5.3 F&LS-02 Abnormal Goods Transport Regulations

5.3.1 ITS service at a glance

ITS Service definition

“Access to abnormal goods transport regulations” is an information service where the applicant gets country-specific information on the vehicle regulations and permit application procedures, contact persons, and guidelines for completing application forms for abnormal transports.  This service provides access to the necessary information and procedures regarding abnormal transports standardised for all European States, in a language understandable to the haulier/ applicant (English and the respective national languages), and in a time frame acceptable to modern logistics.

In this service, both the necessary information and the contact details for the relevant authorities are easily accessible.

ITS Service objective

The objective of the Core European ITS Service is to provide a portal that offers all the relevant national characteristics

ITS service radar

ITS service key words

5.3.2 ITS service profile

5.3.2.1 General ITS service description

“Abnormal transports” are transports of no load or an indivisible load on vehicles or vehicle combinations that exceeds at least one authorised dimension or weight allowed in normal road traffic in the Member States where the transport will be carried out.

In the past years, traffic density has increased perceptibly, especially on the European roads. In addition, abnormal transports have also increased. The regulations for abnormal transports differ within the European countries. Furthermore, the application procedures, application forms and responsible authorities vary depending on the country.

As abnormal transport traffic increases, so does the administration effort. In particular, abnormal transports need a special permit issued by the responsible national authorities and the particular road operators from all Member States through which they want to pass. For each state, the applicant needs specific information on the regulations, permit procedures, contact persons and guidelines for completing the country-specific application forms.

The service aims to provide hauliers and truck drivers a single European portal or access point that will provide them the necessary information on abnormal transport regulations within the EU and links to national services and additional information. Examples of deployment are provided in the Deployment References Annex.

In summary, this service provides a general access to the main information and procedures regarding a specific abnormal transport, homogenised for all Member States, in a language understandable to the trucker/applicant (English and the respective national languages), and in a timeframe acceptable for modern logistics, supplying a direct link to the already existing different National web platforms.

5.3.2.2 What is the vision?

The objective of the Core European ITS Service is to provide a portal that offers all the relevant national characteristics for abnormal transports in the Member States in a reliable, comprehensive, and interactive manner, in order to provide all the requested information needed for particular transport permits and the contact data for all relevant authorities.

5.3.2.3 What is the mission?

Users of the services will be able to check

  • if special permits are needed;
  • if special requirements have to be fulfilled;
  • which authorities are involved; and
  • whether online applications are available and the corresponding links to the national application procedures.

The service will provide the necessary information and procedures for the communication between the involved authorities and the target group. The target group consists of

  • manufacturers producing the product;
  • consignors presenting the goods for transport;
  • forwarding agencies organising the entire transport;
  • shipping companies involved in the sea/waterway transport;
  • hauliers/carriers carrying out the transports passing through several countries; and
  • consignees receiving the product.

5.3.2.4 Distinctiveness to other ITS-services

As “Access to abnormal goods transport regulations” is an information service related to transport regulations it cannot be compared with the other TTIS , TMS  and F&L services, which are related to the road network and road using and travelling conditions.

5.3.2.5 Contribution to overarching European ITS objectives

5.3.2.5.1 ITS service radar

The graph below provides a quantification of the added value of the “Access to Abnormal Goods Transport Regulations” service regarding safety, efficiency and the environment. The applied scales for the service radar of this service are based mainly on expert view, as the available information in literature is limited.

Figure 102: Service radar “Access to Abnormal Goods Transport Regulations”
  • Safety
    • The information on the requirement of special permits is a basic foundation of transports. The prescribed route provided will be safe to accommodate transport of abnormal goods and will prevent or at least provide advance notice of potential problematic spots. Good preparation of one’s transportation route prevents not only inconveniences with authorities but also lowers stress levels, a factor that positively contributes to the reduction of accident risk.
    • The intended service is going to provide all information needed for hauliers for a smooth transportation process concerning legal authorities and the prescribed routes.
  • Environmental impact
    • The provided information related to application processes for getting permits leads to optimised planning of transportation routes. In addition the application process partly includes prescribed routes. These routes are planned to be network efficient. Optimised traffic flow decreases CO2 emission. However, the overall positive impact on the environment is assessed as limited.
  • Network efficiency
    • The information on the requirement of special permits partly leads to prescribed routes by the authorities. They are optimised routes and guide drivers through traffic. Particular areas can be avoided and traffic flow can be improved.

5.3.3 Harmonization requirements and advice

5.3.3.1 ITS service definition

Access to abnormal goods transport regulations is an information service where the applicant gets country-specific information on the vehicle regulations and permit application procedures, contact persons, and guidelines for completing application forms for abnormal transports.

