Pilot car requirements, and why escorts drive the price

Escorts are usually the biggest cost on an oversize move after the truck itself. Here is when each state requires them, what drives the price, and the moves that keep a load under the trigger.

Updated September 2026 · Figures from FreightDeck's audit of 51 US jurisdictions and its monthly market-rate check

When you need one

Width is the usual trigger. 25 of 51 states require the first pilot car once a load is over 12 ft wide. Alaska, Arizona, Washington, West Virginia require one sooner (10 ft 6 in and 11 ft and 11 ft and 10 ft 6 in). South Dakota (16 ft), Minnesota (15 ft), Wisconsin (15 ft), Illinois (14 ft 6 in), Iowa (14 ft 6 in), North Dakota (14 ft 6 in) and others give you more room.

A second car usually comes at 14 ft to 16 ft wide, on two-lane roads, or for long loads. Height brings the pole car: a lead vehicle with a height pole set just above the load, required in most states from about 13 ft 8 in up to 18 ft depending on the state; the most common trigger is 14 ft 6 in. Police escorts come at superload dimensions in many states. Each state page on this site lists the exact thresholds.

What drives the price

Pilot cars bill per loaded mile with a day minimum, so a short move is billed by the day, not the mile. High-pole cars run higher than a standard car, and every car adds an overnight charge when a move spans days. Oversize loads move about 300 miles a day in daylight, so on most moves under 600 miles the day minimums, not the mileage, set the price.

The cost is set less by the rate than by the count: one car versus two, a pole car or not, how many days, and which states on the route trigger which. That is why two similar loads on different routes can differ by thousands in escort cost alone. FreightDeck prices the escorts for your exact load, route and states.

How to keep escort costs down

• Get under the trigger. A load at 12 ft 0 in wide needs no pilot car in 25 states; at 12 ft 1 in it needs one in all of them. Removing a bracket or shipping a part loose can save a car for the whole trip.
• Choose the lower deck. A load that needs a pole car on a step deck may clear the pole-car threshold on an RGN. The trailer costs more; the pole car costs more still.
• Route around the strict state. Thresholds differ by 4 ft between neighbors. Fifty extra miles is often cheaper than a second car for 300 miles.
• Book escorts for the whole route. One company end to end avoids two day minimums at the state line.

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