How do you become a Pilot/Escort vehicle for oversized loads?

You have been very helpful, soloflyr. You have been right along and I appreciate the time and effort it took to make your insightful and helpful responses. I feel better now and I am well aware of the fact that it is not a matter of walking in off the street and getting work from a good outfit such as yours but it helps knowing that places like yours do exist.

 

What part of the country do you plan to be based out of?

 

I currently live in Vermont but that too will change in a couple of years. Looking at North Carolina and West Virginia. But nothing in stone yet. I thought about the South West also. These New England winters are getting to be too long and too cold.

 

This crew will pretty much go anywhere if the price is right, but they generally prefer to stay in TX, LA, OK & NM. They do well around here, especially when the oil fields are cranking like they are right now.

 

Oil fields and refineries and minning would be interesting work I would think. That's the kind of stuff I would really like to be involved with. Seems they must need lots of equipment moved around pretty regularly. I worked out of a terminal next to the Bayway refinery. Some huge stuff made it's way up Rt 1. J Supor and Son out of Kearny NJ. They actually had to build a bridge over a bridge to bring in a massive load to the Bayway Refinery in NJ (many years ago). All of it done at night.

 

Staging superloads like that is very common. Ga uses a rest area in ringold, Mississippi uses a truck parking area near a casino, Tennessee picks us up in a dirt lot and so does Missouri. Both are near nothing.

The load has to stay there not the pilot cars or drivers.

My company pays $1.50-$2.00 per mile. Any position. Some pilots get Day rates. It’s all up to negotiation. We generally pay for the hotel room any night we are stopped and $250 a day we don’t move.

We have some of the best pilot cars in the industry and we want to keep them happy. They can be make or break on some loads. At a minimum a good pilot will make a drivers job much less stressful.

 

Thank you kylefitzy.. Those super loads must be interesting as well as exciting to move. I appreciate your contribution to the discussion.

What amazed me was the amount of things that had to be moved like power lines and traffic lights just to name a few. Then to have to come up with a way to "bridge a bridge" was sort of the icing on the cake. Two trucks hooked together to pull it down a virtually flat road (and their motors were workin hard!). Coordinating all of that must be a logistical nightmare. I sometimes wonder who can afford to pay for a super load, but I guess the oil companies just absorb it and pass it along to the consumer.

Never the less, that's the kind of stuff I'd like to be around.

 

Sounds like a very good place to be a pilot car operator. I hope I work myself into a place like that one day.

 

So how does a new guy pick out a car to be a pilot car?

1. Am I looking for gas mileage?
2. Am I looking for 4WD?
3. Am I looking for a car or pickup or minivan or full size van?

Do these sound like stupid questions? I have been worrying about "what kind of car" ever since I first started thinking about a pilot car. I start to obsess over things like this whenever I take on a new project. I tell myself that it's not something to get too worried about. But having seen just about everything from old Toyota pickups (relics) to Honda Civics to PT Cruisers to minivans to brand new pickups and SUV's, I'm wondering if it really doesn't matter. In my view, it seems that the sharpest vehicles I've seen are usually pickup trucks. That being said, SUV's seem very popular. Everything from brand new, to old and delapidated seems to be out in front of, or, following that oversize load. Some with nice bright lights and signs and some with dim lights and torn signs hanging crooked on the front and rear bumpers.

I am really puzzled as to what would be the right vehicle. One guy told me he was a steerman. He goes wherever the trailer goes so 4WD comes in handy when he goes off road. Great, so there went my idea about getting good gas mileage. 20 to 23 mpg he says he gets, depending on how fast they go.

So, is there a standard for vehicles for steerman? I bet 4WD is nice, but 27 mpg's or more (preferably more) is what I had in mind.

I'm still in the minivan camp, but if that would keep me from eventually getting an opportunity to be a steerman, then I would be better served by a 4WD SUV or pickup -- right?

I read one place to make sure the vehicle is comfortable because you spend a lot of time in it. Sounded somewhat obvious to me but since that person took the time and made the effort to put that advise in writing, then I guess there must be something worthwhile in it.

I guess it boils down to whatever is in the garage that you can mount a light bar on is acceptable, unless your a steerman -- right?

 

I've had pilots run everything from a 15yr old impala to a brand new pickup/commercial van. I'll let you guess which guys came of as more professional and did a better job.

Most passenger vehicles are capable of doing the job if needed.

Minivans/Utility vans do have the advantage of not requiring a hotel to sleep. The last guy I ran with was using a new Dodge Promaster van that he was in the process of outfitting to no longer need hotels. He built a large bed inside the rear doors and was planning to install a fridge/microwave/generator so he can do overnights anywhere comfortably.

The other advantage to a van is visibility. The windshield on the front of his van was so big and the hood so short that he could see the ground about 2 feet in front of the vehicle.

If you want to go with a van instead of an SUV/pickup I'd look at the Ram Promaster and the Ford Transit Cargo. Both allow you high roofs so you can comfortably stand inside and windows on all sides to give you the required 360 degree visibility. The Ford offers a diesel option which would probably better fuel mileage.


If you go with a pickup I'd highly consider a crew cab with at least a 6.5ft bed whether that's a 1/2 or 3/4 ton. Until recently I would've said a 3/4 ton crew cab short bed would probably be the best option but these days it seems like all of the big 3 are offering diesel in the 1/2 tons as well. If you go with a pickup the diesel will pay for itself in saved fuel with the kind of mileage a full time pilot does. As well as providing better range. Most pickups now also have a 35 Gallon tank available.

The pickup bed provides storage for everything you should need to carry and maybe some extras. The rear seat for the crew cab would be mostly for carrying personal stuff that you don't want in the bed or extra paper work. Also the rear bench can work as an impromptu bed if needed instead of having to sleep in the driver's seat.

Also a minivan will get decent fuel mileage stock but once you throw a lightbar or 2 on the roof and a flip up sign board sticking up 18" that mileage will tank. They also tend to have smaller fuel tank options further decreasing your range with a sign on top. Decreased range means having to make the load stop more often so you can buy fuel.

I ran a load out to CA last year with my pilot in a minivan following me. I could go about 400 miles between fuel but when she had the sign up she could get about 200 miles.

Like everything in the heavy haul/specialized segment don't plan on getting good fuel mileage. You just have to charge a rate that compensates for the increased cost of doing the job. There will be days your vehicle will get single digit fuel mileage while heading straight on into a 40mph head wind with the equivalent of a brick wall on your roof.


For lighting please spend the money to get decent lights. Don't show up with a couple of Amazon special magnet strobes running off the cigarette lighters. Get good signs and mount them properly. Same with flags. Bright lights that can be seen from a long distance are good. Also consider adding auxiliary white lights you can turn on to provide additional night visibility. Can come in handy when trying to move stuff at night and help the driver out with some white light at the back of his 100+ ft long trailer.

Properly mount a CB radio antenna and or VHF antenna. Avoid magnet mount antennas. Consider running 2 CB radios so you can monitor 19 at all times while also having a second radio for the load if 19 gets overrun by idiots.