More information

In this register, you’ll find much useful information concerning heavy transport (or the legal term in Switzerland, ‘exceptional transport’). We’re always available to provide expert advice if you have further questions. It’s best to contact us by email, and then we’ll contact you.

Private transport escort (ETE) in Switzerland

In 2015, it was decided in Zurich to outsource exceptional transport in the canton of Zurich, similarly to Austria, Germany, and other European countries. This plan has been gradually put into operation since 1 April 2017. At the end of 2018, exceptional transport escorting was completely outsourced, and specially trained private exceptional transport escorts (ETE) were giving police authorisation. From that time forward, police stopped escorting exceptional transport in the canton of Zurich and other cantons (except in special cases). In Switzerland, police escorts or recently, the ETE are prescribed for transport vehicles beginning with certain weight and dimensions: Width 3.80 m, height 4.80 m or total length 35 m). That outsourcing was essentially caused by the interest in making the transport trade more efficient.

Assignments involving ETE are demanding and consist of planning and organising exceptional transport, obtaining the appropriate permits from the authorities, executing the transport and coordinating routes, reporting transports to the competent police offices and the Swiss Federal Roads Office (ASTRA), and carrying out the transport escorts in accordance with standard requirements. The ETE are responsible for ensuring that the vehicle and load arrive safety at their destination according to the route prescribed by the approval authorities. The protection of the street infrastructure and traffic safety must also be especially observed. The permit to privately escort exceptional transport is granted by the canton police that exercise overall supervision.

Currently, the private transport escorts (ETE) are approved with the appropriate additional trainings in the following cantons:

Aargau, the two Appenzells, Baselland, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Glarus, Graubünden, Luzern, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Uri, and Zurich.

Protection order in Switzerland

Type of exception	Dimensions, including loading	Yellow hazard light	Escort vehicle	ETE escorting

Width	more than 3.0m	yes	no	no
	more than 3.5m	yes	yes	no
	more than 3.8m	yes	no	yes *3
	more than 3.3m *1	yes	yes	no

Length	more than 25m	yes	no	no
	more than 30m	yes	yes	no
	more than 35m	yes	no	yes *3
	more than 30m *2	yes	no	yes *3

Overhang front	more than 3m	no	no	no
	more than 5m	yes	yes	no

Overhang rear	more than 5m	no	no	no
	more than 6m	yes	no	no
	more than 8m	yes	yes	no

*1 if the length simultaneously amounts to more than 25 meters
*2 if the width simultaneously amounts to more than 3.6 meters
*3 depending on the canton, the following applies: Either police escort or escort by approved exceptional transport escort companies (ETE) with an appropriate ETE escort vehicle

Conditions / safety regulations List of numbers

5	Police escort or an escort by a transport escorting company approved by the canton are necessary. The permit holder must report the initial trip to the police at least 24 hours in advance (for the address, see www.sonderbewilligung.ch) and agree on the organisational details (such as date, meeting point, etc.).
7	Supervision by an escort vehicle with a yellow hazard light travelling immediately ahead is necessary.
9	Yellow hazard light is necessary, which must be visible from the front and back from a distance of at least 50 meters. If necessary, a second yellow hazard light must be attached to the rear of the load or the vehicle.
10	Use of the motorway or road is approved only under the condition that a minimum speed of 60 km/h can be achieved with the loaded and unloaded vehicle(s).
11	During the trip on the approved motorway section, the prescribed escort vehicle may not perform any escort function, and its yellow hazard light must be switched off.
17	If loads, individual parts, or trailers protrude from the sides, their ending points must be labelled with pennants or panels during the day, and at night (or when the weather requires it) with light or reflectors that must shine white from the front and red from behind; the reflectors may be no more than 90 cm above the ground. To make them visible to oncoming traffic, extra-wide loads or trailers must be labelled with square flags or panels in the front of the towing vehicle with a side length of at least 40 cm that feature around 10 cm wide red/white stripes. During the night, or when the weather requires it, the signs must be lit or safety lights must be attached.
23	Before the trip begins, the permit owner must contact the competent authorities directly regarding any lifting, removing, or reattaching of overhead lines or other obstacles, and regarding switching off the power. The permit holder must bear the costs incurred in connection with removing and recommissioning the facilities.
24	The bridges listed may be driven on only at a slow speed, in the middle of the lane, and without changing gears. The traffic must be supervised or regulated by auxiliary personnel!
26	The bridges listed may be driven on only at a slow speed, in the middle of the lane, and without changing gears.
27	The permit holder must investigate the following routes before the trip: The entire approved route. To be specific, the permit holder must clarify whether the route allows the performance of the transport or conveyance of the vehicle due to any construction sites or other obstacles. If the trip is impossible or questionable, the permit holder must report any obstacles to the approval authorities immediately so they can determine another route before the trip begins.
31	The vehicle driver or an auxiliary person must be familiar with the location.
62	For vehicles or vehicle combinations, the weight on the drive axles must equal at least 20 percent of the respective operating weight. For vehicles with only one drive axle, the weight on the drive axles must amount to at least 25 percent of the respective operating weight.
70	The driven axles must be loaded with at least 20% of the total drawing weight (minimal adhesion weight).
80	Any necessary removal and reattaching of street boundaries and free-standing traffic posts must be documented with photos and must be discussed with the competent road maintenance manager.
81	An assistant must ride along to support the vehicle driver if the vehicle (or the entire vehicle combination) does not move within a circular area of 10.6 m inner and 26 m outer diameters.
93	The permit holder must bear the costs for the escort and for any wait times at the takeover location.
113	During business days from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., exceptional vehicles / transport with a width of more than 3.0 m may not drive on construction sites on national streets.
115	Unless a driving regulation for individual engineering structures expressly states otherwise, exceptional vehicles / transport with a width of 3 to 4 m may not use the fast lane on routes on national streets that have a hard shoulder, but must use the hard shoulder if necessary and possible.
120	Municipal and private streets may be driven on only with the street owner’s consent.
132	The bridges listed may not be driven on by other vehicles in the direction of traffic.
144	The bridges listed must be driven on in the middle of the bridge. The ‘middle’ of the bridge means the middle between both edges of the bridge.

