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April 16, 2025 – If you see a vehicle with flashing purple lights on a US highway, don’t ignore it. Those lights typically mean a pilot car is escorting an oversized load — a house, a massive turbine blade, or industrial machinery — that can be up to 16 feet wide. Despite the obvious danger, many drivers push past without slowing, creating “scary” situations that could cost lives.
The confusion stems from the fact that there’s no federal mandate for purple lights on escort vehicles. Each state sets its own rules. In states like Texas, Florida, and California, purple (or a combination of amber and purple) is used specifically for pilot cars guiding loads that exceed legal width limits. But in other states, purple may indicate a funeral procession or a volunteer firefighter’s personal vehicle. This patchwork system leaves drivers guessing.
“The biggest problem is that people see purple and think it’s decorative or unimportant,” says Jake Morrison, a veteran pilot car operator in Texas who has logged more than 200,000 miles escorting loads. “I’ve had cars try to pass me on the right while I’m blocking a lane for a 90-foot-wide transformer. They don’t realize the load is wider than the bridge they’re about to hit.”
Morrison recalls an incident near San Antonio where a driver in a sedan ducked under a load that was being squeezed through a narrow underpass. “The load pilot had stopped traffic, but this guy thought he could squeeze through. He got his roof ripped off. If he’d been in a pickup, it would have taken his head off. That’s the reality.”
The key message from safety advocates is simple: Slow down, pull over, and get well off the road. Stopping just a few feet onto the shoulder isn’t enough. Oversized loads often have to tilt or swing wide to clear obstacles, and a parked car in the wrong spot can be crushed.
To help drivers anticipate these encounters, Morrison has contributed to the development of a new app called RoadGuide, launched in March 2025 for iOS and Android. The app allows pilot car operators and wide-load transporters to log their route in real time. “Anyone with the app can see exactly where an oversized load is, what direction it’s going, and how long it’ll be in their area,” says Morrison. “It’s like Waze for wide loads. It gives drivers a heads-up so they can plan a safe spot to pull over or just avoid that stretch of road.”
The app is already gaining traction among trucking companies and state DOTs, though it’s still voluntary. Early data from
