Rachel from Littleton writes,Whats driving you crazy? Hey, I saw an oversized truck on I-76 and I-70 and it backed up traffic at a couple of places. What are the rules for oversized vehicles that can sometimes take up two lanes? This one not only had the front vehicle with a sign and a back vehicle with a sign, but also three state patrol vehicles.The State of Colorado has a dedicated webpage listing all the rules and regulations for operating oversized or overweight vehicles. It is pretty daunting at first glance. What I found is that the rules regarding these large, sometimes two-lane, vehicles differ depending on the size and weight of the load. The state refers to these oversized loads as extra-legal vehicles and loads.In general, Colorado has height, width and weight limits of these extra-legal loads. The maximum legal height limit is 14 feet, 6 inches. The maximum legal width is 8 feet, 6 inches. The maximum combined gross vehicle weight limit is 80,000 pounds on interstates and 85,000 pounds on non-interstate highways. To move a vehicle or load above those limits, a special permit is required in an effort, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) said, to protect the health, safety and welfare of the traveling public.When it comes to when an escort is needed, I found rule #603 in the Transport Permit Rule Book that states, an Extra-legal Vehicle or Load under a special or Super Load permit shall have at least one Pilot Escort Vehicle in the front and shall have at least one Pilot Escort Vehicle in the rear.MORE: Read more traffic issues driving people crazyWhat is a super load? CDOT describe them as a combination vehicle with a weight of 500,000 pounds or more that occupies two lanes to haul the load; or an unladen combination vehicle with an expandable dual-lane transport trailer that occupies two lanes.Another part of rule #603 states that CDOT may require the permit holder to provide a Colorado State Patrol (CSP) escort or additional Pilot Escort Vehicles and flagpersons based upon certain factors including, but not limited to, state highway width, traffic volume, visibility and whether the width of the load interferes with or blocks more than one lane of traffic.The CSP escort is especially helpful when a road needs to be shut down or block the intersection, as these loads can take a long distance to slow down or get back up to a safe speed. Looking at the video you sent me, Rachel, several of those conditions were present that lead the permit holder to have the additional escort vehicles, including the CSP escort.As I stated earlier, there are a ton of rules that need to be followed before one of these extra-legal loads can be moved on any state roadway. One of the set of rules include time-of-day limits. The Denver area, but not limited to city boundaries, has a special curfew prohibiting large vehicles from traveling between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m., and 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday basically, not during the morning and afternoon commutes. The load you saw was operating in the metro Denver limitation areas I-76 between I-25 and I-70 and again on I-70 between Ward Road and I-225, but it was outside of the time restriction.If you would like to read more about all the restrictions, visit the State Colorados Department of Transportation - Freight and Permitting page where there's an interesting picture of a nighttime transport of a Grumman EA-6B Prowler aircraft. And you can check out a map that outlines routes with pilot car requirements, found also on the CDOT Freight website.Denver7 Traffic Expert Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 25 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or listen to his award winning Driving You Crazy podcast on any podcast app including iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Podbean, or YouTube. ...read more read less