RouteAll

Your First Pilot Car Job: A Checklist

Whitney S. Johnson · CEO of RouteAll · 4 years running height pole, mostly east coast, escorting data center equipment.

Last verified September 8, 2026 against the state rules linked in the Sources section.

Your first pilot car job is won or lost the night before. Call the truck driver, agree a start time, and agree exactly where you meet. Do those 3 things and the morning is routine. Skip one and you are late to a load you have never seen.

I run height pole for a living, and this is the order I work in.

Get the permit first

Before the price, before the date, before anything. The permit names the roads, the states, the dimensions and the travel conditions you are agreeing to drive. A job described over the phone as "Atlanta to Charlotte" can carry a curfew, a bridge restriction and a second escort you were never told about.

"Send me the permit so I can look over the route."

Whitney S. Johnson, height pole escort

That is the first thing I say to a driver. Every time.

Read the permit for the 4 things that change your day: the width, the height, the states crossed, and the travel restrictions. The height decides whether you are running a pole. The states decide whether you need a certification you do not hold.

Night before the job

This is the part new operators skip, and it is the part that matters most. Work through it in order.

  1. Call the driver. Voice, not text. A text thread is not an agreement, and you cannot hear hesitation in a message.
  2. Agree the start time out loud, and repeat it back. "Six a.m. Tuesday" beats "first thing".
  3. Agree the meet location as a real place with a name. A truck stop, a scale, a yard address.
  4. Agree the radio channel and confirm the driver has a working CB or handheld.
  5. Confirm your position — lead, chase, or height pole. Ask which, and do not assume.
  6. Confirm the load's real numbers. Ask the width and height the driver measured, not the permit's.
Warning

Do not accept a dropped map pin as your route. A pin names a destination. The permit names the roads.

Then charge every battery, check the fuel, and lay the gear out where you can see it is all there.

The five stages of a first pilot car job A single timeline runs from left to right through five stages. Stage one is the night before, when the escort calls the driver by voice and agrees the start time, the meet location and the radio channel. Stage two is the morning of, when the escort loads the sign, lights, paddles, pole and safety gear. Stage three is the meet, thirty minutes early, where the load is walked, the height measured and the radio tested. Stage four is the road, where the escort keeps constant radio contact and scouts every clearance ahead. Stage five is the end of the day, where the escort logs the miles and the hours for the invoice. The night-before stage is highlighted because a missed call there is what makes the rest fail. Five stages, in order 1. Night before — call, time, meet 2. Morning of — load the gear 3. At the meet — walk, measure, test 4. On the road — radio, scout, stop 5. End of day — log miles and hours
Stage one is the only stage that happens before anyone is paying you, and it is the one that decides the other four.

Morning of the move

Load the gear, then check it against the strictest state on your permit. Utah publishes one of the most detailed equipment lists in the country, and an escort packed to Utah's list is packed for most of the map.

Regulation, verbatim

Utah requires an escort sign with a "minimum of 5 feet wide by 10 inches high visible surface space, with a solid yellow background and 8-inch-high by 1-inch-wide black letters" and a two-way radio "capable of transmitting and receiving voice messages over a minimum distance of one-half mile." — Utah Admin. Code R909-2-28. Verified September 8, 2026.

Pack these before you leave the house:

  • Sign and flags — the OVERSIZE LOAD sign, plus 2 red or orange flags at least 18 inches square.
  • Amber lights — a roof beacon or light bar, and a spare bulb or spare unit.
  • Paddles — 18 inch or 24 inch STOP and SLOW paddles, which Utah and Colorado both name.
  • Height pole — non-conductive material only, if the load is over height.
  • Safety gear — vest, hard hat, triangles, cones, flares, flashlight, fire extinguisher, first aid kit.
  • Paper — the permit, your license, your certification card, and your insurance certificate.

Colorado adds a spare oversize load sign to its list, which tells you how often the first one fails.

Do I need a certification for this?

In some states, yes, and it is not something you can fix on the morning. Florida, Utah, Colorado, Georgia and several others certify escorts before they may work a permitted load. Others require nothing at all. The permit tells you which states you cross, and the state rule tells you what it wants.

