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For the granting of special permits, there are different offices involved in Switzerland. For high-capacity roads (i.e. freeways), the Federal Roads Office (Astra) is responsible, and these applications are processed by the Gotthard Damage Control Department. Each canton is responsible for its own cantonal road network, which is usually handled by a department in the Road Traffic Office. For municipal and private roads, the applicant is responsible.
o Import or transit (issuing authority: Astra)
o Export (issuing authority: source canton)
o Internal and intra-cantonal traffic (issuing authority: source canton)
Transport escort (own escort/ BF2)
Exceptional transport escort ATB (BF3/ BF4/ Hipo)
Traffic Guidance Measures (VLM)/ Sign Service
Route reconnaissance/ route testing
Route log
Approval service
Additional services
A MetOp satellite from ESA/Ruag Space on its way into space, accompanied by the company MAMO Verkehrsdienst GmbH.
In this register you will find a lot of useful information about heavy transports resp. legal term in Switzerland “exceptional transports”. We will be happy to answer any further questions you may have. The best way to contact us is by email and we will get in touch with you.
In 2015, it was decided in the canton of Zurich to outsource the escort of exceptional transports similar to Austria, Germany and other European countries. The project has been operationally implemented step by step since April 1, 2017. At the end of 2018, exception transport escorts will be fully outsourced to specially trained private exception transport escorts (ATB) with police authorization. From this point on, in the
Canton Zurich and other cantons – apart from special cases – police escorts of exceptional transports are no longer carried out. In Switzerland, the police escort or, as of now, the ATB is mandatory from certain dimensions and weights of transport vehicles (dimensions: width 3.80 m, height 4.80 m or total length 35 m). The reason for the outsourcing is essentially the concerns of the transport industry for a more efficient.
The tasks of the ATB are demanding and consist of planning and organizing exceptional transports, obtaining the relevant permits from the authorities, coordinating the execution of the transports and the routes, registering transports with the responsible police offices and the Federal Roads Office FEDRO, and carrying out the transport escorts in accordance with the standard requirements. ATBs are responsible for ensuring that the vehicle and load arrive safely at their destination in accordance with the route prescribed by the licensing authority. Special attention must also be paid to the protection of road infrastructure and traffic safety. Permission to carry out private exceptional transport escorts is granted by the Zurich Cantonal Police, which retains overall supervision.
Currently, the private transport escorts (ATB) with appropriate additional training are authorized in the following cantons:
Aargau, both Appenzell, Baselland, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Glarus, Graubünden, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Uri, Zurich.
5 | Police escort or escort by transport escort approved by the canton required. The permit holder must notify the police (address see www.sonderbewilligung.ch) of the exceptional ride at least 24 hours in advance and agree on the organizational details (time, meeting point, etc.). |
7 | Monitoring by escort vehicle immediately ahead with yellow hazard light required. |
9 | Yellow hazard light required, visible from the front and rear at a distance of at least 50 m. If necessary, a second yellow hazard light must be attached to the rear of the load or the vehicle. |
10 | The use of the highway or freeway is authorized only under the condition that a minimum speed of 60 km/h can and may be reached with loaded and unloaded vehicle(s). |
11 | While driving on the authorized section of highway, the prescribed escort vehicle shall not perform any escort function; its amber hazard light shall be turned off. |
17 | If loads, individual parts or trailers are protruding sideways, the outermost points must be conspicuously marked, during the day with pennants or boards, at night and if the weather requires it, with lights or reflectors that shine white to the front and red to the rear; the reflectors must not be more than 90 cm above the ground. Excessive width loads or trailers must be marked at the front of the towing vehicle for oncoming traffic with rectangular flags or boards with a side length of at least 40 cm, which have oblique red/white stripes about 10 cm wide. At night and when weather conditions require, signs shall be illuminated or marker lights shall be installed. |
23 | The permit holder must contact the relevant authorities directly before starting the journey for any lifting, removal or re-installation of overhead contact lines or other obstacles and for switching off the power. Any costs incurred in connection with the removal and reinstatement of the facilities shall be borne by the permit holder. |
24 | The listed bridges may only be driven on at walking pace, in the middle of the lane and without changing gears. The traffic must be monitored or regulated by auxiliary personnel! |
26 | The listed bridges may only be driven on at walking pace, in the middle of the lane and without changing gears. |
