Guide
Abnormal load notification: who to tell, when, and what ESDAL does
Updated
Notification is the part of an abnormal load movement that customers never see and that decides the date. Understanding it stops you asking for a movement on Thursday when the notice period has already closed.
The duty
National Highways puts it simply: "If you're responsible for transporting an abnormal load, you need to follow regulations for notifying highway, police and bridge authorities" (nationalhighways.co.uk). Three different sets of people, for different reasons: the police for the movement on the road, the highway authorities for the roads themselves, and structure owners for every bridge and culvert the load will cross.
How much notice
The gov.uk special types enforcement guide states the notice periods by category (gov.uk):
- STGO Cat 1 and Cat 2: 2 working days' notice to highway and bridge authorities in relation to weight, with dimensions possibly needing to be given to the police.
- STGO Cat 3: 5 working days' notice to highway and bridge authorities, with dimensions possibly needing to be given to the police.
- Special order movements: 5 working days' notice to highway and bridge authorities and 2 working days' notice to police, with the special order carried in the vehicle.
- Over-length and over-width movements: the guide sets out police notice separately, including 2 days' notice to the police in all areas where an over-length vehicle will be used, and 2 days' notice to police for loads over the stated width thresholds. Its annex on construction and use overhangs uses the phrase "2 clear working days' notice to police".
Working days are the point. A movement needing 5 working days' notice, requested on a Thursday afternoon before a bank holiday, is not moving next week. If your programme is tight, the single most useful thing you can do is give the haulier the dimensions early, even before the date is fixed.
What ESDAL does
ESDAL is the Electronic Service Delivery for Abnormal Loads system, run by National Highways and free to use. According to National Highways, hauliers use it to plan routes and check their suitability for the load, "get full details of all the organisations and authorities you need to notify before you travel", notify police, highways and bridge authorities of abnormal indivisible load movements, submit those notifications, and save vehicle details for future use. Police, road and bridge authorities use the same system to manage incoming notifications. "You only need a PC with internet access to use ESDAL. You don't need any special software."
What this means for you as the customer
- Give accurate dimensions and weight first. Every notification and every structure assessment is built on them, and a corrected figure late in the process restarts the clock.
- Ask who is notifying. On a normal commercial job the haulier does it, but confirm rather than assume, particularly where a manufacturer or crane firm is also involved.
- Ask for the earliest realistic movement date rather than proposing one. The haulier is working backwards from notice periods and structure responses.
- Expect the route to be longer than the map. Structures and restrictions, not distance, decide the line the load takes.
- Do not treat a notification as a permission. Notification is a duty on the operator; where a movement exceeds the STGO limits it needs a special order as well.
This page summarises published guidance for buyers of haulage services and is not a compliance manual. The notification duty sits with the operator moving the load. Check current requirements on the National Highways abnormal loads pages and the gov.uk special types enforcement guide, and confirm the specific position for your movement with your haulier.