Oil company delays test megaload

BOISE (AP) - An oil company's oversized test load originally scheduled to start moving Monday across U.S. Highway 12 in North Idaho and Montana has been delayed until April 4.

The Idaho Transportation Department in an announcement Friday says Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Corp. asked for the delay.

The moving company contracted to haul the shipment said it will use the extra time to give additional training to flaggers and pilot car drivers.

Imperial Oil originally proposed moving 207 loads along U.S. Highway 12 to Alberta, Canada, where the modules would be assembled into a factory at an $8 billion complex at the Kearl oil sands.

But the company says it is reconfiguring 33 of the 30-foot-tall megaloads into 60 smaller shipments that can move on interstate highways.