Heavy Haulers Blog

A pilot car is a safety vehicle that travels in front of and/or behind an oversize freight shipment. Numerous factors determine how many pilot cars are necessary for a given shipment, but their primary purpose is to alert drivers when they are near an oversized load.

Some load types transported using pilot cars include telephone poles, bulldozer shipments, generator transports, crane hauls, mobile homes, and more.

That said, it’s not the only thing they do. To guarantee a smooth delivery, pilot car drivers coordinate with each other and the truck driver. For instance, a truck’s lead pilot car must alert the driver to any potential threats to the cargo along the route.

There is no hard and fast rule on how many or what kind of pilot cars must accompany any given shipment. For example, to assure visual clearance of the loaded height before the truck and load pass underneath, over-height shipments may, in some cases, require pole cars (a type of pilot car fitted with an extended pole on the front.)