Drums, reels and round loads
Wider than the deck, round, and heavy off-centre. Cradled, chained down and run under notice with the marker board fitted.
Over 2.9 metres · Escorted by us
Wide load transport
Anything wider than 2.9 metres needs notice, marker boards and often an escort. Our exemption notices cover the whole UK and our escort vehicles are our own, so the timing does not depend on somebody else’s diary.
On the road
Wide loads we have moved
A 14 foot wide pool in Wigan
A medical pool delivered to a private property in Wigan and lowered between the buildings into the garden, because there was no way through at ground level. Reach is what makes a wide load deliverable when the access is not.
Panels and glazed units
Wide, flat and fragile. Loaded on frames, strapped rather than chained, and escorted where the width requires it.
Vessels and tanks
Cylindrical loads that are wider than the trailer, cradled and marked and moved under notice.
The long runs
Wide loads do not stop at the North West. Manchester to Scotland, under notice, with our own escort in front.
Containers over the limit
A twenty by fourteen foot freezer container, wider than the lane it travels in, moved under notice with an escort in front of it.
What your width triggers
What changes once you pass 2.9 metres
Width does not just make a load abnormal; it decides how much warning has to be given and whether an escort runs with it.
| Width of load | What it means | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 2.9 m | Ordinary haulage | No notice, no marker boards, no escort. It travels like any other load. |
| Over 2.9 m | Abnormal load | Statutory notice before the movement — a minimum of two working days — and marker boards fitted. |
| Wider still | Escort, and often a route study | Whether an escort is required, and how much of the route has to be agreed in advance, depends on the width, the roads and the force area. It is settled at planning stage, not by a rule of thumb. |
| Police escort requested | Fourteen days’ notice | That is the notice period forces generally ask for. Using our own escort vehicles is what keeps a movement off that timetable. |
Measure over the widest point of the load, including packaging, strapping and projecting fittings. We have deliberately not published a table of exact width bands against exact requirements: escort and attendant rules vary by load, by route and by police force area, and we would rather settle yours at planning stage than have you work from a generalisation. Width is one of four thresholds that make a load abnormal — weight, axle load and rigid length are the others, set out in full on the abnormal loads page.
Why our own escorts matter
The wait is usually the escort, not the lorry
A wide load is rarely delayed by haulage capacity. It is delayed by waiting for an escort. We run our own escort vehicles, so a movement can be planned around your programme rather than around when someone else is free.
Our wide load exemption notices cover the entire United Kingdom. Where a route needs it we carry out a full study, give the statutory notice and liaise with the police and highway authorities along the way — bridges, roundabouts, pinch points, street furniture, overhead lines.
And because the crane is on the lorry, the load comes off at the far end without a mobile crane being booked to meet it.
A wide one
Fourteen feet across, and no way through the gate
A panel this wide is not heavy. What makes it a job is that it is wider than anything it has to pass, so it has to be carried in level, at radius, from wherever the lorry can legally stand.
That is the whole calculation on a wide load going into a domestic or a yard setting: not the weight, but the distance from the standing position to the landing point, and whether anything overhead sits in the arc of the boom.
If you have something awkwardly wide to move, describe it to us in a sentence and say what is between the road and where it has to end up. We will tell you whether it reaches.
Common questions
Wide load transport, answered
What is classed as a wide load?
Anything over 2.9 metres across its widest point. That is measured over the load itself, including packaging, strapping and any projecting fittings — not over the vehicle body. If you are close to the line, measure it rather than estimate it.
Who provides the escort?
We do, from our own escort vehicles. That is deliberate: waiting for a police or third-party escort to become available is what turns a one-day movement into a three-day one. Running our own means the movement window is ours to plan.
Do you need to warn the police?
Above 2.9 metres, yes — statutory notice is given before the load moves, a minimum of two working days ahead. Wider loads may also need parts of the route agreed in advance, and a requested police escort is generally a fourteen day lead time. We handle the notices and the liaison. You give us the dimensions; we give you a date.
Can a wide load still be lifted on site?
Yes, and it usually needs to be. Our vehicles carry their own cranes with up to 19.6 metres of outreach, so a wide unit can be set down well away from where the lorry is standing — which matters when the lorry itself needs three metres of clearance either side.
What sort of things are over 2.9 metres?
Modular buildings and site cabins, pools and tanks, process vessels, precast concrete sections, plant with the tracks or booms fitted, agricultural machinery, and glazed or panelled units. A standard 32 by 10 cabin is not wide; a double-width modular unit is.
Something wide to move?
Tell us what it is and where it has to go. We will tell you what it triggers and when it can move.
