By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 6, 2026
ALDOT's Vehicle Enforcement Office issues Alabama oversize and overweight permits, ordered online through ALPASS or by phone. A single-trip permit costs as little as $10, and an annual permit is $100. Permitted loads move in daylight only and never on Sundays or the listed holidays. ALEA troopers come in only for superloads, which need law enforcement escorts.
Who issues what in Alabama
The permit pages
Alabama-specific requirements
Alabama still regulates intrastate for-hire carriers through the Public Service Commission, which issues certificates and permits and sets insurance minimums well below the federal interstate floor. Intrastate commercial vehicles over 26,000 pounds, and passenger or hazardous materials vehicles at any weight, must display a USDOT number.
IFTA and IRP are the only motor carrier tax filings
The Department of Revenue lists IRP registration and the quarterly IFTA fuel use return as its motor carrier programs. No weight-distance or mileage tax return appears among them.
Permitted loads run in daylight and never on Sunday
Every ALDOT oversize or overweight permit limits travel to daylight hours and bars travel on Sundays and six named holidays. Superloads flip the rule and mostly move overnight.
Low intrastate insurance minimums
A PSC property carrier needs a $350,000 combined liability minimum and $5,000 cargo coverage, far below the $750,000 federal minimum for interstate for-hire freight.
The Alabama permit system
- Apply or log in (ALPASS, Alabama's online OS/OW permitting system)
- alpass.dot.state.al.us/permits/login.asp
The permit office and ALPASS
The ALDOT Vehicle Enforcement Office issues permits for loads above the legal size and weight limits. Register an ALPASS account online or send ALDOT a new hauler application, then order permits online or by phone. The office contact details are on this page as sourced fields.
The permit types Alabama issues
A single-trip permit covers one round trip for a non-divisible load and allows five days to finish it. An annual permit covers one truck, named by VIN, for a year of moves inside a published size and weight envelope. Our Alabama oversize and overweight page carries the fee tables, escort thresholds and the superload process.
When permitted loads can move
Permitted loads move in daylight only, never on Sundays, and not on the six holidays in ALDOT's rule. ALDOT also publishes a yearly holiday list with longer blackouts, so check it before each move.
Compare beyond Alabama
Running multi-state loads? The trucking permits by state table shows which permit families and issuing offices apply in every jurisdiction, the oversize permit costs by state table compares limits and fees across all 51 jurisdictions, and the permit cost estimator prices a specific load per state.