Trucking Heavy

A dilapidated 19-tonne canal boat needs transporting 111 miles to Caversham in Oxfordshire, and a decommissioned passenger jet presents unusual challenges.

Kings Heavy Haulage must move a 19-metre, 44-ton bridge, made of steel and glass, six miles from a yard on the outskirts of Gloucester - right through the city centre.

The challenges of lifting and shifting a steam locomotive in freezing cold temperatures, and moving 15 new excavators with a combined weight of 300 tons.

A 50-ton excavator needs collecting from a farm in north Wales, but road closures hinder plans. And Nick and Oscar must move a life-size metal stegosaurus 25 miles to RHS Garden Wisley.

Two titanic trucks are in Perth, Scotland to load and then deliver to a remote Highland holiday park two halves of a bespoke built holiday lodge worth a whopping two hundred thousand pounds.

Although it includes breath-taking scenery and a picturesque ferry ride, for haulage hero Ewan and his team, this two-day mission will prove anything but easy. Snow falling on a narrow A road makes visibility poor and when you're carrying ten tonnes and likely to meet oncoming heavy plant leaving a quarry, that's plain dangerous. To avoid disaster, Escort Driver Tyler is dispatched to warn of the low loader's presence.

After a night in their cabs to avoid a four-hour detour, the lads must get their rigs onto a tiny ferry and across picturesque Loch Linnhe. While the spectacular mountain views are food for the soul, the hard work of heading to remote Resipole soon begins. A narrow road poses numerous challenges, including a turn where a rockface and telegraph pole conspire to narrow the margin for error to way beyond challenging.

400 miles away in Avonmouth, veteran Kings Heavy Haulage driver Big Andy sets off on his own two-day mission. A crane needs 58 tonnes of heavy ballast delivering to a construction site in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

After a night in his cab, day breaks and Andy makes it to site but a narrow track forces him to perform the trickiest of reverses, and to trust in the skills of the crane's banksman to remotely steer his trailer.

Once in position strong winds could threaten the unload but Andy can't afford to be late home – it's his partner's birthday so he must be back in the West Country in time for a celebratory fish supper with Karen.

In Manchester, Sam aka Hiab princess, has been tasked with delivering three huge shipping containers to a remote farm near Spalding with a colleague. Her first step is getting a high cube container loaded onto her lorry at a local yard. Payload primed, Sam sets off in the hope of steering clear of any traffic snarl ups, but an unexpected diversion off the A52 soon presents her with some serious obstacles to dodge.

Arriving at her destination's remote location - a slender entrance at the end of a dirt track - means Sam and her chunky truck have a mega tight squeeze to master. And when her colleague arrives with the two additional containers, Sam's clear directions are essential to steer him safely down the road in reverse. Getting this delivery done and dusted will require meticulous manoeuvring so the pressure is on, as Sam primes herself for a power pickup!

At Droitwich Spa Marina in Birmingham, Mark's in charge of a massive move of a 57-foot-long canal boat to Mercia Marina. It's recently been purchased by a couple who plan to make it their new home so this precious payload will need some careful handling. To ensure the costly cargo remains stable during its journey, it must be perfectly positioned on the trailer. Once Mark and the team have the colossal consignment loaded, he's ready to hit the road.

But just as he reaches the outskirts of Derby, he hits some choppy water when a tight residential road, restricted by vehicles parked to the side presents him with an extremely narrow pathway to navigate. At the marina, the boat's new owners are keeping a close eye on proceedings, so it's all on Mark to ensure this maritime manoeuvre goes precisely to plan!

A 36-tonne crusher that's been out on hire at a quarry in Anglesey needs collecting and delivering to a depot in Liverpool. Driver Alex has loaded at the site before and knows the best place to perform this tricky pick-up. Pulling up on-site, he parks his trailer in the most level patch of ground, which is crucial to safeguard against any accidents happening during loading. After preparing his trailer, Alex must navigate the crusher on-board, and once it's powered up, he steers it over the ramp. He must line up the caterpillar tracks perfectly with the ramp, otherwise the machine could fall off the side. Safely on the trailer and chained down, Alex hits the highway with his load. He's got a 220-mile journey to a depot in Liverpool ahead of him and he must make it there before 4pm when road restrictions on big loads begin. Alex gets there with a minute to spare, but that's not the end of his challenge.

Caravan haulage hero Ewan has a very different job ahead of him taking a holiday home 320 miles from Hull to the Isle of Arran off the Scottish west coast. Windy weather forces him to check his tethering several times on his journey, and reports come in of a snowstorm brewing, which if it hits landfall during his journey, could cause chaos on the roads. The following morning at 4am, there's a flurry of snow, but as Ewan gets closer to the ferry port at Ardrossan, it becomes clear that snow won't be one of the challenges he needs to worry about. Making it onto the ferry and across to the island, Ewan must navigate the narrow roads of Arran to make it to the drop-off destination.

In Wales, haulier Ian gears himself up for a major cross-country mega-move through the rural Welsh countryside. He's tasked with moving a redundant industrial inlet valve that's been signed off as scrap metal. Ian and his cargo require a police escort at the front and his support driver Anthony at the rear. Ian's controlling a total combined weight of around 100 tonnes, so the rugged Welsh terrain is sure to test his truck to the max.

As the team head off, the rural roads soon throw up a number of difficulties. There's an exceptionally slender stone bridge, barely any wider than the width of the load to navigate. And there's little let up when Ian must master a turn of almost 180 degrees where every angle needs to be absolutely accurate!

In Hull, mega mover Steve is in charge of shifting a 38-tonne screener, a clever contraption used to sift and sort all types of construction waste. Backed up by long-time colleague Carl, Steve uses a control pad to manoeuvre the 38 tonner onto his trailer. But just as he begins rolling the trailer's neck back into place, Carl spots a serious snag. The edge of the screener is sat too close to the neck of the trailer and transporting the cargo in this position would risk sinking the entire shipment. It takes some clever problem solving to get the payload on the move.

However, just after they set off, Carl spots another serious obstacle to a smooth escape – a work crew are doing roadworks on Steve's only exit route. Could this shipment be scuppered before it's even started?

A trio of truckers move a 63-ton train track tamping machine from a siding on the outskirts of Glasgow to a rail yard in Stranraer.

In Berkshire, a convoy of three trucks pick up and deliver a fleet of 15 valuable supercars, ensuring they arrive in precisely the same pristine condition as when they were loaded.

A trawler yacht bought in the USA for just $7, painstakingly refurbished in a Lancashire dock and now valued at a whopping £400,000 needs carefully moving to the Thames. 

Driver Matt's been tasked with shifting a vintage Leyland double decker bus that's just undergone a major overhaul; he's making good headway until he notices something alarming.

A super-truck must travel to Brands Hatch for racing but it's too powerful to be driven on the roads, so Dan is tasked with loading the vehicle. But on the motorway, he spots an issue. 

A newly refurbished 72-foot narrow canal boat must be moved from Leicester to its berth in Macclesfield; can Mark nagivate roads that are barely wide enough to accommodate his truck?

Driver Alex has been tasked with moving not one, but two crushers to different sites, but on the backstreets of Bolton, his driving skills are put under serious pressure. 

Big Andy is tasked with transporting a massive excavator to its new owner in Somerset but winching it onto his trailer won't be easy; the hydraulics are jammed.