Expenses for ensuring no damage to these utilities varies widely, from relatively low flat rate fees, to higher fees for multiple service trucks and teams of technicians. Surveys are usually priced on a per-mile basis, but the rate may change from simple oversize loads to super-loads.Ĭoordination with Utilities: On a haul of several hundred miles, there are likely to numerous utilities involved, including multiple power and telephone companies. A route surveys can cost up to several dollars per mile. This requires traveling the entire route and identifying and measuring every overhead obstacle along the route, including bridges and overpasses, signs, traffic and railroad signals, overhead wires, and even tree limbs. Processing fees can run into several hundreds of dollars In addition to the permit, states are likely to charge a preparation fee for the time it takes to review the routes, collect all the route and haul information and prepare the permit. Permits can vary widely in price depending on the actual height and varies significantly from state to state. State fee for the permit to haul the load. Costs that may be incurred in hauling an overheight load. In addition to the permit fee, additional expenses may include (see Table 1). Calculate Oversize/Overweight Load Regulations and Prices Instantly with Oversize.io The cost of the actual permit is relatively low compared to the expenses of route surveys and other expenses associated with safely transporting an overheight load. The actual cost of the permit runs from as low as $15 to several hundred dollars, depending on the state and the height of the load. The problem is that a load that is just a few inches higher than the maximum legal height may become a superload in terms of planning and costs.Įach state requires permits for overdimensional loads. Most states allow a maximum legal height of 13 ft, 6 in., while some states may permit heights up to 14 ft. and can be the most expensive in terms of fees and costs to ensure safely transporting the load. Overheight loads are probably the most problematic of oversize loads because they take the most planning and preparation. Planning and Costing Transporting High, Overheight Loads In an attempt to raise awareness and make operators-truck drivers and their employers-more aware, states have enacted laws making carriers responsible for damages when vehicles hit overhead objects. And the costs in fines, damages, and injury and wrongful deaths suits can easily run into the tens of millions. These are just a few of the many instances of high loads impacting bridges and other overhead structures even when there were several sets of "low overhead" warning signs posted with the maximum permissible height for vehicles and loads. Train service between the cities was disrupted for two weeks for repairs. In 2017, a railroad bridge on the Atlantic City-Philadelphia line was struck when a garbage truck ignored the height restrictions for the bridge underpass. In addition to the damage and delay in bridge construction, the driver and the trucking company were hit with wrongful death suits by the family of the driver that was killed. The highest point on the crane measured 14 feet five inches. Signs two miles in advance of the overpass warned of a maximum height of 13 feet, six inches, although the actual bridge clearance was 14 feet. In 2015, a truck carrying a crane struck a highway overpass that was under construction, knocking several concrete beams onto the highway, killing one driver and injuring others. This does not include the additional settlements to the damages and injuries to other drivers, and the legal penalties for failing to have the necessary permits. The State of Washington sued the trucking company $17 million for the cost of repairing the bridge. A section of the bridge collapsed sending two vehicles into the river below. In 2013, an over height truck in Washington State slammed into the overhead braces of bridge due to its height in excess of the permitted height. Some drivers carrying tall "overheight" loads are unaware of how tall their loads are. Investigators believe a truck carrying heavy equipment with an oversized load may have hit the bridge and never stopped," according to WSMV News.Īpparently, overheight loads are a significant problem on the nations highways. "Concrete fell off the flyover ramp bridge from I-840 onto I-24.
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