We simplify licensing, permitting and reporting, so you can keep earnings coming
Get a Free ConsultationOversize permit services get you the state permits your truck needs when a load is wider, taller, longer, or heavier than the legal limits on your route. Every state issues its own permit, with its own limits, routes, and conditions.
Our team checks your load against each state on the route, files the permits, and keeps your details on file for the next order.
You need one when your vehicle and load exceed the legal size or weight limit of any road on your route. Federal law sets only part of that baseline (FHWA, Oversize/Overweight Load Permits):
| Limit | Federal baseline | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Gross weight | 80,000 lbs, or less where the bridge formula requires | Interstate System |
| Single and tandem axles | 20,000 lbs and 34,000 lbs | Interstate System |
| Width | 102 inches | National Network |
| Height | No federal limit | Each state sets its own |
Everything else is state law: height, most length limits, and weight limits off the Interstate. Most permits are for nondivisible loads. Under 23 CFR 658.5, a load is nondivisible when splitting it would compromise its intended use, destroy its value, or take more than 8 work hours to dismantle.
Oversize, over-dimensional, and wide load permits all mean the same thing: permission to exceed a size limit. Overweight permits cover weight, and many loads need both. For the sign, flag, and escort rules that come with a permit, see our oversize load permit guide.
The federal government does not issue oversize or overweight permits. FHWA calls it a state option and tells carriers to contact each state they will travel through. A multistate move therefore needs a permit from every state where the load exceeds that state’s limits, and sometimes from a city or county too: Florida law lets FDOT permit state highways and local authorities permit their own roads (Fla. Stat. 316.550).
Texas and Florida show how far the rules drift apart:
| Rule | Texas | Florida |
|---|---|---|
| Permit office and system | TxDMV, through TxPROS | FDOT State Permit Office, through PAS |
| Legal width | 8 ft 6 in | 102 in |
| Legal height | 14 ft | 13 ft 6 in |
| Legal semitrailer length | 59 ft in a two-vehicle combination | 48 ft, or up to 57 ft if the trailer meets the statute’s kingpin-to-axle rules |
| Self-issued permits | Many permit types, in TxPROS | Trip permits up to 16 ft wide, 18 ft high, 150 ft long, and 200,000 lbs, in PAS |
A load that is legal in Texas at 13 feet 9 inches high needs a permit the moment it crosses into Florida. Other states run their own systems again; our New Mexico truck permits guide covers one more example.
In Texas, a vehicle or load over the legal limits needs an oversize/overweight permit, and an authorized route when applicable, from TxDMV before it travels on public roads. You apply in TxPROS, TxDMV’s online permitting and GIS routing system, and you need the exact dimensions and weight of the vehicle and load first. The common permit types:
TxDMV checks your USDOT number against FMCSA’s MCMIS system for out-of-service orders and issues the permit to the company name listed for that number. Carriers that aren’t required to have a USDOT number need a $10,000 permit surety bond on file, and loads over 200,000 lbs combined gross need a Shipper’s Certificate of Weight (Form 2280) (TxDMV, General Single-Trip Permits).
Watch the calendar too. Loads over 14 feet wide, 16 feet high, or 110 feet long may not move on six holidays unless TxDMV grants an exception; Thanksgiving (November 26), Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day 2027 are still ahead. Running trucks based in Texas? Our Texas DOT compliance page covers the state’s other carrier rules.
FDOT’s State Permit Office issues oversize and overweight permits for Florida’s state-maintained highways in four types: annual blanket, annual vehicle-specific blanket, ten-day trip, and three-month route-specific blanket. Trip and route-specific permits need a defined route with the request (FDOT, Over-Weight Over-Dimension Permits).
Through FDOT’s Permit Application System (PAS), carriers can self-issue trip permits for loads up to 16 feet wide, 18 feet high, 150 feet long, and 200,000 lbs (140,000 lbs for self-propelled equipment), as long as they use the PAS mapping feature. Within those limits, no interaction with the Permit Office is required.
Florida law requires the permit before the vehicle enters a public road, and the permit must ride in the vehicle. City and county roads need the local authority’s permit. Our Florida oversize permits guide walks through PAS, fees, escorts, and curfews.
Most problems come from a permit that doesn’t match the load, the route, or the date of the move.
An honest caveat: each permit can add its own escorts, travel hours, or route restrictions on top of the state’s rules, and TxDMV may require law enforcement escorts in addition to private ones. Read the conditions on every permit before the truck rolls.
We check your load’s dimensions and gross weight, identify the permit type you need in each state you travel through, and handle the paperwork from start to finish. That covers oversize, overweight, overheight, overlength, and overwidth loads, heavy haul and superloads, and temporary or annual permits, through our network across all 50 states.
We also help you plan the route by distance, permit delivery time, and safe conditions, around low bridges and narrow roads, and we flag the other credentials the trip needs: a temporary fuel permit or IFTA license, UCR registration, or a specialty permit such as hazardous materials.
You get a dedicated permitting manager, and you can order through the SimplexHub client portal or the Simplex2Go app. After your first order we save your details, so repeat moves go faster. Our trucking permits team also handles IRP trip permits.
Use the form below with your USDOT number, and add your load’s dimensions, weight, and origin and destination in the comments. We’ll tell you which permits the move needs.
Over-dimensional permits are the same as oversize permits: state permits for a vehicle or load wider, taller, or longer than the legal limits. FDOT, for example, calls its program Over-Weight Over-Dimension permits. Overweight permits cover weight, and many heavy-haul moves need both.
Apply to TxDMV through TxPROS with the exact dimensions and weight of your vehicle and load and your USDOT number, which TxDMV checks for out-of-service orders. TxPROS has a Permit Wizard that suggests the permit type, and many permits can be self-issued. A permit service can file it for you.
Yes, for every state where your load exceeds that state’s legal limits. There is no federal oversize permit; FHWA leaves permitting to the states, and local roads can need a separate city or county permit.
You can apply yourself: TxPROS in Texas and PAS in Florida let carriers self-issue many permits. An oversize permit service files the permits for you in each state, checks the limits on every leg of the route, and keeps your details on file for repeat orders.
A Florida trip permit is valid for ten days. Blanket and vehicle-specific blanket permits are annual, and route-specific blanket permits last three months.
The rules and figures on this page come from these official sources, checked on October 5, 2026.