Farm Equipment & Highways

Dimensions & Rules

Alberta Transportation establishes maximum vehicle weight and dimension limits to preserve highway infrastructure and to ensure the safety of the travelling public. This includes legal limits for any registered vehicle for travel on any public road, as well as the provision for movement of oversize loads under permit.

Over-dimensional farm equipment on a highway requires a permit. As per Section 4 #4(m)(iii) of the Commercial Vehicle Dimension and Weight Regulation: 

Maximum dimensions:

4(m) operate farm equipment on a highway when

       (i)    the farm equipment, including any load, exceeds 2.6 metres in width,

       (ii)   the height of the highest point of the farm equipment, including any load, is greater than 5 metres from the surface of the highway, or

       (iii) the overall length of the farm equipment, including any load, exceeds 30.5 metres;

Under the current legislation, the maximum length of farm equipment or combination of farm equipment is set at 30.5 metres or 100 feet.

Under Section 7 #6:

 Width exceptions for farm equipment

6.    The provisions of section 4 with respect to the width of a commercial vehicle do not apply to

       (a)   a rubber tired farm tractor equipped with a dozer blade, if conspicuously displayed on each side of the widest part of the farm tractor, or displayed at the extremities of the blade, there are,

              (i)    when the farm tractor is used during daytime, warning flags, and

              (ii)   when the farm tractor is used during night time, (A) warning lights, or (B) warning flags made of fluorescent material that are adequately illuminated by the farm tractor’s working lights;

       (b)   farm equipment loaded on a trailer

              (i)    during daytime, if warning flags are displayed at the widest part of the vehicle or load, or

              (ii)   during night time, if warning lights are displayed at the widest part of the vehicle or load;

       (b.1) a trailer or its load, if

              (i)    the trailer and its load are less than 3.8 metres in width,

              (ii)   the trailer and its load are being towed by a farm tractor, and

              (iii) the trailer is being used to move materials incidental to farm operations from one farm or field to another farm or field or from one portion of the farm or field to another portion of the farm or field; (c) any other farm equipment (i) during daytime, or (ii) during night time, if warning lights are displayed at the widest part of the vehicle or load.

 To view the Commercial Vehicle Safety Regulation in its' entirety, please follow the below link:

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2002_315.pdf

Permit for Farmers

For all basic permits (overweight, over dimension and licensing) contact RoaData at 888-444-9288 or http://www.roadata.com/.

Permit for Commercial or Custom Operators

For all commercial or custom operators' permits (overweight, over dimension and licensing) contact RoaData at: 888-444-9288 or http://www.roadata.com/

Likewise, if a truck is hauling grain for hire or transporting farm equipment for custom operations, the truck is required to follow the commercial vehicle rules and may require a permit to temporarily change the vehicle registration from a farm plate to a commercial plate. There is a fee for the registration permit.