It is called a superload, and for good reason: The highway behemoth is longer than five fire trucks and weighs as much as two blue whales.
This week and next week, the mammoth tractor-trailer, hauling a tank from a decommissioned nuclear training site, will lumber across Pennsylvania on a 400-mile route that would test the skills of even the most seasoned trucker.
The metal leviathan, which takes up two lanes of traffic, measures 213 feet from end to end and weighs 294 tons, putting merely oversize loads to shame.
As it rolls across the state on what is expected to be a nine-day journey, the rig with several flatbeds and escort vehicles must cross 16 counties, navigating exit ramps, country roads, two-lane highways, unusual traffic patterns and a potential snowstorm.
Snow in the forecastRead about the potential Northeast snowstorm.
The truck can travel only at the posted speed limit or 30 miles per hour, whichever is lower, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Unsurprisingly, drivers should expect delays if they find themselves caught behind the superload, although it is expected to travel mostly at night to cut down on bottlenecks, the department said.
Lew Grill, a truck-driving expert and instructor in Montana with 54 years’ experience on the road, said he had deep respect for any truck driver who could haul a 294-ton load.
He said the weight limit for the average tractor-trailer is 40 tons, featherweight by comparison.
“This is phenomenal,” Mr. Grill said. “If this guy pulls this off professionally, he should get accolades. We should bow to him. There are not many drivers like this.”