This service provides a general access to the main information and procedures regarding a specific abnormal transport, homogenised for all Member States, in a language understandable to the trucker/applicant (English and the respective national languages), and in a timeframe acceptable for modern logistics, supplying a direct link to the already existing different National web platforms.

In this service, both the necessary information and the contact details for the relevant authorities are easily accessible.

It is planned to build an umbrella that combines all national services. One possible way for an umbrella is the web service TransportXXL. As this project gathers around several countries using the steps developed for this service description to find and implement new participants, it offers very good knowledge about and conditions to handle the development as a comprehensive web service.

5.3.3.2 Functional requirements and advice

This chapter presents the website structure of the umbrella service for abnormal transports, which enables the user to gain a general overview of the topic, ‘abnormal transports’ and enquire about detailed information for each country.

In the course of its implementation, this service may require additional levels, such as, for example, specific rules regarding escort vehicles inside a Member State. To make the navigation of the website easier, graphical interfaces such as maps will be used.

Figure 103: Sitemap draft

The section, ‘Home’, welcomes the user in the local language (determined via user agent detection) and gives him an introduction to the content of this website. Under the headline ‘EU rules and regulations for abnormal transports’ the EU-level relevant legislation is specified and described as well as the link to National rules (see figure 1 for depicted sections Home and EU directive).

Functional requirements:

  • FR1: The website must provide information on ‘EU rules and regulations for abnormal transports’.
    • The user gets all the necessary information regarding the application procedure in the section, ‘Application’ (see Figure 103), which presents the information according to Member States and subdivided into the sections, ‘Contact’ and ‘Application form’. If there are national online application services in place, the application data may be transferred directly to the corresponding system. Otherwise, the data may be transferred to an application form ready for printing or sending. At the very least, the necessary application forms should be linked to the service.
  • FR2: The website should provide information on the question: ‘Does my transport need a special permit?
    • In the section ‘Does my transport require a special permit?’ a query asks the user to submit measurement and weight information to be passed on to the countries of a transport. This data will be compared (by query) to the national regulations of the chosen countries. As an output, the user receives a response explaining whether the transport falls into the category of ‘abnormal transport’ or not.
  • FR3: The website must provide information on the question: ‘How to apply for a special permit?’
    • The service must explain the formal procedure. Application forms can be offered for download. If an online application system exists, the link to this service should be provided. A guide through the application process is recommended. All these services can be provided on the national website and be made available by an external link.

Functional advice:

  • The service will also feature a search engine. This engine searches the website for the keywords entered by the user. The national project partners are going to be listed in the section ‘Imprint and Terms of Use’ (or similar), so that users can contact them if they have any further questions.

The service provides information about abnormal transports in the Member States participating in the service provision. The responsibilities fall under three main scopes:

  • the technical support of the web based service;
  • the accuracy and topicality of the information and links; and
  • the accuracy of translations.

Technical support of a web service is a common task of a webmaster. The webmaster, being responsible for the technical support of the umbrella service, cooperates with the webmasters responsible for the services in the participating Member States. The accuracy and topicality of the information provided by the service and the corresponding translations are overseen by a group of experts which consists of one representative from each Member State whose rules and regulations are rendered by the service. These experts are representatives from authorities, road administrations and road operators. Every participating Member State has to appoint one representative for the expert group. This representative is the expert group’s contact to the Member States and vice versa. In addition, the expert group is supervised by a corresponding manager who coordinates the teamwork. This position will be continuously assumed by a common service provider.

For a comprehensive platform it should be strived for the transformation of an information portal to a transaction portal.

5.3.3.3 Organisational Requirements

Organisational requirements:

Each participating Member State has to contribute monetary funding if the service is to be launched. The funding form will then be clarified and communicated.

In order to realise this service, resources should be made available for

  • OR1: Resources and organisations should be made available for operating appropriate services as mentioned in chapter 5.3.2.3 in an integrated manner.
  • OR2: Resources and organisations should be made available for the development of a common umbrella for these services.

The nomination of a coordinator will be useful during the development of the umbrella service.

There are other special requirements for Member States participating in provision of this service:

  • OR3: One contact person for the participating Member State must be available for guaranteeing the websites’ accuracy and topicality.
  • OR4: Regular quality improvement loops should be established in which user feedback is integrated and the quality of the service can constantly be improved.
  • OR5 Update processes must be defined and implemented so that the offered information is always up to date.
  • OR6: Resources should be made available for dissemination and promotion activities for the service.

5.3.3.4 ICT Infrastructure requirements

Technical advice:

  • As an ICT infrastructure, a web-based solution complies best with the requirements. A web service can be used to develop an interactive and secure access to databases and services containing information regarding national regulations and permit application procedures. The general structure of a web service is shown below:
Figure 104: General structure of a web service

The umbrella service incorporates existing services regarding abnormal transports. The hard- and software should be adaptable and flexible to further developments and expansions. The update and validation of the data will be conducted online with a specific content management system in connection with the concerted and documented processes defined by one responsible manager. This person in charge will be supported by a working group of national experts from each participating country.

