Tuesday, January 7, 2020

New law requires escort vehicle drivers to be registered

An escort vehicle follows a overwidth/overweight vehicle .


A new law passed by the Kansas Legislature went into effect on Jan. 1 that requires escort vehicle companies/service providers working with overwidth/overweight vehicles to be registered with the Kansas Secretary of Transportation, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.

The statute states that escort vehicle drivers must be registered, successfully complete an escort vehicle training course, and have a valid driver’s license. There is no fee to register or to renew a registration. Registration is valid for one year.

“This change has added requirements between the escorts and the oversize/overweight vehicles, which will help improve safety and communication so there is a better understanding of the routes to be used and where everyone should be when moving these loads,” said Dominique Shannon, KDOT Bridge Evaluation Engineer. 

KDOT worked with agency partners and law enforcement on the registration requirements for escort vehicle service providers. Starting this month, if an overwidth/overweight vehicle gets stopped for any reason by a law enforcement officer, the officer may verify that any driver escorting the overwidth/overweight vehicle is registered to operate in Kansas.

“If a driver escorting an overwidth/overweight vehicle is not registered, the officer may require the load to stop until it has a registered escort driver,” Shannon said.

To register as an escort vehicle service provider, visit the K-TRIPS website at www.k-trips.com and create a user account. After a user account is created, all required registration information for the vehicles and the drivers can be entered through the Company Data. To ask questions or for more details, there is a live chat option on the website or call 785-368-6501 during business hours.

3 comments:

  1. The problem isnt the pilot cars , the problem is the general public refusing to slow down and stop when asked too for safety reasons .There needs to be a fine for when it happens and until then no pilot car or oversize load is going to be safe, further more the Kansas law enforcement need to respond to calls when called by a driver or pilot car when theres a problem.

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  2. Well said @Chasingwind71...and this 300ft in front of the load BS as a front/highpole is going to get someone killed!! A truck hauling ANY load, super or not running 50-62mph cannot safely stop if the front car calls an ALL STOP.

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  3. Troopers need to watch for os/ow loads running with no escort to save money I see them a lot

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