When a gas turbine is down, the part is the schedule. Onsite Global Logistics moves hot gas path components, rotables, tooling and complete gas generators for turbine operators, OEM-authorized overhaul depots and independent parts suppliers — domestic expedite from Houston, cross-border repair-and-return between the United States and Canada, and export to plants worldwide. We are an FMC-licensed Ocean Transportation Intermediary (OTI No. 023947F) based in Houston, and one named specialist handles your engine from the moment it leaves the pedestal to the moment it lands at the depot.
Turbine down right now? Call the 24/7 line. You will reach a person, not a queue.
What a forced outage costs, and why freight is the cheap part of it
A forced turbine outage does not bill by the mile. It bills by the hour.
Across manufacturing sectors, unplanned downtime averages roughly $260,000 per hour (Aberdeen Research). In refining, the figure runs north of $500,000 per hour. Siemens’ True Cost of Downtime study put the aggregate loss across the Fortune Global 500 at $1.4 trillion a year — around 11% of total revenue, up from 8% in 2019. And each hour of unplanned downtime now costs roughly 50% more than it did in 2019, because plants run leaner and recover more slowly.
Here is the finding that matters most to anyone reading this page: parts unavailability is the single largest driver of how long a stopped asset stays down. The unit is not waiting on the repair. It is waiting on the whole search — sourcing, release, packing, documentation, transit, customs, and the last twelve miles to a plant gate that closes at six.
That is the part OGL owns.
Set against a six-figure hourly loss, the difference between a $4,200 dedicated expedite and a $1,900 next-day LTL is not a freight decision. It is a downtime decision. We will show you both numbers and the transit difference, and let you make it.
What we move
Hot gas path and combustion components
Buckets and blades, nozzles and vanes, shrouds, transition pieces, combustion liners, fuel nozzles, cross-fire tubes, seals. Typically crated, frequently high-value, almost always time-critical. These move on dedicated expedite, next-flight-out, or hand-carry depending on the clock.
Rotables and modules
Complete gas generator exchanges, power turbine modules, compressor modules, accessory gearboxes. Rotable exchange programs are one of the most effective tools an operator has for cutting turn time — and they only work if the outbound core and the inbound replacement are both moving on a schedule someone is watching.
Complete gas generators and engines
Aeroderivative gas generators ship in purpose-built transport cans — the enclosure for a GE LM2500 is close to the footprint of a 40-foot intermodal container, though the engine’s dimensions slightly exceed standard container measurements, which is exactly the detail that turns a routine booking into an out-of-gauge one if nobody checks. An LM2500+ module runs around 50,600 lb (23,000 kg). Plan for flat rack or breakbulk on ocean, step-deck or RGN on the road, and confirm the can’s actual external dimensions before anyone quotes a box.
Rotors and heavy sections
Heavy-duty frame rotors, generator rotors, casings and shells. This is heavy lift and project cargo — permits, routing surveys, escorts, and often rail or barge. Same company, same point of contact.
Tooling, test equipment and field service kit
Strip-and-build stands, Level I and Level II tooling sets, borescope kits, balancing equipment, portable machining rigs, lifting beams and slings. Frequently on carnet, frequently crossing borders, frequently needed at two sites in the same month.
Consumables and support
Lube oil, nitrogen, preservation chemicals, desiccant, coatings and cleaning media. Several of these are regulated as dangerous goods and need to be declared correctly rather than discovered at the counter.
The clock, by mode
Realistic transit windows from Houston. These are operating ranges, not promises — flight availability, gate hours and customs all move them, and we confirm a route-specific ETA before you commit.
| Mode | Typical window | When it is the right call |
|---|---|---|
| Hand-carry / onboard courier | Next available flight; 4–24 hrs domestic, 12–48 hrs international | Single high-value component, unit down, no substitute |
| Next-flight-out air | 6–24 hrs domestic | Crated HGP parts, fuel nozzle sets, small rotables |
| Dedicated expedite (sprinter to flatbed) | Houston–Midland 8–10 hrs; Houston–Lake Charles 3–4 hrs; Houston–Calgary 34–44 hrs | Anything too large, too heavy or too regulated to fly |
| Team expedite | Continuous drive, no rest break | Cross-country, unit down, deadline inside 48 hrs |
| Air charter | 12–72 hrs depending on aircraft positioning | Gas generator or module, or a full outage kit that must land together |
| Ocean expedite / flat rack | 12–30 days port-to-port, varies by trade lane | Scheduled overhaul returns, spares replenishment, complete engines where the outage window allows |
Transit ranges current as of August 2026.