Exchange of data:

In order to identify the requirements of a stable, safe, and sustainable ICT infrastructure, a qualified collection of proven, tested, and comparable existing services (e.g. services introduced as part of implementation of the services directive) will be compiled. Based on this, participating countries must identify hard- and software requirements from these existing services that may also be suitable or applicable to the umbrella service.

The technical requirements for the implementation of an information service for a new country will be quite low, requiring only the relevant regulations and specifications for the new country, as the existing platform will be able to handle these requests.

Technical requirement:

A bilateral information and communication system with a uniform data language enables the participants of the web service to communicate changes of national legislation more easy and convenient. In order to support future developments and services a data model like DATEX II as a language for traffic information, describing all traffic items, their condition and linkage, is recommended.

  • TR1: A DATEX II data model may be used to exchange data.

5.3.3.5 Common Look & Feel requirements

The user will experience a common look and feel of the Internet-based service. ‘Common look and feel’ means that the umbrella service will have a consistent appearance for the sections corresponding to each participating Member State. The requirements for abnormal transport approvals work under the same principle for each country, so that the user eventually becomes acquainted with the information structure. This only applies to new platforms. Already existing platforms will not have to change their web interface.

The prerequisite for the uniform interface is a common structure on the pages of the several states and direct links to respective approval authorities.

The following steps are required to launch the web service, ‘Access to abnormal goods transport regulations’ (please refer to the supplementary Part B for supporting forms and tables):

Common look & feel requirements:

  • CL&FR1:  The website must provide a description of the services in the local language for the ‘Home’ section.
  • CL&FR2: The website must provide the section, ‘EU rules and regulations’ in the local language and in English in order to provide information on procedures in individual EU states.
  • CL&FR3: The website must provide a table containing relevant dimensions[1] as input for the database in the section, ‘Does my transport need a special permit?’
  • CL&FR4: The website must provide a general description of the national application procedures, including a link to national application forms, relevant contact information for the application procedure and any additional documents a country would like to make available for download purposes. This information must be provided in English and the local language.
  • CL&FR5: The website must provide a translation of the websites’ general text highlights describing the web service for users in the local language.

After providing the webmaster with the above texts, translations, and tables, the service will be implemented in the up-and-running system, e.g. ‘Transport XXL’. The newly integrated country will then be able to access the relevant part of the CMS. After a certain period of testing, the implemented data would go live.

5.3.3.6 Level of Service Definition

5.3.3.6.1 Level of Service Criteria: Provision

The levels are arranged according to their benefit for the user. Service level A stands for the minimum service available and service level three for the highest user benefit.

  • Service level A: National (Internet-based) Service
  • All necessary information about relevant rules and regulations on abnormal goods transports will be provided in the local language on the national website in each EU-Member State participating in the provision of the service. Application forms will be available in the national language.
  • Service level B: National Service in English and the Local Language
  • All necessary information on the relevant rules and regulations on abnormal goods transports will be provided in the local and international (i.e. English) languages on the website in each participating Member State. Application forms will be available in both languages.
  • Service level C: National Service Connected to the European Portal

All necessary information on the relevant rules and regulations on abnormal goods transports will be provided in the local and international (i.e. English) languages on the website of the participating Member State connected to the other Member States. Application forms will be available in both languages.

For the provision of a service there are three main criteria:

  • LoSC1: Do you provide information regarding restrictions and regulations for abnormal transports on an Internet platform in your local language?
  • LoSC2: Do you provide information regarding restrictions and regulations for abnormal transports on an Internet platform in English?
  • LoSC3: Is this information service connected to a European portal?

5.3.3.6.2 Level of Service Criteria: Query and Application

In addition, the level of service may also be extended by a query and/or an application.

Using a query, the user will be able to check whether his transport is subject to special requirements and/or permissions or not. To do so, he must enter all relevant facts (e. g. measurements and weights) regarding his transport.

An online application and, if technically possible, the issued permission may be provided in a standardised form for related participating countries. Data already entered in the query may be transferred to the linked national services.

For the provision of a query there is one main criteria:

  • LoSC4: Is it possible to make a query on whether the transport is subject to special requirements and needs specific permissions?

For the provision of an online application there is one main criteria:

  • LoSC5: Is the query connected to an online application?

Table 46 gives the Level of Service recommendations for the Abnormal Goods Transport Regulations service. The background of this concept is descripted in chapter 2.6.

Table 45: Level of Service recommendations for Abnormal Goods Transport Regulations  

5.3.3.6.3 Level of Service Criteria related to Operating Environment

The levels of service are applicable for all operating environments.


[1] Dimensions are measures (height, length, width and overhang) and weights including axle loads.