Driving Oversize Loads at Night: What You Need to Know

Oversize Loads

Travel at night:

An oversize vehicle that, together with any load, is wider than 3.1m or longer than 22m, must not, while being used at night: travel outside an urban area; or. travel in an urban area without being accompanied by a pilot vehicle – NHVR

Also with the EOY Holidays coming up, it’s worth noting –

Eligible vehicles that are wider than 2.5 m or longer than 22 m are not permitted to travel during the day on public holidays. The only exceptions are for vehicles driving across the road or carrying agricultural equipment – NHVR

Tractors/Farm Machinery

Yes, you can drive a tractor on the road at night, but there are some rules to follow:

Lighting

• Tractors must have basic lighting, including dipped-beam headlamps, to be visible in traffic.
• All lighting must be fitted as close as possible to the position specified in the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2017 or the Heavy Vehicle (Vehicle Standards) National Regulation. Tractors must also have tail lights to ensure that vehicles approaching from behind can see you.

Visibility

• Oversize vehicles, including tractors, must not travel in low visibility conditions, such as fog, heavy rain, or smoke.

Pilot vehicles

• Oversize vehicles wider than 3.1 meters or longer than 22 meters must not travel outside of an urban area at night without a pilot vehicle.

Slow-moving vehicle (SMV) sign

• Tractors, especially those going less than 25 miles per hour, should display an SMV sign. During the day, the sign is a solid orange triangle, and at night it’s a hollow red triangle.

Insurance

• Check your insurance policy to make sure it covers driving a tractor off the farm property.

License

• You need a Class C license, which is essentially a car license.