Note the pattern most operators discover the hard way: the freight is rarely the constraint. Documentation is. A gas generator can be on a truck in four hours and sitting at a border for three days because a repair declaration was filled out wrong.
Cross-border repair and return: United States and Canada
Several of the world’s authorized aeroderivative overhaul depots sit in Alberta. Engines and modules from US operators cross the border northbound for overhaul and southbound on return, and the customs treatment of that round trip is where most of the avoidable cost and delay lives.
Coming back into the United States
Articles sent abroad for repair and returned to the US are entered under two Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings:
- 9802.00.40 — articles repaired or altered under warranty
- 9802.00.50 — articles repaired or altered not under warranty
Under both, duty is assessed only on the value of the repair, not on the value of the returning article. On an overhauled gas generator, that distinction is not a rounding error.
Under the USMCA framework (19 CFR Part 182, Subpart J), goods returned after repair or alteration in Canada or Mexico are eligible for duty-free treatment — regardless of whether the repair could have been performed in the United States, regardless of whether it increased the value of the good, and regardless of the good’s origin.
19 CFR 10.8(a) requires two declarations at entry:
- A declaration from the party that performed the repair abroad, confirming the articles received were the same ones exported and were received solely for repair or alteration, showing a value for parts and labor — even where no charge was made.
- A declaration from the owner, importer, consignee or agent in the United States, confirming the returning articles are the same ones exported and were sent without benefit of drawback.
Both. Every time. The single most common cause of a held engine on this lane is a repair declaration that omits a no-charge warranty labour value because someone assumed zero cost meant nothing to declare.
Going back into Canada
Goods returned to Canada after repair or alteration in a free-trade partner country are customs duty-free under tariff item 9992.00.00, and that applies whether or not the repair was performed under warranty. Parts incorporated into the repaired goods are not classified separately.
GST/HST is treated differently: goods returned after warranty repair are non-taxable under the Non-taxable Imported Goods (GST/HST) Regulations. Where the repair was not under warranty, GST/HST is payable on the value of the repair, including any new parts. (CBSA Memorandum D8-2-10.)
What OGL does with all of that
We build the document set before the engine moves, not after it stops. Commercial invoice with repair-value breakout, both 10.8(a) declarations, packing list matched to serial numbers, export documentation, and a customs broker briefed on the specific tariff treatment being claimed. If a serial number on a can does not match the serial number on the declaration, we find it in Houston, not at Coutts.
A note on scope: OGL is a licensed forwarder and OTI, not a licensed customs broker. We prepare, coordinate and check the documentation and work directly with your broker or ours. We do not file your entry, and we will tell you plainly where our responsibility ends.
Export: getting an engine or a parts kit out of the United States
Turbine work is global. An RB211 in a compressor station in Colombia, an LM6000 in a peaking plant in the Middle East, an LM2500 on an FPSO off West Africa — the part still starts somewhere, and increasingly that somewhere is Houston.
What we handle:
- Export packing built for the trade lane, not for the warehouse — VCI, desiccant, humidity indicators and sealed barrier bags for ocean transit; ISPM-15 heat-treated timber with legible stamps
- Certificate of origin, consular legalization where the destination still requires it, and the sworn-declaration alternatives where it does not
- Dangerous goods declaration and packing for preservation fluids, batteries and pressurized components (IATA / IMDG / 49 CFR)
- Export control screening — a meaningful share of aeroderivative components have aviation lineage, and the classification question deserves an answer before the booking, not after
- Ocean chartering and NVOCC services through our sister company, OnBoard Global Logistics LLC, a legally separate FMC-licensed NVOCC (License No. 027470N), for flat rack, breakbulk and full charter movements
- Destination-side delivery through our vetted alliance agent network — agents who work on OGL’s instruction, not a loose referral
For the full export process — filings, packing, dangerous goods and destination delivery — see emergency equipment export from the United States.
Used-equipment note, because it catches people out: several destination markets treat used capital goods differently from new. Argentina, for one, eliminated the long-standing Certificate of Importation of Used Goods under Decree 273/2025 and lifted the import prohibition on used turbines, generators and drilling machinery — importers now file a sworn statement electronically through the Malvina system. The extra-zone duty on used goods is doubled relative to new, with total duties capped at 35%. Rules like this change, so we verify the destination regime at the time of booking rather than working from what was true last year.
