Why accurate permits are essential to heavy haul moves

Inaccurate permits = heavy haul transport delays

Unlike other shipments, oversize and over-dimensional freight requires special permits that are based on the dimensions of the freight – length, width, height and weight. If the load exceeds the legal limits on those dimensions, trucking and logistics companies like us need “superload permits.”

Accurate permits are essential for safe, legal travel of high-value, delicate heavy haul shipments. They help ensure that the shipments have clear routes to their destinations, and the carrier, equipment and freight are legal for transportation in the specific areas and routes designated. Most importantly, they help protect our professional drivers, us and our escorts and partners, the traveling public and communities that we’ll travel through.

What information we need to secure accurate permits:

• Origin and destination
• Accurate load dimensions and weight
• Truck(s) and trailer(s) information that will be used for transport – year, model and make; license plate numbers; VIN numbers; axle spacings; tire sizes; and axle weights

What permits include:

• Valid travel dates
• Vehicle(s) (truck and trailer) information, including axle information, number, spacing and weight
• Specific load details
• Valid route the heavy haul company must follow
• Escorts – civilian or police – details
• Travel conditions, hours of operation, and special instructions and restrictions as a result of weather, construction and other factors
• Expiration date(s) and time(s)

Each state and province have its own laws and regulations, meaning permits are required from each jurisdiction that the oversize freight plans to travel. Permits range in cost, depending on the state or province, which each has its own pricing criteria.

Experienced heavy haul companies that have longstanding relationships with various permitting offices will have a stronger understanding of how long each permit (from each state or province) lasts and how long on average it takes to secure them. Without this understanding and without knowing what information permit offices need, securing permits can be time-consuming, complex, disorganized and costly. And if permits are incorrect or expired, carriers are not allowed to move without renewing, extending or reordering the permits. That’s why it’s important for us to gather correct details about the oversize and over-dimensional freight from clients.

Our expertise enables us to:

• Properly estimate costs of permits, escorts, police, utilities and engineering – and when and where they may or may not be required
• Estimate permit turnaround time
• Estimate number of transit days
• Know if a physical route survey is required before applying for a permit, saving the client time
• Know if the load will require city and county permits based on probable quotes
• Estimate utility and hydro costs and process
• Estimate engineering costs – and when and where it may be required
• Know if the load can even be permitted through a state or province – what some states or provinces allow, others don’t

At the GTI Group, our U.S. and Canadian teams work together to manage your complex heavy haul projects, with experts in securing permits from every state and province to ensure shipments remain on schedule and are loaded, transported and unloaded safely.