When a load is over the standard road limits, tell us and we handle it — the route survey, the notifications to police and the highway authorities, the escorts, and the move itself, all in-house. One team, one number, anywhere in the UK.
An abnormal load is one that's too heavy, too wide, or too long to move under the standard road limits. Once a load is over them, it moves under Special Types rules — with notice to the authorities, a planned route, and escorts where the route needs them.
Altida move abnormal loads across the UK from a base in Chesterfield. We match the trailer to the load and the route, plan the journey around the structures and access on the way, and handle the movement orders, the notifications, and the escort vehicles in-house — filed before the lorry leaves the yard.
Altida runs cranes as well as transport. So when a load needs lifting onto or off the trailer, the crane and the lorry come from the same team — no handover between two separate firms.
Know your load
A load is abnormal once it crosses any one of the standard road limits — on weight, width, length, or height. Cross one, and the move runs under Special Types rules instead of normal haulage.
What we handle
An abnormal load is as much paperwork and planning as it is driving. We carry all of it — so the legal side and the route are sorted long before the load moves.
Route survey and planning around bridges, structures, and access.
Movement orders and the legal documentation, prepared in-house.
Notifications to police and the highway and bridge authorities.
ESDAL filing for the notifiable movement, where it applies.
Escort vehicles arranged where the route or the width needs them.
The right trailer matched to the weight, width, length, and height.
ESDAL is the Electronic Service Delivery for Abnormal Loads — the National Highways system used to notify the authorities of a movement. We file it as part of the job, not as an extra.
Special Types
Once a load is over the normal 44-tonne limit, it moves under the Special Types General Order (STGO), in three categories by weight — and the speed it can run at drops as it gets heavier. Beyond the categories, the heaviest and widest loads move on an individual Special Order. The notice the authorities need scales up the same way; we build it into the plan from the first call.
| Up to Maximum gross weight | Motorway Top speed | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal load | 44 tonnes — within Construction & Use limits | National limit |
| STGO Category 1 | 50 tonnes | 60 mph |
| STGO Category 2 | 80 tonnes | 40 mph |
| STGO Category 3 | 150 tonnes | 40 mph |
| Special Order | Over 150 tonnes, or over 6.1 m wide | By individual order |
The categories set what's allowed; the notice each move needs is separate, scaling from a couple of clear working days for many movements up to several weeks for a Special Order. A "clear working day" excludes the day the notice is given, the day of the move, weekends and bank holidays — so the real lead time is longer than the headline figure. The exact requirement depends on the load and the route, which we confirm when we plan the job.
Not actually abnormal? See General HaulageRoute planning
Getting an abnormal load there safely is mostly about the route. We survey it, plan around what the load can't clear, and confirm the way through before anything leaves the yard.
We check the route for bridges and structures the weight has to cross, and notify their owners so the move is cleared in advance, not stopped on the day.
Tight corners, roundabouts, and site entrances are checked against the length and the trailer, so the load follows a route it can actually turn through.
For tall loads, the route is planned around low bridges, gantries, and overhead lines — the deck height chosen to clear them, the path chosen to avoid them.
Signs, bollards, and kerb lines that a wide load would catch are identified in the survey, so the way through is known before the wheels turn.
The fleet
Abnormal loads need a trailer built for the dimension that puts them over the limit — the weight, the length, or the height. We run a mixed fleet so we match the trailer to the load.
A stepped deck that sits low to the road, so a tall load runs legally under bridges and gantries a standard trailer wouldn't clear. The first choice when height is what makes the load abnormal.
Best for Tall plant, mobile cranes, vessels.
Triple-extending beds with rear-wheel steer that follows the tractor through tight corners — the choice for long loads heading through narrow site access, roundabouts, and town centres.
Best for Structural steel, long beams, rail.
More axles spread the weight of the heaviest loads across the road and the structures beneath it. The trailer for a load that's abnormal on weight rather than size.
Best for Transformers, pressure vessels, heavy plant.
Where a load won't sit on anything off the shelf, we put it on the right specialist trailer — a triple-extending bed, extra axles to spread the weight, or a low-loader matched to the load.
Best for Out-of-gauge loads, long or wide sections.
Why Altida
Most transport firms sub the cranes out; most crane firms sub the transport out. Altida runs both, with our own escort teams — which is what keeps an abnormal load on one timeline, with one number to call.
Where the route or the width needs them, the escort vehicles come from the same team running the move — and liaise with the police where the movement requires it.
When the load needs lifting onto or off the trailer, the crane and the transport come from the same yard. No handover between two firms, no crane sat waiting on someone else's lorry.
The route survey, the movement orders, the notifications, and the ESDAL filing all sit with the same team that runs the move — not farmed out to a third party.
A central base in Chesterfield means we reach the length of the UK without starting every job miles from where it begins.
Before you call
The more you can tell us up front, the faster we can confirm the trailer, the route, and the notice the move needs. Don't worry if you don't have it all — we'll work the rest out with you.
What the load is, and roughly what it weighs.
Its dimensions — length, width, and height, even approximate.
Where it's collected from, and the access at that end.
Where it's going, and the access on delivery.
When you need it moved, allowing for the notice period.
Whether it needs lifting on or off, or rigging at either end.
If you have most of that, send it over and we'll come back with a clear quote — the trailer, the route, the notice the move needs, and any escort named up front.
Across industry
Common questions
The questions project and site teams ask us most often about abnormal loads. Anything else, just call.
Get in touch
