our own equipment, crated for export where needed under our ISPM-15 certification, redelivered when your floor is ready. See heavy equipment storage.
Are you insured for this? Can my GC prequalify you?
EMR 0.72 on the NCCI interstate rating with zero actual incurred losses, zero OSHA recordables in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 to date, NCCCO certified operators, drug-free workplace, Avetta and ISNetworld registered. Certificates of insurance and full documentation are available on request.