Effective April 3rd, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Permit Office and the Illinois State Police have implemented a trial period permitting night moves for oversize vehicles on the state’s highways.
As many states discuss greater highway harmonization, IDOT’s test follows the lead of some of its Midwestern neighbors. The new permit regulation will allow oversize vehicles to move after curfew with loads up to 10’ wide and/or 200’ long, legal height with flags/lights on the load’s extremities, and accompanied by one civilian escort.
Under the new changes, authorized times of movement include the following:
- Overweight permit loads with legal dimensions are authorized to move 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Overweight and/or Over-dimension permit loads with dimensions equal to or less than 10’0” wide, 13’6”’ high, 200’ long are authorized to move 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Overweight and/or Over-dimension permit loads with dimensions equal to or less than 14’ 6” wide, 15’ high, 200’ long are authorized to move from ½ hour before sunrise until ½ hour after sunset, 7 days a week.
- Overweight and/or Over-dimension permit loads with dimensions equal to or less 16’0” wide, 17’ high are authorized to move from ½ hour before sunrise to ½ hour after sunset Monday through Friday, and from ½ hour before sunrise until noon, Saturday (unless specified otherwise on the provision sheet or permit).
- Overweight and/or Over-dimension permit loads with dimensions greater than 200’ long are authorized to move from ½ hour before sunrise to ½ hour after sunset Monday through Friday.
- No Saturday or Sunday movement is allowed (unless specified otherwise on the provision sheet or permit).
- Overweight and/or Over-dimension permit loads with dimensions greater than 16’0” wide, 17’0” high, are authorized to move from 9:00am CST to 3:00pm Monday through Friday. No
- Saturday or Sunday movement is allowed (unless specified otherwise on the provision sheet or permit).
- Over-dimension permit loads are further restricted on specific holidays and holiday weekends.
Currently, the Illinois Vehicle Code (IVC) does not prohibit oversize vehicles to travel during dark hours, but IDOT and many local jurisdictions have their own rules. If the test of the new regulation is a success, many local jurisdictions will likely follow suit, though these smaller jurisdictions are not in any way legally obligated to replicate IDOT’s regulations. The City of Chicago will also likely retain its own regulations.
Carrier’s should be prepared to continue to check with local permit authorities before performing night moves and recognize that law enforcement will need time to adapt to policy change.
The updated regulation, OPER 993, is available online here.