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Moving Over Floors &
Truck Surfaces

Direct Answer: Machinery Sliders™ are an engineered resin plastic that spreads a machine’s weight (psi) across a broader surface area, making them semi-non-marking and safe across concrete, tile, carpet, wood, and aluminum surfaces — including damaged or uneven concrete. The one exception is asphalt, where the aggressive surface texture wears sliders down faster (a minor tradeoff given their low cost, not a capacity issue). Adding extra sliders beyond the minimum required is always an option to further reduce psi and protect delicate surfaces like tile.

Moving Machinery Over Various Surfaces: Concrete, Tile, Carpeting, Asphalt, Wood, Aluminum, & Dock Plates

There are a number of floor and truck surfaces that machinery or equipment will need to be moved over. Because Machinery Sliders are an engineered resin plastic, they spread out the pounds-per-square-inch (psi) over the surface for greater floor protection and are semi-non-marking and safe for all kinds of flooring.

Dock plates: Create a seam and a slight step where the plate meets the trailer or loading dock — exactly the kind of transition that can catch a wheeled skate’s small-diameter wheel. Machinery Sliders™ have no wheels to snag, so they glide directly across that seam without hanging up. As with any surface, add extra Sliders where needed to spread the load further.

Below is a list of flooring types and what performance to expect from machinery Sliders.

Concrete Floors: Of course most industrial and commercial floor surfaces are concrete which means Machinery Sliders work great even over damaged portions of the concrete.

Wood Flooring: Whether it is wood flooring in buildings, in shipping containers, or on trucks, Machinery Sliders spread-out the weight of the machine or equipment and safely glide over the wood surface.

Tile Floors: The obvious advantages of using Machinery Sliders on tile floors is that first of all, Sliders are not “load-pointing” like traditional dollies and skates which put all the weight of the machine or equipment on a tiny part of the wheels that contact the floor surface. That is when tiles break. Spreading-out the load (psi) over a larger floor area is key to not damaging tile floors and that is one of the main advantages of Machinery Sliders.

Machinery Sliders are semi non-marking which means, some of the plastic resin may or may not be left on the tile floor which can be removed with the sole of your feet from our experience. Even though Machinery Sliders have a load capacity of 10-Ton each, we always add more Sliders than needed underneath machinery when moving them across tile floors to make sure there is no damage. The more you can spread out the pounds-per-square-inch, the better.

Carpeting: The important thing is to spread out the machine or equipment load (psi) over a larger floor area which is one of the main advantages of Machinery Sliders large surface. Always add more Sliders where needed.

Asphalt: Depending upon the machine weight, moving machinery and equipment across asphalt with all it nooks crannies and pits, Machinery Sliders do wear down much faster because of the very aggressive surface of the asphalt. Being as inexpensive as Machinery Sliders are, it is not a big deal when needed to do so.

Aluminum & Wooden Flatbed Trucks: Machinery Sliders glide right over the aluminum and wooden truck surface. Just take it slow. You can see this clearly in these two videos. For aluminum truck decks, view video title: Loading Roll Former On Aluminum Flatbed Trailer. And for wooden truck decks, view video: Loading A Tilt Trailer.

Always Remember: When needed, you can ALWAYS add more Machinery Sliders to almost any move to assure safety to floor surfaces. We had one rigger us sixteen of them one time on a 100K lb machine.

Only Caution for Floors: Because the Machinery Sliders are such a low profile (3/8″ to 1″ tall depending on what style you are using), if the floor is wavy such as a concrete floor or asphalt can be, if the edge of the machinery column/leveling-post that sits on the Slider is much wider than the Slider, or, if there is no Slider on the out-most edge of the column/leveling-post, if the floor is higher there, the column can scratch the surface of the floor. In a industrial concrete floor environment this normally is not an issue if the floor gets scarred. It is a rare occasion but it has happened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Machinery Sliders™ are an engineered resin plastic that spreads a machine’s weight across the surface, making them safe on concrete, tile, carpet, wood flooring, and aluminum and wooden truck decks — including damaged or uneven concrete.
No, and this is one of their main advantages. Traditional dollies and skates are “load-pointing” — they put a machine’s full weight onto a tiny wheel contact patch, which is what breaks tile. Sliders spread that same load over a much larger area. For extra protection on tile, we recommend using more sliders than the load technically requires — the more you spread out the psi, the better.
Some of the plastic resin may or may not transfer onto the floor surface during a move. In our experience, any residue left on tile can be removed with the sole of your shoe.
Yes, but asphalt’s aggressive, uneven surface wears sliders down faster than other floor types. Because Machinery Sliders are inexpensive, this faster wear is a minor tradeoff rather than a real obstacle to using them on asphalt.
Yes — you can always add more Machinery Sliders to a move to further protect the floor surface, regardless of whether the load technically requires it. One rigger used sixteen sliders under a single 100,000 lb machine for exactly this reason.
It’s rare, but possible. Because Machinery Sliders sit just 3/8″ to 1″ tall, an uneven floor combined with a machine column or leveling post wider than the slider beneath it — or a missing slider at the outermost edge of that column — can occasionally let the column contact a higher spot in the floor and scratch it. In a typical industrial concrete environment, this is not usually an issue, and even when it happens the resulting mark is generally not a concern.
Yes — Machinery Sliders glide directly over both aluminum and wooden truck bed surfaces. Move slowly and steadily. Real examples are shown in our videos “Loading Roll Former On Aluminum Flatbed Trailer” (aluminum decks) and “Loading A Tilt Trailer” (wooden decks).
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