By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 6, 2026
Colorado oversize and overweight permits come from the CDOT Office of Freight Mobility & Safety through the COOPR online permitting system. Legal limits are 8 feet 6 inches wide, 14 feet 6 inches high, 45 feet for a single vehicle and 70 feet for a combination, 80,000 lbs gross on the Interstate and 85,000 lbs off it. A single-trip oversize permit costs $30 and an overweight or oversize-and-overweight single trip $30 plus $10 per axle, up to 200,000 lbs. Annual permits cost $250 for oversize only and $400 for overweight or both, inside an envelope of 17 feet wide, 16 feet high and 200,000 lbs. Chapter 6 special permits cover 200,000 to 500,000 lbs and superloads go past that.
Colorado legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)
- Width
- 8.5 ftC.R.S. 42-4-502(1): 8 feet 6 inches. Loose or round hay bales may load to 12 feet and rectangular bales to 10 feet 6 inches.
- Height
- 14.5 ftC.R.S. 42-4-504(1): 14 feet 6 inches, laden or unladen. CDOT maps structures with less clearance.
- Gross weight
- 80,000 lbC.R.S. 42-4-508(1)(c): the federal bridge formula up to 80,000 lbs on the Interstate system.
- Length: Note
- C.R.S. 42-4-504: a single motor vehicle may not exceed 45 feet including bumpers; a combination may not exceed four units or 70 feet. The 70-foot limit does not apply to an unladen tractor-semitrailer whose semitrailer is 57 feet 4 inches or less, or to unladen doubles whose trailers are each 28 feet 6 inches or less. Laden tractor-semitrailers are capped at 75 feet overall, saddlemounts at 97 feet, stinger-steered auto and boat transporters at 80 feet and towaway trailer transporters at 82 feet (subsection 4.5). CDOT adds that a tractor-semitrailer has no overall length limit as long as the trailer does not exceed 57 feet 4 inches.
Axle weight limits
Gross weight is one ceiling; each axle group carries its own limit, and a load can be legal on gross weight yet overweight on an axle. Exceeding any of these needs an overweight permit.
Scroll sideways to see every column.
Permit fees
- Single trip
- $30 (A single-trip oversize permit costs $30. A single-trip overweight, or oversize and overweight, permit costs $30 plus $10 per axle. CDOT explains each total as a $15 fee plus a matching surcharge under Senate Bill 09-108. A credit card adds $4 per permit.)
- Annual permit
- $250 (The $250 figure is the annual oversize-only permit. Annual overweight and annual oversize-and-overweight permits cost $400 each. A company with permits for two or more vehicles needs a $3,000 annual company fleet permit as well.)
- Annual eligibility
- Annual non-divisible load permits cover self-propelled units and power unit and trailer combinations on the Interstate and other state highways, inside an envelope of 16 feet high, 17 feet wide, 130 feet long on four-lane highways (120 feet on non-mountainous and 110 feet on mountainous two-lane highways), 25 feet of front and 35 feet of rear overhang, and 200,000 lbs gross. The carrier routes each load itself with CDOT's annual permit routing, maps and restrictions.
Single-trip permit fee schedule
Check the applies-to column and source for each fee component. A partial schedule does not establish the total charge.
Scroll sideways to see every column.
To price a specific load, try the oversize permit cost estimator, or compare every state on the national oversize permit table.
Escort thresholds
What the escort itself has to be
Hitting the threshold is only half of it. The escort vehicle, its equipment, its driver's certification and where it rides are all regulated, and the carrier is the one holding the permit when they are not met.
- Daytime
- Daytime escort requirements by width and route come from CDOT's Pilot Escort and Restriction Map, which is a map rather than a published table, so no daytime width threshold is recorded here.
- Escort driver certification
- Pilot car operators must complete the pilot escort course and carry at least $1 million of commercial liability or combined single limit insurance covering escort operations, with a driving record free of drug or alcohol convictions and of any single six-point moving violation. Colorado accepts certifications from several other states and from the Specialized Carriers and Riggers Association.
Escort rules beyond the thresholds
Knowing when you need an escort is half of it. These are the Colorado rules on who may run one, what the vehicle has to carry, and how the move is conducted.
- Daytime
- Daytime escort requirements by width and route come from CDOT's Pilot Escort and Restriction Map, which is a map rather than a published table, so no daytime width threshold is recorded here.
- Certification
- Pilot car operators must complete the pilot escort course and carry at least $1 million of commercial liability or combined single limit insurance covering escort operations, with a driving record free of drug or alcohol convictions and of any single six-point moving violation. Colorado accepts certifications from several other states and from the Specialized Carriers and Riggers Association.
Travel restrictions
- Daylight only
- No (Night travel is allowed by width under Rules and Regulations Section 408.3: up to 12 feet wide with a flashing yellow light in front and two or three at the rear; over 12 and up to 14 feet with a pilot vehicle (front on two-lane, rear on four-lane highways); over 14 feet not at all without a Chapter 6 special permit. Overlength loads and overhangs need flashing and cluster lights.)
- Curfews
- In the Cripple Creek area, extra-legal loads may not travel from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Christmas and New Year holidays on CO 24 between Divide and Woodland Park and CO 67 between Divide and Cripple Creek (Section 404.4).
- Weekend / holiday
- Extra-legal loads may not travel from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day, or from noon to 9 p.m. on the Friday before Memorial Day and Labor Day, with added Friday or Monday limits when Independence Day falls on a weekend (Section 404.3). Longer vehicle combinations may not travel at all on those three holidays (Section 404.1).
