Professional Pilot Cars… Anytime, Anywhere

Lead pilot cars. Chase vehicles. High pole and arrow-equipped escorts. Driver replacement. By loaded mile or by the day. As North America’s largest network, we can arrange professional pilot cars at every turn: anytime, any place and over any distance.

We pre-qualify our pilot car partners to ensure their professionalism, reputation, history, reliability and driving expertise. We also verify that they hold a mandatory minimum $1M in insurance to supplement ODS’ own industry-unique insurance coverage that protects our customers like no one else can.

When you work with ODS, one call does it all. We take care of every aspect of securing and arranging as many fully-equipped escort vehicles and providers to meet the demands of your load, state/province requirements and route-specific compliance. No matter how many different pilot car providers your load needs, our team will always remain your central point of contact. From initial planning to successful delivery, we simplify your administration duties and ensure that you always have answers 24/7.

All of our escort vehicles are fully equipped to meet and exceed your project’s needs. At ODS, we make sure our escorts are fully compliant with the various rules and regulations for each jurisdiction your load will travel through.

If you want to experience meticulously planned and expertly-executed over dimensional load escort services, just let ODS run point.

ODS Network at a Glance

The Best Way to Get From A to Z

When it comes to over dimensional transport, success depends on countless routing details. Like which roads are designated for different types of loads. Permit limitations and authorized operating times that differ by location. Road surfaces, conditions and infrastructure obstructions. Turning points and inclines. Bridge and dock strengths. Ongoing construction and detours. Fueling options, safe places for overnight stops, and accommodations, just to name a few!

Ultimately, making smart, informed decisions is a critical part of any carriers’ business. Especially when the consequences are measured in lost profits, upset customers, fines, damages and bad publicity.

At ODS, we can recommend, survey and optimize every aspect of your load’s routing from start to finish, to ensure the highest levels of safety, speed, profitability and peace of mind. We offer certified and detailed route surveys throughout North America based on all over-dimensions:

Length
Width
Height
Weight
Ground clearance

When you need to know exactly what stands between your destination and success, ODS is there for you.

Save Time and Focus on Your Business

Specialized transportation projects have a lot of moving parts. They can involve many players and a lot of coordination, paperwork and administration that eats up valuable time. A single load running across different cities and state lines can encompass multiple pilot car providers, each with their own contracting and administrative processes, invoicing and payment follow-ups.

When you work with ODS, you call the initial play and we quarterback your project. You won’t need to deal with any other players.

In 2-3 business days after delivery of your freight, you’ll receive a concise, clearly detailed invoice that covers your project from start to finish regardless of how many pilot cars you used. Our professional Billing & Administration team will take care of all the tedious paperwork to save you time, money… and trees! We recently optimized our processes to go from 10-60 printed sheets per load to 100% paperless.

Industry-unique Insurance. Reliable Pilots. Verified Expertise. Experience and Industry Certifications.

We actively take the lead in moving our industry towards better protection and providing the safety and reliability that carriers need. ODS has an industry-unique insurance policy that covers our operations. We understood that a ground-breaking policy like ours would be a safety manager’s dream, but it didn’t exist. That didn’t stop us! We worked with our insurance partners to create an entirely new form of coverage.

In addition, each of our pilot car partners has a minimum of $1M insurance, multiple years of experience and one or more recognized industry certifications. We do our due diligence and proactively maintain detailed, current files on all of our pilots. Our project booking and management system does not even allow us to book a pilot car provider unless that company’s insurance details are up to date.

If you’re looking for unmatched expertise and peace of mind, ODS has you covered.

We’ll Help You Navigate the Maze

When it comes to over dimensional transport projects, perfection and profit are in the details. Long before some of our industry’s most challenging loads hit the road, ODS was there supporting North America’s leading specialized transport companies in planning and coordinating the peripheral aspects of their successful projects.

Our Expertise. Your Impressive Plan.

How is the pandemic impacting timing and turnaround on permits? What different heights, widths, lengths and weights qualify as superloads from state to state? How many and what types of escort vehicles do you need at various points along your route? Which state agencies REQUIRE a route survey for oversized loads? When are curfews in effect and which areas permit escorted loads to move only at night? What exactly will it take to make your delivery happen while ensuring compliance and maximizing profit?

Every day our team helps companies like yours by providing the consultation, expert advice and timely answers you need to eliminate costly guesswork, ensure compliance and get the job done in the best way possible.

Transportation Support

More than just providing pilot cars, ODS also coordinates with local police escorts and city/state/provincial authorities to eliminate delays and optimize the movement of loads through tight turns and populated areas. We make required timely arrangements with service providers (bucket trucks, security, electricity and communication companies, etc.) to remove obstacles and prevent hang-ups. We also take care of flagging, re-routing traffic and implementing rolling road blocks along your route, all while giving you timely progress reports that you can pass along to your customers.

Whether your looking for arms length advice, a helping hand or boots on the ground, ODS has the flexibility, reach and expertise to add value at every stage of your project.

While other states and provinces assign law enforcement escorts for the travel of superload shipments on certain highways, Pennsylvania and Ontario (Canada) do things differently.

CEVO in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, a pilot must be certified and licensed as Certified Escort Vehicle Operator (CEVO) to operate in lieu of a state trooper during superload moves. Unlike standard pilot car drivers, a CEVO must complete a specialized course. While each state has different definitions of a superload and escort requirements are specified on permits, ODS can arrange the CEVOs you require and optimize your plan based on the specific needs of your load, route, and travel times.

CSE in Ontario

Superloads traveling on Ontario highways require Certified Superload Escorts (CSE): pilots appointed with specific traffic control authority after completing an MTO-approved training course. Applications for superload moves in Ontario require that carriers submit specific documentation, including a Traffic Management Plan, for review by the Ministry of Transportation. In addition to arranging CSEs, ODS can help you to develop the best and most cost-effective plan tailored to your superload, current highway parameters, and ideal routing and operating times.