BCTA is extremely pleased that our work with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) has resulted in changes to pilot car requirements and travel times for oversized loads, effective August 25, 2021.  After 14 years of advocacy and work that urged MoTI to undertake much-needed, significant reforms to the regulatory system for oversize- overweight vehicles, BCTA applauds the government for supporting and addressing barriers that restrict BC’s oversize-overweight (OS-OW) vehicle sector.

BCTA has sent numerous letters requesting length increases for different vehicle categories and expansions to existing travel time windows. The provided additional lengths, evening and weekend restriction and travel times are in direct response to the OS-OW Committee request, which can be found in our Bulletin Article,  “Heavy-Haul Update: BCTA Response to Pilot Car/Width & Length Reviews”.  We are extremely pleased of these changes and look forward to working collaboratively with MoTI to better support a safe and competitive OS-OW vehicle industry in BC.

The new requirements are based on engineering analysis that considered the severity, exposure, and frequency of risks. The analysis looked at how oversize commercial vehicles/loads fit in their lanes and at what dimensions they may encroach into other lanes, creating increased risk for other road users and infrastructure.

After conducting an engineering analysis and consulting with industry and ministry staff, the following changes have been made that will come into effect on August 25^th:

1. Additional length will be approved for regular permitting without custom analysis. On the CVSE1000, the permit condition document for loads up to 4.4 m overall width, there will be:
   • An increase to 27.5 m overall length for Category A (from 25 m)
   • An increase to 36 m overall length for Category B (from 32 m)
   • An increase to 46 m overall length for Category C (from 40 m)
2. Evening and weekend restrictions for loads between 3.2 and 4.4 m wide will be removed, except in the Lower Mainland.
3. Although loads over 4.4 m wide will still mostly be restricted to travel at night, there will be a slight increase to the travel window for those loads on weeknights, especially in Northern BC, and begin allowing loads to move between midnight and 5 a.m. on weekends where feasible.
4. Currently pilot car requirements in BC differ between daylight and darkness, the new pilot car requirements will move to a two-lane vs. multi-lane approach.
5. The current options for loads 3.2 to 3.5 m wide to operate flashing lights on the power unit instead of requiring a pilot car during daylight will continue to be in force.

Further information on pilot car requirements, travel times, and special conditions for extraordinary loads will be published on the Government of BC’s Extraordinary Loads webpage in the near future.

For more information on the upcoming changes to pilot car requirements and travel times, please contact the Commercial Transport Department at 250-953-4017 or commercial.transport@gov.bc.ca.