What goes wrong, and what we do about it
Anyone can promise speed. Here is the actual failure list, and what we do to close each one.
| Failure mode | What it costs | What OGL does |
|---|---|---|
| Can dimensions assumed to be standard container | Rebooking, out-of-gauge surcharge, missed vessel | Physical dimensions and weight confirmed against the actual can before quoting |
| Repair declaration missing no-charge warranty labour value | Border hold, days | Both 10.8(a) declarations drafted and checked pre-departure |
| Serial numbers on packing list do not match the can | Entry rejected | Serial-level packing list reconciled at origin |
| Plant gate hours, escort requirements or crane window not confirmed | Truck arrives, cannot deliver, detention | Delivery window and site access confirmed with the receiving site before dispatch |
| Preservation fluid or battery undeclared | Air cargo refused at the counter | DG review as part of booking, not as an afterthought |
| Oversize routing survey skipped | Permit denial mid-route | Route survey and permits sequenced ahead of pickup on anything oversize |
| Handed to a broker’s agent nobody has vetted | No accountability at destination | Named alliance agent working on OGL’s instruction, with OGL still owning the file |
How we work
One named specialist, start to finish. Not a queue, not a department hand-off, not a ticket number. The person who quotes your movement is the person who calls you at 2am when a flight cancels.
We answer the phone. 24/7/365. This is not a marketing line — it is the reason turbine customers keep our number.
We tell you the bad news early. If a lane will not make your window, you hear it while you still have options, not the morning it fails.
We are small and we do not apologize for it. What we lack in size we make up for in personal accountability. On a turbine outage, that trade is the right one.
Frequently asked questions
How fast can you get a turbine part from Houston to a plant in outage?
For domestic destinations, a hand-carry on the next available flight typically lands in 4 to 24 hours, and a dedicated expedite truck covers Houston to Midland in roughly 8 to 10 hours or Houston to Lake Charles in 3 to 4. International movements usually run 12 to 48 hours by air, subject to flights and clean customs. We confirm a route-specific ETA before you commit rather than quoting a headline number.
Can you move a complete gas generator?
Yes. Aeroderivative gas generators travel in purpose-built transport cans, which on a GE LM2500 approach the footprint of a 40-foot container while slightly exceeding standard container dimensions — so they are handled as out-of-gauge rather than as a standard box. We move them by step-deck or RGN on the road, flat rack or breakbulk on ocean, and by air charter where the outage window demands it.
What duty do I pay when an engine comes back from overhaul in Canada?
Duty is assessed only on the value of the repair, not the value of the engine, under HTSUS 9802.00.40 (warranty) or 9802.00.50 (non-warranty). Under the USMCA framework, goods returned after repair or alteration in Canada are eligible for duty-free treatment regardless of the good’s origin or whether the repair increased its value. Two declarations are required at entry under 19 CFR 10.8(a) — one from the repairer abroad and one from the US owner, importer or agent.
What is the most common reason a turbine shipment gets held at the border?
A repair declaration that omits a value for parts and labour where the work was performed at no charge under warranty. The regulation requires a value to be shown even when nothing was billed. The second most common is a serial number mismatch between the packing list and the equipment.
Do you handle the customs entry?
No. OGL is a licensed forwarder and FMC Ocean Transportation Intermediary (OTI No. 023947F), not a licensed customs broker. We prepare and check the documentation, coordinate with your broker or introduce one of ours, and stay on the file through clearance. We are explicit about where our responsibility ends.
Can you ship turbine parts internationally, including to remote plants?
Yes. We handle export packing, documentation, dangerous goods, and ocean or air movement, with destination delivery through vetted alliance agents who work on OGL’s instruction. Ocean chartering and NVOCC services are provided by our sister company OnBoard Global Logistics LLC, a legally separate FMC-licensed NVOCC (License No. 027470N).
What does turbine parts expedite cost?
Dedicated expedite generally runs $1.50 to $2.25 per mile for standard loads, $2.00 to $3.00 for time-critical, and $2.50 to $4.00 or more where the load is oversize, permitted or after-hours. Air and hand-carry are priced by weight, dimensions and routing rather than by mile. We quote the expedite option and the economy option side by side with the transit difference, so the cost of the freight can be weighed against the cost of the downtime.
Do you work with OEM-authorized overhaul depots and independent parts suppliers?
Yes. A large share of our turbine work moves between operators, authorized depots and independent parts suppliers rather than direct from OEM. We are comfortable operating as the neutral logistics layer between parties who are commercially separate.
Get a turbine movement quoted
Onsite Global Logistics LLC
14405 Walters Road, Suite 800, Houston, TX 77014
FMC Ocean Transportation Intermediary — OTI No. 023947F
24/7/365
What we need to quote accurately: origin and destination, engine or part type, weight and dimensions (or the can type), whether the movement is a repair return, and your required on-site time.