By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 25, 2026
Georgia legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)
- Length: semitrailer_note
- 53 feet in a truck tractor-semitrailer combination, unless signs are posted indicating a semitrailer length restriction.
- Length: extendable_semitrailer_note
- On interstate and NHS routes a single-piece load may ride an extendable semitrailer longer than 53 feet up to 75 feet, provided no pieces are loaded end to end. Off the interstate and NHS the same applies except the OVERALL length may not exceed 100 feet. An empty extendable semitrailer, or one carrying a single-piece load of 53 feet or less, must stay at 53 feet or less. When extended, the rear extremity of the semitrailer or load must carry a four inch multidirectional amber strobe light and 18 inch bright red or orange warning flags.
- Length: note
- Per-configuration limits read from the official O.C.G.A. § 32-6-24, Length of vehicles and loads, current through the 2026 Special Session. They apply unless the vehicle is exempted under § 32-6-25 or authorized by a permit under § 32-6-28. The 100 foot overall figure the DPS Oversize Permit Unit publishes matches subsection (b)(2)(C) for combinations operated off the interstate and NHS, and includes the federal allowance for automobile and boat transporter loads to overhang up to three feet at the front and six feet at the rear. The trailer and semitrailer limits do not apply to automobile and boat transporters, though no single unit may exceed 56 feet.
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.
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Permit fees
- Single trip
- $30 (Georgia prices oversize and overweight permits as flat permit-type fees, not as a base fee plus a weight-tiered maintenance fee. The standard single trip permit is $30.00 and covers width and height up to 16 feet and gross weight up to 150,000 pounds. Superload, Superload Plus, and Mega Load single trips carry their own flat fees.)
- Annual eligibility
- The Standard Annual permit is $150.00 and covers width 12 feet 0 inches, height 14 feet 6 inches, length 100 feet 0 inches, and gross weight 100,000 pounds. GDOT Board Rule 672-2 adds that the Standard Annual applies to specific types of loads on a five-axle tractor-trailer combination. The NHS Annual is $500.00 and covers width 14 feet 0 inches to 14 feet 8 inches, height 14 feet 6 inches, length 100 feet 0 inches, and gross weight 100,000 pounds; the rule describes this Annual Plus permit as limited to the interstate and limited access routes, with the 14 foot width from the base of the load up to ten feet above the pavement and 14 feet 8 inches for the upper portion.
Single-trip permit fee schedule
A single-trip permit stacks a base fee with a weight-tiered maintenance fee, and the heaviest loads add a supervision fee.
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To price a specific load, try the oversize permit cost estimator, or compare every state on the national oversize permit table.
To see how these fees combine on real loads, walk through Georgia oversize permit cost worked examples.
Escort thresholds
Travel restrictions
- Curfews
- No permit is valid for travel into or through the area bounded by Interstate 285, the Atlanta bypass, unless the vehicle is making a pickup or delivery inside that area, and the driver must be able to show proof of it. Even then, a permit is not valid inside that area between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. or between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Parking on interstate and limited access right of way while waiting for an authorized entry time is not allowed. The Department may limit travel in other major cities on the face of the permit or at the written request of local jurisdictions.
Legal limits before you need a permit
The permit unit publishes one set of overall legal dimensions covering width, height, and overall length including overhang, plus a legal gross weight, without splitting interstate from non-interstate travel.
The axle limits do split. There is one row set for the Interstate Highway System and another for state routes, and the definition of a tandem changes between them: the interstate rule measures axles within a short spacing, while the state route rule measures a much longer one. A carrier that reads only the interstate row and then runs a state route can be legal on one road and over on the next.
Per-configuration trailer limits sit in the state code rather than on the permit unit's page, and that code could not be read at an official current source during this research pass, so no per-configuration figure is asserted here.
Single trip permits and the superload ladder
The standard single trip permit covers a generous envelope of width, height, and gross weight for one flat charge. Past that envelope the permit becomes a superload, then a superload plus, then a mega load, each at its own flat price.