Certification is training and a card, not a commercial driver licence. The table lists what 3 states ask for.

Escort certification requirements in three states, from each state's own rule.
StateRequirementSource
FloridaAge 18, an 8 hour flagging course and an 8 hour defensive driving course, requalified every 4 years by a 4 hour refresherFla. Admin. Code R. 14-26.012
UtahA qualified course covering flagging, positioning, rail crossings and insurance, passed with an 80 percent scoreUtah Admin. Code R909-2-29
ColoradoA certification examination; the certificate is valid 4 years, with 1 further 4 year renewal by mail or online2 CCR 601-4, ch. 5

Whitney names Florida, New Mexico and Utah as the escort rules drivers misread most often. Washington accepts certificates from 8 other states, so 1 card can cover several lanes.

Meeting the truck

Arrive 30 minutes early. The agreed time is when the wheels turn, not when you park. Use the half hour to find out what the permit did not tell you, while there is still time to fix it.

Walk the load before you talk about anything else.

  1. Measure the height yourself, and set the pole above it. Florida requires the pole 6 inches above the load.
  2. Walk both sides and look for anything sticking out past the trailer that nobody flagged.
  3. Test the radio with the driver from 2 parked vehicles, not from 2 feet apart.
  4. Mount the sign and switch the amber lights on, then have the driver confirm they see them.
  5. Read the travel conditions on the permit aloud with the driver, especially the curfew hours.
  6. Note the start mileage on your odometer, because your invoice will need it.

If the load's real height is higher than the permit's, the move stops there. That is a permit problem, and it belongs to the carrier before the wheels turn.

Running the load

Talk constantly. A silent escort is a car with a flag on it, and the driver behind you is steering on what you say. Call the bridge, call the construction, call the turn, call the light. Say it early enough that a truck at 55 miles an hour can act on it.

"Communication over the CB is crucial to our role."

Whitney S. Johnson, height pole escort

Keep your distance inside the rule. Florida holds escorts within 300 feet of the load, in front or behind. Pennsylvania runs a height pole car 1,000 to 3,000 feet ahead, which is a different job at a different speed.

Warning

A pole strike stops the move. Do not wave the truck through to see whether it clears.

What each state expects of your position and your gear is set out in Pilot car requirements by state. If the truck leaves the permitted roads, read What happens if you leave your permitted route before deciding anything.

A shared RouteAll route opens for the escort with no account and no charge, showing the roads the permit names rather than a car route between the same 2 points.

Closing out the day

Write it down while you can still remember it. Your invoice is built from the numbers you record now, and a week later they are gone. Note the end mileage, the total hours, the time you started waiting and the time you stopped.

Ask the driver to confirm the day's miles before you both leave.

Keep the permit copy, the dates and the mileage together. How that turns into money is covered in Pilot car pay and how billing works.

Before you roll

Call the driver the night before, agree the time out loud, and agree a meet location with a name. Ask for the permit before you agree to the job, and read the states on it against the certification card in your wallet. RouteAll does not issue permits or guarantee compliance. New operators should also read What a pilot car actually does.

Common questions

What do I say when I call the driver?

Ask for the permit first. Then settle four things: the start time, the meet location, the radio channel, and the load's real width and height. Confirm who is running lead and who is running chase. Keep the call short and write every answer down.

Do I need a certification for my first job?

In some states, yes. Florida requires an eight hour flagging course plus an eight hour defensive driving course, with a four hour refresher every four years. Utah requires an 80 percent exam score, while other states require none at all. Check the states on the permit.

What if the truck cannot fit?

Stop the move and call it in. A pole strike or a clearance the load cannot make is a full stop, not a slowdown. Measure, tell the driver what you read, and let the carrier decide the next road. Do not wave the truck through to see.

How early should I arrive at the meet?

Arrive 30 minutes before the agreed time. That leaves room to walk the load, measure the height, set the pole, mount the sign and test the radio before the clock starts. A first job that starts late usually started with a meet nobody confirmed.

Further reading

Sources

RouteAll reads the permit you provide. It does not issue permits or guarantee compliance. The driver remains responsible for the load. Rules change; verify against the permit and the issuing state before every move.