Certified Pilot Cars and You

Get the Most Out of Your Money When Shopping for Certified Pilot Cars

If you’ve ever tried shopping for certified pilot car services, you know that it can tough to find a reputable company. There are so many businesses out there, so how do you know which is right for you?  The best way to find out this information is to check out the company’s website. Most reputable pilot car service companies will have their own website and domain name with services, prices, and qualifications listed.

But, how can you be sure that the company is credible and safe?  Not to worry, there are plenty of ways to tell whether a certain company is the one for you. You can start by following these simple guidelines.
               
When booking a pilot car escort company, it is a good idea to go in person to their office and request to see their fleet of pilot cars. The vehicles should be dependable, clean, and well-maintained. Certified pilot cars should be insured with a minimum of $1,000,000.00 in liability in order to protect your business and reputation. The escort should also use only late-model pilot vans and cars, in order to minimize costly delays and downtime for your oversize loads.

Another important thing to consider when shopping is whether a company’s cars meet state requirements. Some companies have weekly inspection of their cars by the Department of Transportation; this is done because of the necessary steerable requirements of the loads they escort.

While other companies may not escort those type of steerable loads and be required to complete the DOT inspections, you will still want to make sure that their vehicles are regularly inspected and well maintained.  Your time is money and you should not have to stop because the escort has what would have been a preventable breakdown.

When choosing certified pilot cars to help transport materials, you also need to consider the scope of your travel. If a pilot car company only meets the requirements for a handful of states, but you need to transport materials across the country, then you’re out of luck. Your best option is to use a pilot car escort service that is certified in all 48 states in order to provide convenient coast to coast service and get your materials where they need to go. 

Another option to consider is the skills of the escort drivers. If you are looking for a long term relationship with a particular company and you move a variety of different sized loads, you will want to partner with a company that can handle all of your needs.  Some companies only offer basic escorting services while others offer services like; front and rear escorts, high pole services, route surveys, super loads, and steerable loads. Choose a company with the widest range of services and you will most likely get years of experience with them as well.

So there you have it, some basic guidelines on what you should look for when choosing a pilot car escort service. In your particular industry there may some other factors that come into play, so just make sure you are comfortable with the credentials of the company, the competence of their drivers, and speak to the owner personally with your questions and concerns.  They are generally very knowledgeable of the laws and regulations for the states that they travel and should be able to answer your questions on the spot.