Do I Need an Escort Vehicle?
If you have load that meets the criteria as an oversized transport, the next consideration is whether or not it will require escort vehicles for some or all of the route. And, as with all other rules of heavy load transportation, each state has it’s one set of pilot car requirements. Within each state these same rules and regulations for escort vary by season, changing road conditions, time restrictions, and other variables. This adds complexity to establishing whether a part of the entire transportation route requires escort vehicle.
Here a few state specific pilot car requirements:
- Most states do not require an escort for loads equal to or less than 10 feet wide; however, a few states requires escorts for all oversize loads,
- The number of escort vehicles required may be determined by the absolute measurements of the wide load and/or the type of materials being transported.
- Depending on the type of road being traveled, escorts vehicles may be required in the front and back of the wide-load, or only in the back.
- Within a state, escort requirements may change moving from a multi-lane highway to a two-lane.
- Some states requires escorts for all oversized loads if transporting during the night, regardless of the general pilot cars requirements.
- Crossing from a state with no escort requirements for a particular load, into a state with escort requirements for the same load, required escort vehicles to meet the oversized load at the state line.
- Extra-wide loads, as defined by each state, may require an escort by law enforcement.
The point here is that even a short route within a single state may require changes in escort requirements for an over-dimensional haul. A route for an oversized load must be thoroughly researched and planned for in order to meet escort and pilot car requirement.