Excess weight / adhesion weight and axle drives

In Switzerland, other requirements apply to the adhesion weight or the number of driven axles for heavy transport.

1x driven axle = max. 46 to (O—X or O—O—X or O—X—O)

2x driven axles = max. 120 to (O—X—X or O—O—X—X)

3x driven axles = max. 135 to (O—X—X or O—O—X—X)

The driven axles must be loaded with at least 20% of the total drawing weight (minimal adhesion weight).

A copy of the German § 70 permit or a copy of the TÜV certificate for the composition will help accelerate the permit process.

Note: Switzerland also contains motorway sections whose load was reduced to 44 tonnes due to bridge damage. Therefore, those sections must be bypassed using canton streets.

This means that the borders in Basel / Weil am Rhein and Basel / St. Louis are not suitable as an entrance customs office, so we recommend using the border checkpoint at Bad Säckingen / Stein or Thayngen instead.

Entering via the border checkpoint Bad Säckingen / Stein will save permit fees for the cantons Basel-Stadt and Baselland as well as the RPLP (heavy traffic levy) / road tolls.

Course of the approval procedure for exceptional permits in Switzerland

There are various government authorities involved in granting special permits in Switzerland. For high-traffic areas (such as motorways), the Federal Office of Roads (ASTRA) is responsible. These requests are processed by the department ‘Schadenwehr Gotthard’ (a professional fire service of the Swiss army). Each canton is responsible for its own cantonal road network; those matters are normally processed by a department in the traffic office. For municipalities and private streets, the party making the request is responsible.

When granting exceptional permits for special transport, Switzerland decides between the following transport categories:

o import or transit (issuing authority: Astra)

o Export (issuing authority: initial canton)

o Inner- and intra-cantonal traffic (issuing authority: initial canton)

For a permit in Switzerland, we recommend planning on at least three business days. For complicated transport with significant deviations from normal dimensions, we recommend counting on at least ten days. For short-term transports we know an express procedure, which usually allows a permit within 24 hours, but costs 50% more than a normal permit.

Definitions:

Route clarification is a component of a special permit; it applies to the appropriate route and

contains the route as well as corresponding requirements and safety measures. A route clarification is required for every canton traversed using canton streets.

The special permit applies together with the individual route clarification as a permit and is granted by the respective issuing authority according to the list above.

The costs in question will be individually invoiced by each canton according to its own set of fee regulations. For trips on the autobahn, the invoice will be made by Astra. In addition to the permit fees, costs incurred by structural designers and engineers will be passed on.

Border checkpoints / motorway junction

We do not recommend using the borders in Basel / Weil am Rhein or Basel / St. Louis as an entrance customs office – we recommend using the border checkpoints at Bad Säckingen / Stein Stein or Thayngen instead.

Entering via the border checkpoint Bad Säckingen / Stein will save permit fees for the cantons Basel-Stadt and Baselland as well as the RPLP (heavy traffic levy) / road tolls.

It’s best to apply for the permits via the motorway crossing A1/ A2 Birrfeld, A1/ A2 Wiggertal.

We offer weekly escort service especially for Gotthard transit transports from and to the borders Rheinfelden and Stein / Bad Säckingen. To that end, we take over the vehicles travelling by air (including in a convoy) from the Uri police to the canton border in Reiden.

Trans-Alpine transit / Gotthard tunnel

The following restrictions apply to the Gotthard street tunnel:

Height max. 4.20 m and/or width of 3.01 to 3.50 m:
Drivable every Monday/Tuesday to Thursday/Friday (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.)

Height from 4.20 to max. 4.30 m and/or width of more than 3.50 m:
Drivable every night from Wednesday to Thursday (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.)