Sheet 04 Permits & escorts HM2 Corp
The rules your load has to clear
Shippers call us with the same four questions. Here are the answers for Illinois, in the order they come up. We handle all of this — you do not have to — but knowing the thresholds tells you what your move will cost and how long it takes to set up.
04.1 Does it need a permit? Thresholds
Past any one of these, you are permitted
The limits are not cumulative. A load that is legal on weight and length but one inch over on width is still a permit load, and it is still measured at the widest point — a mirror, a bucket corner, a projecting shaft.
Permits are pulled per state, so a load from Alhambra to Texas needs Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas to each agree to the route. This is why lead time on a wide or tall piece is measured in days, not hours.
- WidthOver 8'-6", measured at the widest point excluding safety devices.
- HeightOver 13'-6" from the roadbed to the top of the load.
- LengthOver 65' overall, from the front of the vehicle to the rear of the load.
- WeightOver 80,000 lb gross, 20,000 lb single axle, 34,000 lb tandem, 42,500 lb tridem.
- OverhangOver 4' in front or 10' behind.
04.2 How many escorts Pilot cars
Escort requirements by dimension
Every escort is a vehicle, a driver and a day. This table is usually the difference between two quotes on the same load.
| Escorts | Width | Height | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | to 14'-6" | to 14'-6" | to 110' | Permit still required past legal limits |
| One | over 14'-6" | over 14'-6" | over 110' | Any one of the three triggers it |
| Two | over 14'-6" | over 14'-6" | over 110' | When width and height, or height and length, are both over |
| Three | over 16'-0" | over 18'-0" | over 145' | Superload territory — route survey likely |
A tall load often needs a height-pole escort ahead of it, and some routes need a utility crew or police escort on top of the pilot cars. We quote those separately so you can see what they cost.
04.3 When it can move Travel windows
Oversize loads do not move at night
Almost never, anyway. Plan the delivery window around this, not the other way round.
Under 14'6" wide and high and under 145' long, a permitted load may run from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset, any day. Bigger than that and travel is daylight Monday to Friday, plus Saturday morning until noon.
Oversize movement stops entirely on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and from noon on Christmas Eve through Christmas. Metro areas add their own rush-hour curfews.
- DaylightHalf an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.
- SaturdayMorning only for the larger loads — sunrise to noon.
- SundayRestricted for anything over 14'-6" or 145'.
- HolidaysNo oversize movement on the six major holidays.
- WeatherWind stops tall loads and ice stops all of them. A dry-run delay is cheaper than the alternative.
04.4 On the load itself Marking
Flags, banners and lights
Every extremity of an oversize load carries an 18-inch red or orange flag, and the vehicle carries OVERSIZE LOAD banners front and rear. Loads that are wide enough or that move near dusk carry amber lights as well.
It reads like paperwork, and it is — but it is also the reason a driver two lanes over gives your load room. We do not cut corners on it.
Who does what
- YouGive us accurate dimensions and weight, and tell us about site access at both ends.
- UsRoute check, state permits, escorts, securement, flags and banners, and the haul.
- The stateApproves the route, and can change it. If they do, you hear from us that day.
Thresholds on this page reflect Illinois requirements as published by IDOT and are given as a guide, not as legal advice. Requirements change and differ in every other state on your route — the permits we pull for your load reflect the current rules in each one.