Arcade and Amusement Machine Transport Across the UK

Amusement machines move more often than almost any other class of commercial equipment. Sites rotate stock to keep takings up, venues change hands, seasonal locations open and close, and a machine that stops earning in one pub earns again three miles away. Companies House records around 673 active UK companies with amusement or arcade in their registered name, and between them they move thousands of cabinets a year.

T&C Logistics handles that work: single machine swaps, route rotations, arcade fit-outs and clearances, and collections for refurbishers and private collectors. We have run specialist transport since 2020 with over 2,400 deliveries completed and more than 3,000 vetted driver-partners nationwide. Goods-in-transit cover is £50,000 on our own vehicles, rising to £1,000,000 through partners. Quotes start from £50 (ex VAT), quoted in full upfront before you book.

What amusement equipment does T&C Logistics move?

Upright and sit-down video cabinets, AWP fruit machines, pinball tables, jukeboxes, pool and air hockey tables, claw and crane machines, change machines, and skill-with-prize units. Anything that fits a tail-lift vehicle and stands on a floor.

The weights are unremarkable individually but the shapes are not. An upright video cabinet is tall, narrow and top-heavy; a pinball table is long, low and carries a fragile playfield under glass; a pool table is deceptively heavy because of the slate bed. Each needs a different restraint approach in the vehicle, which is why these are not general removals jobs.

Vehicle selection normally starts with our Luton van with tail lift and moves up to a 7.5-tonne truck for multi-machine rotations.

Do you handle the Gambling Commission side of a machine move?

No, and no transport company should claim to. Gaming machine categories, premises licensing and machine permits under the Gambling Act 2005 are the operator's and the venue's responsibility. We move the machine.

The distinction is worth stating plainly because it is a real compliance boundary. Category B3, C and D gaming machines are subject to entitlement limits at the premises where they sit - the number and category of machines a pub, arcade or bingo venue may site is set by its licence or permit, not by whoever delivered the cabinet. Adult gaming centres and family entertainment centres operate under different entitlements again.

What we do provide is the movement record: collection and delivery times, addresses, and GPS tracking throughout, which supports your own asset and siting records. If a machine is moving because an entitlement has changed, we simply need the dates. For high-value or cash-holding equipment see our high-value courier service.

How do you move a machine that still holds cash?

Preferably, we do not. The standard we ask operators to work to is that machines are emptied and the cash box removed or locked before collection. Cash-in-transit is a separately regulated activity that we do not undertake.

This is not a technicality. Carrying cash as a service requires arrangements and, for staffed cash-handling, licensing under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, which is a different business from freight. Where a machine is collected with a locked and sealed cash box in place because it cannot practically be removed on site, that remains the operator's cash and the operator's risk, and it is excluded from our goods-in-transit cover.

Our cover is £50,000 per consignment on our own vehicles, extending to £1,000,000 via partners, plus £1,000,000 public liability - all of which applies to the machine, not to its contents. Where an unusually valuable cabinet is involved, such as a restored classic pinball table, tell us at quote stage so the limit can be confirmed in writing.

What is different about moving a pinball table or a pool table?

Both have a heavy, rigid component that does not tolerate flexing. On a pinball table it is the playfield; on a pool table it is the slate bed, which will crack if the frame twists.

Pinball tables travel with the backbox folded down and the playfield glass either removed and packed separately or fully secured, because a sheet of loose glass over a populated playfield is the single most destructive thing in the vehicle. The legs come off on most models, which lowers the centre of gravity considerably.

Pool tables are a different problem. A full-size slate bed is made of two or three sections weighing 45-70 kg each, and on larger tables the slate must come off before the frame is moved. A table dragged across a floor still assembled can twist the frame enough to put the bed permanently out of level. Tell us the table size and whether it is slate or MDF-bedded when booking, because that decides whether this is a two-person lift or a partial strip-down.

Can you clear or fit out a whole arcade?

Yes. Arcade clearances and fit-outs are volume jobs on a fixed date, usually tied to a lease end or a seasonal opening, and they are planned as a sequence rather than as separate collections.

A seaside or leisure-park arcade may hold thirty to eighty machines. Moving that in van-sized increments is slow and expensive; a 7.5-tonne or 18-tonne vehicle running planned loads is normally both faster and cheaper. The constraints are usually the venue's shutter width, whether there is a level threshold, and whether the vehicle can stand close enough for a short carry.

We work out of hours and at weekends, which matters for pier, pub and holiday-park sites where machines cannot be moved during trading. For event and seasonal venue work see our event logistics service and 18-tonne rigid truck.

What happens to machines that are being scrapped?

They are waste electrical and electronic equipment. T&C Logistics is registered with the Environment Agency as an upper tier waste carrier, broker and dealer under registration number CBDU654368, so we can lawfully carry them.

Arcade cabinets fall under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013. Older cabinets add a specific complication: CRT monitors contain leaded glass and are classified as hazardous waste, which restricts where they can go and how they must be handled. A cabinet fitted with an original CRT cannot be treated at the same facility as a modern LCD unit.

We carry to a partner-operated permitted treatment facility; we do not treat or recycle equipment ourselves, and any documentation is issued by the processor that performed the work. Tell us at booking whether cabinets contain CRTs. See our WEEE collection service for how the chain of custody works.

How do you protect cabinet artwork and glass?

Blanket-wrapping over side art, glass either removed or taped and supported, and machines separated so nothing touches in transit. Cabinet side art is the most damage-prone surface on any amusement machine.

The economics justify the care. Original side art on a period cabinet is effectively irreplaceable, and reproduction artwork on a modern machine still costs real money and downtime to replace. A strap tightened directly over vinyl artwork leaves a permanent mark; a machine allowed to contact another in a moving vehicle scuffs both. Neither is difficult to prevent, but both require the load to be planned rather than filled.

Glass is the second issue. Marquee glass, playfield glass and monitor bezels break in transit far more often than anything else, usually because they were left loose. Where glass can be removed and packed flat it is; where it cannot, it is taped and supported. For consignments where value is concentrated in a restored or collectable machine, see our high-value courier service and tell us the value at quote stage.

What is different about moving a jukebox?

The mechanism. A jukebox has a moving selection assembly that must be locked or supported before the machine travels, and on vinyl-playing machines the tonearm and turntable are the fragile points.

Classic vinyl jukeboxes are the most demanding item in this category. The record-changing mechanism is precision-built, decades old, and expensive to repair, and it was never designed to be shaken. Manufacturers of the period supplied transit locks; where those are missing, the mechanism should be secured by someone who knows the model before it moves. Digital and CD machines are far more forgiving but still carry the same cabinet and glass sensitivities as any amusement machine.

Tell us at quote stage whether a jukebox is a vinyl machine and whether transit locks are fitted. It affects handling, route driving and whether the job needs a specialist rather than a standard two-person crew.

How much does arcade machine transport cost?

One fixed price per dedicated job, quoted upfront, fuel and goods-in-transit insurance included. Machines are never consolidated onto a shared parcel network.

From £50 (ex VAT). Final price depends on distance, vehicle, urgency and time - quoted in full upfront. Related services: vending machine transport and ATM transport. Call 0121 720 3841 or use our contact page.