Axle spacing, weight distribution, and frost laws are some of the permit, regulations and routing options that shippers, truckers and brokers confront in moving oversize and overweight (OS/OW) cargoes. The labyrinth of details from counties, cities, states and federal governments is a formidable task that some truckers try to avoid which can be costly in penalties, dangerous to the traveling public and exact wear and tear on road and bridge infrastructures. These problems perplexed Drew Jahnke, founder and director of sales of the web-based platform, Oversize.io, based in Kansas.

“This company was created out of the pain I was experiencing as a dispatcher and broker in the open deck/heavy haul industry. I spent 6 years between being a dispatcher [working with trucks to book loads] and as a broker [working with shippers to move their freight on trucks]. My largest frustration with working in the oversize/heavy haul industry was the time it took to do proper due diligence, build quotes, and mostly navigate all the rules, regulations and pricing for each state,” he told the American Journal of Transportation in a recent interview.

Director Jahnke estimates that the addressable market is 25,000 OS/OW permits per day in the United States which includes full lane loads of 150,000 pounds, 14-16 feet wide or 15 feet tall cargoes of bulldozers, cranes, boomers, last mile trucks for wind farms and large construction and oil equipment moving across states. These non-divisible loads are breakbulk requiring permits that can be very expensive depending on the state. Each state has a manual for OS/OW permits that are like tax rules and regulations with loopholes. “There are so many variables. So, the Oversize.io platform navigates and calculates all these variables,” he said.

Digitizing the Problem

For example, Oklahoma has a flat rate per weight for no matter how many miles and for 150,000 pounds a rate of $780 for a 30-mile route. Louisiana has a per ton per mile $30,000 permit to go across the state for half a million-pound cranes. A 100,000-pound weight load can include the truck weight of which 80,000 is legal and 20,000 pounds is extra weight with fees of $300 to $500 to a few thousand dollars. Over 150,000 pounds in certain states can require 3rd party engineering reviews that can cost thousands of dollars per state. Engineering reviews analyze bridges to not cause damages. Essentially, trucks are paying to damage the roads and some states can reject it so would need to reroute to other states.

Civilian escorts for 1000 miles run can cost $1500 to $2000 and police escorts can cost three to four times that amount which all differ by states. “There are so many variables,” admonished Jahnke. So, the Oversize.io platform navigates all these variables by carriers putting in their data and the system calculates if they can do the transport through all the states.

Some of the Oversize.io clients include large and small freight forwarders involving Komatsu shipments, Berard mega transport experts in Louisiana and DSV as well as the top 20 of 25 brokerages. Importers and exporters for project cargoes involving China fabrications for factories and European heavy machinery as well as oil and gas projects through Houston port make use of the platform. The platform Oversize.io gives users confidence in the bureaucracy that can be opaque to a freight forwarder not knowing the United States market. “The platform gives real prices on permits to clarify. Drivers, shippers and brokers all get the same information from the platform. We are not a dog in the fight to make money,” he said. The dog in the fight is illustrated by oil companies willing to pay to move equipment to their North Dakota oil fields, and counties will charge for permits amounting to $10,000 for a 250-mile route. Drivers will be assessed a penalty of $25,000 without a permit based on frost laws. There are also 150,000-pound super heavy load per ton, per mile charges.

Advantages of Software for Project Moves

The advantages and cost savings by using Oversize.io are significant to all stakeholders. The frost laws require chains on trucks in Colorado, Wyoming and the northwest United States for winter months. The spring thaw applies to states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Michigan as well as Canada after heavy loads avoiding the extra expenses riding on the ice during the winter. But when the ground thaws and softens, over-weight loads become a problem by damaging roads and trucks stuck in mud. Oversize.io does the daily updates with all states involved which can impact the specific route selected to travel. The maximum axle weight on the platform calculates for all states since each state formula is different. The federal bridge formula, states’ rules, interstate and non-interstate rules are all covered by the Oversize.io platform.

Oversize.io charges an annual or month to month subscription pricing model. Typically, brokers can get a quote in 15 minutes to one hour, but with Oversize.io the quote is ready in one minute to calculate all costs faster with all the due diligence. Cost savings derive from the platform foreseeing issues that drivers did not calculate. For example, a heavy load from Maryland to Florida did not experience weight issues until the Florida border. The driver had to scale in Florida because the axle weight was too high on the truck’s axles. Costs piled up from $2000 to $5000 for the crane to transload to another truck, then had to pay to the end of the route for the tractor, trailer and driver. Use of the Oversize.io platform maximum axle weight calculator shows the extra axle requirement to use other equipment or say no to the heavy transport.

“A shipper can do a price check on what a driver or broker charges them since they have no idea. There is price and information transparency,” said Jahnke.

Oversize.io isn’t alone in the sector. For example, Bentley Systems Inc., SUPERLOAD, “Vehicle Permitting and Routing Software” platform is web-based available on desktop or mobile devices. They work with 20 state-level departments of transportation (DOT) to automate the OS/OW permit and routing process for the trucking industry. “Systems process between 50,000 and 400,000 OS/OW permits per year”, explained Bentley’s, Dan Vogen, vice president, Roadway Asset Management Transportation Asset Performance to the American Journal of Transportation, recently.

The Maryland DOT estimates carrier savings of $24.6 million per year from a $200 per hour load expense and 123,000 permits per year because of the benefits of SUPERLOAD. Carriers avoid manual delays from processing permits which includes a real-time bridge analysis of their location and clearance for routing. “Carriers and shippers no longer have a reason to run without a permit. They are also alerted if conditions change along the trip they were permitted and need to make adjustments. The public can be confident that these large loads move safely through the highway system and are not causing harm to the infrastructures,” said Vice President Vogen.