08/08/2016
For all of you that keep asking. What is a Pilot Car Driver? For everyone who sees me or my fellow amber flashing brothers and sisters driving down the road and thinks we have an easy job, that we are just playing follow the leader, let me take a minute to explain..
On paper, we are simply advanced warning for the public and that is all.
In practice, we are the eyes and ears of the driver. We exist for the safety of the public, our load, and public property. An overwhelming amount of oversize freight is wider or longer than the driver can safely see, so we tell him where his rear wheels will track when he cuts corners, if he can safely change lanes, if there are any emergency vehicles coming up, funny smells, blown tires. Basically anything he can't see or hear from the back of his vehicle. As a pole car, we are checking that we can safely clear telephone wires or bridges, if there are pedestrians ahead of him and he needs to change lane, keeping him on route, making sure everything ahead of him is good for a smooth and safe trip.
We are not just out here following big trucks, this is by far not an easy job, we have families, we have friends, and we give up our lives in order to make sure the public is safe from harms way when our load comes through town. Please when you see us, give us some respect, give us a little extra room, and I promise we will try to get moving as fast as we can.