- Daylight hours rule
- Night travel is allowed by width under Rules and Regulations Section 408.3: up to 12 feet wide with a flashing yellow light in front and two or three at the rear; over 12 and up to 14 feet with a pilot vehicle (front on two-lane, rear on four-lane highways); over 14 feet not at all without a Chapter 6 special permit. Overlength loads and overhangs need flashing and cluster lights.
Superload and beyond-permit review
Loads past the standard single-trip permit thresholds get individual state review rather than an off-the-shelf permit.
A superload exceeds 500,000 lbs gross, or uses a double dolly and is more than 15 feet wide. Loads from 200,000 to 500,000 lbs move on a Chapter 6 special permit.
Chapter 6 specials take three to five business days to process, and CDOT currently warns of two to three weeks because of staffing in its bridge section.
More Colorado permit rules
- Single trip fee note
- A single-trip oversize permit costs $30. A single-trip overweight, or oversize and overweight, permit costs $30 plus $10 per axle. CDOT explains each total as a $15 fee plus a matching surcharge under Senate Bill 09-108. A credit card adds $4 per permit.
- Annual permit fee note
- The $250 figure is the annual oversize-only permit. Annual overweight and annual oversize-and-overweight permits cost $400 each. A company with permits for two or more vehicles needs a $3,000 annual company fleet permit as well.
- Annual permit eligibility
- Annual non-divisible load permits cover self-propelled units and power unit and trailer combinations on the Interstate and other state highways, inside an envelope of 16 feet high, 17 feet wide, 130 feet long on four-lane highways (120 feet on non-mountainous and 110 feet on mountainous two-lane highways), 25 feet of front and 35 feet of rear overhang, and 200,000 lbs gross. The carrier routes each load itself with CDOT's annual permit routing, maps and restrictions.
- Escort notes: daytime
- Daytime escort requirements by width and route come from CDOT's Pilot Escort and Restriction Map, which is a map rather than a published table, so no daytime width threshold is recorded here.
- Escort notes: certification
- Pilot car operators must complete the pilot escort course and carry at least $1 million of commercial liability or combined single limit insurance covering escort operations, with a driving record free of drug or alcohol convictions and of any single six-point moving violation. Colorado accepts certifications from several other states and from the Specialized Carriers and Riggers Association.
| Component | Fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Annual oversize (OS) permit | $250 | |
| Annual overweight (OW) permit | $400 | |
| Annual oversize and overweight (OSOW) permit | $400 | |
| Annual company fleet permit, first 2 to 10 vehicles | $3,000 | Required for companies holding oversize or overweight annual permits on two or more vehicles, so that all annuals expire the same day. An annual permit is still ordered for each truck. |
| Company fleet permit, each vehicle over 10 | $300 | Vehicles added off the annual cycle pay a prorated $75 to $300 depending on the days left to renewal. |
| Non-Interstate overweight divisible (quad axle) annual | $500 | Divisible loads to 110,000 lbs on non-Interstate highways only; no travel on I-25, I-70, I-76, I-225 or I-270. |
| Longer vehicle combination (LVC) permit | $250 |
The Colorado permit office
- Apply or log in (COOPR online permitting system; users set up their own accounts and many permits self-issue)
- coopr.codot.gov
- Note
- Single-trip permits have a two-hour turnaround; applications after 3 p.m. Mountain time may not issue the same business day. Chapter 6 specials take three to five business days, and CDOT warns of two to three weeks while its bridge section is short-staffed. Payment is by Visa, MasterCard or Discover (a $4 fee per permit) or an escrow account in COOPR. The permit covers only the state highways listed on it; city and county roads need their own permission.
Legal limits before you need a permit
Width, height and length limits come from C.R.S. 42-4-502 and 42-4-504, and axle and gross weights from 42-4-507 and 42-4-508. On the Interstate the federal bridge formula and cap apply. Off the Interstate, Colorado uses its own formula with a higher ceiling. Tandem axles may also carry more off the Interstate.
Single-trip permits
An oversize single trip is a flat fee. Overweight and combined permits add a charge for each axle. Between the standard ceiling and the superload line you need a Chapter 6 special, which requires a pilot car front and rear and takes days, sometimes weeks, to clear bridge review.
Annual permits
Annual non-divisible permits cover Interstate and other state highways inside a set height, width, length, overhang and weight envelope, and you route each load yourself with CDOT's routing tools and restriction maps. Two or more annual trucks also need the company fleet permit.
Escort requirements
Daytime escort needs depend on CDOT's Pilot Escort and Restriction Map for the route. At night the width rules in the table apply. Pilot car drivers need Colorado certification and their own liability coverage.
When oversize loads can move
Colorado allows night travel for moderately wide loads with lights or a pilot vehicle, and bars the widest loads after dark unless a Chapter 6 permit says otherwise. Holiday bans and the Cripple Creek curfews apply to all extra-legal loads.
Superloads
A superload is the heaviest class, or a double-dolly load past a set width. It carries the highest single-trip fee and a route and bridge review before CDOT issues it.
How to read this page
A value reading "Not confirmed" means we could not verify the figure on an official agency page at review time, so it stays open rather than guessed. Superload moves above the standard permit thresholds get individual review by the state; contact the permit office named on this page. For the rest of the Colorado permit stack, see Colorado trucking permits.