Roadside & Legal · Driver Training VideoTolls, Bypass & Restricted Routes

Every road a truck can legally travel is not the same as every road your phone's map app will send you down. Consumer GPS apps route cars — they don't know your height, your weight, or which streets ban commercial vehicles.

Start with clearance

Most rigs run about thirteen feet six inches tall, loaded — close to the legal maximum in a lot of states. A yellow low-clearance sign with a number under that is not a suggestion.

Weight works the same way on a different scale. Bridges are rated for a maximum load, and some are rated lower than the road that feeds them. A route that's legal empty can be illegal the moment you're loaded.

Cities and states post their own truck networks, too. Parkways in the northeast, for example, are built for cars and banned to commercial trucks entirely, no matter what a map app suggests.

Hazmat loads raise the bar again. If you're carrying a placarded load, your carrier has to give you a written route plan built around federal and state hazmat routing rules, and you drive that route — not the fastest one, not the one that dodges a toll.

And about tolls — a toll is a fee, not a hazard. Dodging one through a residential street, a low bridge, or a road your permit doesn't cover trades a few dollars for a citation, a stuck truck, or worse. It's never worth it.

Your company standard: plan every route before you turn a wheel, using truck-specific routing that knows your height, weight, and hazmat status — never a car GPS alone. Confirm clearance and weight limits on anything unfamiliar.