Bringing It Home: The Transportation and Assembly of Modular Buildings is a Science and an Art

Stream Modular

October 17, 2022

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Builders are increasingly turning to partial or full-scale modular construction to cut costs and drive efficiency. But the entire process — from ideation to execution — demands precision, including the transportation and assembly of modular buildings to the construction site.

Without advanced planning and a keen understanding of transportation needs, you risk missing deadlines and going over budget on your project. From a thorough site survey and travel route planning to proper sequencing and timing of deliveries, your logistics partner needs to be on the ball with planning every movement of a modular building shipment. Below, we explain how it’s both an art and a science to get this unique job done right.

First things first: what do we mean by modular buildings?

Modular buildings — aka prefabricated modular buildings — are built in a factory and then transported over to the construction site. They are manufactured partially or fully constructed, meaning when you ship them to the build site, they can be either in pieces or transported as a single unit.

Both kinds of modular buildings require a different amount of trucks and even different kinds of loading and transportation equipment. Because of this, the transportation and assembly of modular buildings are never formulaic. Instead, each job requires a unique assessment combined with a balance between human finesse and smart strategy.

Next, what’s the delivery situation?

Typically, there are two types of delivery situations for shipping modular buildings:

Those with staging yards
Those without

An empty lot or yard that can store the modular units near the build site, a staging yard can be great for manufacturers who need to get the modular homes out of their warehouses to free up space. This also allows the onsite construction crew to get the units when they’re ready. But, this solution can cause headaches, damage, and cost you extra out of pocket.

Staging yards can be necessary but risky

One of the biggest risks is the fact that these units need to be transported, unloaded, stored, and then reloaded and transported again to the job site. Extending the time between the modular unit getting to the jobsite only extends its time in a risky situation, especially for large and vulnerable units that require strategic storage. Plus, it’s going to cost you to move those units the second time around. (Learn more about the benefits of avoiding a staging yard.)

You need a logistics partner that asks the right questions

The right logistics partner will help you navigate what’s best for your modular units and the onsite crew. With smart solutions like a Transit Buffer™ and a strategic delivering sequence, they can coordinate with the onsite crew to cut out the staging yard all together. And for projects that still need a staging yard, they’ll coordinate the best solution to getting your units there safely and stored properly.

Conducting Delivery Site Surveys

You can try and plan for every possible outcome and eventuality in the transportation and assembly of modular buildings. But, unless you’ve seen and assessed the site you’re delivering, you’re missing a huge piece of the puzzle. On more than one occasion a site survey has saved the day. So at Stream Logistics, we conduct site surveys for all of our projects. That’s especially important for our modular construction projects, which often have unique complexities.

Conducting a site survey allows your logistics partner to identify and address any challenges before they become problems. Meeting and coordinating with the construction team on the ground, we also build rapport and ask the right questions so we don’t miss anything on the all-important delivery date.

Organizing Speciality Equipment & Permits

Often in the transportation and assembly of modular buildings, you will need trucks that can handle large and oversized freight. Working with an experienced logistics team is key because they’ll not only know what kind of trucks and equipment to organize, but they’ll know the right local partners to call for the job.

Whether you need trucks that can carry overweight and wide loads or self-loading trailers to move units out of manufacturing quickly and safely, working with a skilled, experienced logistics team will ensure you always have the right tucks and equipment secured.

What’s more, you need a partner that understands the logistics behind the logistics. More than just needing the right trucks, trailers and equipment, you’re almost always going to need permits to move these large and oversized loads to their build sites.

A seasoned logistics partner like Stream Logistics will know and understand the federal laws, as well as state laws, that you need to follow to move your modular building to its destination. In this phase, we’ll also hire a pilot car if necessary.

Coordinating a Delivery Sequence

After a site survey, it’s time to create a sequence plan for the transportation of your modular units. More than just making sure you are on time, a delivery sequence allows you to coordinate every truck so carriers deliver everything in a manner that makes sense for the onsite crew.

What’s more, it’s important to have one dedicated project manager to coordinate the entire delivery. If different dispatchers are coordinating dozens of trucks, the project becomes segmented, leaving detrimental gaps that allow for miscommunication and missed timings. With one dedicated project manager overseeing the entire delivery, like we do at Stream Logistics, they have a firm grasp on the sequential deliveries, allowing them to adjust everything accordingly if something changes.

Building in a Transit Buffer™

One of the biggest challenges with shipping modular homes is when the warehouse needs to get units out, but the job site isn’t quite ready to receive it yet. A myriad of reasons, from not having a storage yard to permitting delays, could be the culprit. Or, maybe you understand the risks of a storage yard and don’t want to deal with the hassle and possible damage.

By building in a Transit Buffer™, you can get the product out of the warehouse and onto the truck for an extended delivery buffer — usually between one or two days — which alleviates pressure on all sides. Plus, there’s the bonus that buffers can even speed up deliveries, allowing your logistics partner to deliver your modular home early if the construction crew gets ahead of schedule. That’s a nice option to have, right? Oh, and did we mention a transit buffer is also cheaper than a storage yard?

A Partner that Goes Above and Beyond for Transporting and Assembling Modular Buildings

At the end of the day, you don’t just need a logistics partner to ship your modular units from A to B. You need a partner who takes the time to understand all your particular needs, plan for the best, and be quick and ready if something goes wrong — because who are we kidding? Even with modular units, where 90% of the work is done beautifully ahead of time, we still have to weigh the risks of the outside world.

We love to go above and beyond in planning the transportation and assembly of modular buildings.Get in touch to talk about your next modular home project and how we can help.

Stream Modular is a transportation logistics company specializing exclusively in modular construction. We help modular manufacturers and builders transport mods, pods and panels so they arrive on time and safely to the build site.

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