If you are driving down the road and come into contact with a pilot truck and its oversize load, then there are many actions you should take in order to keep yourself and other drivers safe, such as:

Do: Always give the pilot truck and its oversize load as much of the roadway as possible. While some over-dimensional loads are much longer than they are wide, giving all oversize loads as much space as you can will help to ensure that you avoid a collision with any structures that may be sticking out from the truck's trailer.

Don't: Drive alongside the oversize load or its pilot truck. Since it is hard for pilot truck and truck drivers to see your vehicle if it is driving next to or behind them, you should avoid these two positions if at all possible. If you are passing a truck and its pilot truck, then you need to do so as quickly and safely as you can.

Do:  Watch for hand signals from the pilot truck and the truck's driver in case they want you to pass the truck at a certain point in the roadway. They may also signal you to slow down or stop your vehicle while the large load passes.

Don't: You should never get between a pilot truck and the oversize truck load that it is leading or following down the highway. Two of the main purposes of a pilot truck is to prevent its load from crashing into your vehicle while it is maneuvering along the roadway and to keep enough space available so that the truck can safely stop when approaching traffic. Getting between the load truck and the pilot truck interrupts the movement of both trucks.

Do: Be a patient driver around over-dimensional trucks. Moving large items such as bridge and oilfield structures requires a well organized and executed travel plan. Sometimes things come up that were not planned for, and so being patient while following trucks and their pilot trucks will help make everyone's day a bit nicer and safer.

Don't: Finally, you should never follow a pilot truck that is passing its truck to lead it down a single-lane road. When driving on a multi-lane highway the pilot truck will follow its load, but once the road narrows down to a single lane, then the pilot truck will pass the load truck. You should never follow the pilot truck in this situation because you could get stuck between the lead truck and the load.

Driving oversize loads is not easy and requires experience and training to stay safe. Visit websites like this one to get your heavy hauling done.

Share