27 | The permit holder shall explore the following driving route prior to driving: The entire authorized route In particular, he must clarify whether the route allows the transport or the transfer of the vehicle due to construction sites or other obstacles. If the journey is not possible or is in question, the driver must immediately report any obstructions to the licensing authority for the purpose of determining a different route before the journey begins. |
31 | The driver of the vehicle or an assistant must be familiar with the area. |
62 | For vehicles or vehicle combinations, the weight on the drive axles must be at least 20 percent of the respective operating weight. For vehicles with only one drive axle, the weight on the drive axles must be at least 25 percent of the respective operating weight. |
70 | The driven axles must be loaded with at least 20% of the total train weight (minimum adhesion weight) |
80 | Any necessary removal and reinstallation of roadside delineators and island posts must be documented with photographs and agreed upon in advance with the responsible road foreman. |
81 | An assistant shall be carried to assist the driver of the vehicle if the vehicle or combination of vehicles does not move within a circular ring area of 10.60m inside diameter and 26.00m outside diameter. |
93 | The costs of the escort as well as for any waiting times at the takeover location shall be borne by the permit holder. |
113 | Construction sites on national roads may not be entered by exceptional vehicles / transports with a width of more than 3.0 m from 0630 to 0830 hours and from 1630 to 1830 hours on working days. |
115 | Exceptional vehicles / transports with a width of 3.0 to 4.0 m may not use the overtaking lane on stretches of national roads with a hard shoulder unless there is an express driving regulation to the contrary for individual engineering structures, but must use the hard shoulder as far as necessary and possible. |
120 | Municipal and private roads may only be driven on with the consent of the road owner. |
132 | The listed bridges may not be used simultaneously by other vehicles in the direction of travel. |
144 | The listed bridges must be driven on in the middle of the bridge. Bridge center is the center between both bridge edges. |
In Switzerland, different specifications apply to the adhesion weight resp. to the number of driven axles for heavy transport:
1x driven axis = max. 46t (O-X or O-O-X or O-X-O)
2x driven axes = max. 120t (O-X-X or O-O-X-X)
3x driven -axes = max. 135t (X-X-X or X-O-X-X)
The driven axles must be loaded with at least 20% of the total train weight! (minimum adhesion weight)
To speed up the approval process, a copy of the German §70 approval or a copy of the TÜV certificate for the composition helps in these cases.
Note: There are also highway sections in Switzerland that have been reduced to 44 tons due to bridge damage. Therefore, these routes must be bypassed via cantonal roads.
Therefore, the border at Basel/ Weil am Rhein and Basel/ St. Louis is not suitable as an entry customs office and we recommend switching to the border crossing at Bad Säckingen/ Stein or Thayngen.
When entering the country via the Bad Säckingen/ Stein border crossing, it is possible to save not only HVF/tolls but also permit fees from the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Baselland.
For the granting of special permits, there are different offices involved in Switzerland. For high-capacity roads (i.e. freeways), the Federal Roads Office (Astra) is responsible, and these applications are processed by the Gotthard Damage Control Department. Each canton is responsible for its own cantonal road network, which is usually handled by a department in the Road Traffic Office. For municipal and private roads, the applicant is responsible.
When issuing special transport exemptions, Switzerland distinguishes between the following categories of transport:
For a permit in Switzerland we recommend min. 3 working days to be scheduled. For complicated transports with large deviations from the normal masses we recommend even min. 10 days to be included. For short term transports we know an express procedure which allows a permit normally within 24 hours, but this is 50% more expensive than a normal permit.
On the definition of terms:
Route clarification is a component of a special permit and applies to the corresponding route and includes, in addition to the route, corresponding conditions and safety measures. A route clarification is required for each canton traversed on cantonal roads.
Special permit is considered as a permit together with the individual route clarifications and is issued in accordance with. List above decreed by the respective issuing authority.
The corresponding costs are invoiced individually by each canton according to its own fee regulations. For journeys on the freeway, billing is carried out by Astra. In addition to the permit fees, costs incurred by structural engineers will be charged.
The following restrictions apply to the Gotthard road tunnel:
Height max. 4.20 m and/or width from 3.01 to 3.50 m:
Trafficability from Monday/Tuesday to Thursday/Friday (23:00 – 01:00)
Height from 4.20 to max. 4.30m and/or width of more than 3.50m:
Trafficability always in the night from Thursday to Friday (23.00 – 01.00)
We offer weekly escort service especially for Gotthard transit transports from and to the borders Rheinfelden as well as Stein/ Bad Säckingen. For this purpose, we take over the vehicles on the fly (also in convoy) from the Uri police at the respective handover point depending on the further driving distance.