The paperwork grows with the tier. A load that is oversize by dimension alone does not need axle weights and spacings, but once gross weight passes the superload line the department needs them, and at the superload plus tier it runs a full bridge analysis. Axle weights may not exceed what the permit prints, and axle spacings have to match the permit or be longer. Shorter spacings void the permit, and the overweight citation that follows is calculated from the superload line rather than the ordinary legal weight, which makes it far more expensive.
Annual permits, and what each one covers
The standard annual permit covers a fixed envelope of width, height, length, and gross weight, and the board rule ties it to specific load types on a five-axle tractor-trailer combination. The interstate version allows more width but limits the movement to the interstate and limited access routes, with a narrower allowance for the lower part of the load and a wider one above it.
A separate annual permit covers commercial wrecker emergency towing. Be careful with that one: the permit unit's fee page and the board rule describe different maximums for it, so both are recorded on this page and a carrier near either boundary should confirm the current envelope with the permit unit before dispatching.
Escorts, and Georgia's certified pilot car drivers
Georgia certifies the people who escort permitted loads. Any driver escorting an oversize or overweight load completes the department's training and certification program and carries the credentials in the escort vehicle for inspection, and the certification may carry reciprocity with other states running a comparable pre-approved program.
The thresholds start earlier than many carriers expect. A rear escort with an amber light attaches at a length well below where several neighboring states set theirs, a front escort with a height sensor attaches at a set height unless the hauler holds a valid utility notification ticket, and width thresholds shift with the number of lanes on the road. Past the widest published band the department sets escort requirements case by case and may require a police escort.
Equipment and signs are specified too: an escort vehicle is an automobile or pickup with a revolving or flashing amber warning light, both vehicles carry working two-way radios, and the oversized load sign has a prescribed lettering and backboard size. When four or more vehicles queue behind the load, the whole group pulls over and lets traffic pass.
When permitted loads can move
Unless the permit says otherwise, a permitted load moves Monday through Saturday between set hours around sunrise and sunset. A permitted load of otherwise legal overall dimensions under a stated weight ceiling may move continuously, day and night, subject to the weather and holiday bars.
Six holidays close the road to permitted movement outright. Fog, snow, and ice stop movement at any time. A load past a set width stops when visibility drops below a published distance or the ground wind passes a published speed, and the driver takes the load off the roadway at the first safe place.
House moves get their own window, their own advance notice period, and a straight-line distance ceiling between origin and destination, plus utility notification approval for anything tall enough to reach the wires.
The Atlanta perimeter rule
This is the Georgia rule that surprises out-of-state carriers most. No permit is valid for travel into or through the area bounded by the Atlanta bypass interstate unless the vehicle is making a pickup or delivery inside it, and the driver has to be able to prove that.
Even with a pickup or delivery inside the perimeter, the permit is void there during the morning and afternoon rush windows on weekdays. Waiting out a closed window by parking on interstate or limited access right of way is not allowed either. The department may add limits in other cities on the face of the permit or at the written request of a local jurisdiction, so route planning through Georgia's metro areas is a permit-by-permit exercise, not a habit you can reuse.
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 Georgia permit stack, see Georgia trucking permits.
Frequently asked questions
What can I haul in Georgia without an oversize permit?
- Anything inside the published legal width, height, overall length including overhang, and gross weight, and inside the axle limits for the road you are on. Those limits are sourced fields on this page, and the axle rows differ between the interstate system and state routes.
How much does a Georgia oversize permit cost?
- Georgia charges a flat price by permit type rather than a base fee plus a weight tier. The standard single trip, the superload tiers, the standard annual, and the interstate annual each have their own published amount, listed here as sourced fields.
When does an oversize load need an escort in Georgia?
- Escort requirements attach by length, height, and width, with the width rules changing by how many lanes the road has, and bridge lateral clearance adding a front escort on some routes. Georgia also requires escort drivers to hold a state certification and carry it in the vehicle.
Can a permitted load run inside the Atlanta perimeter?
- Only when the vehicle is picking up or delivering inside it and the driver can prove that, and even then not during the weekday rush windows. Parking on interstate right of way to wait for an open window is not allowed.
Does Georgia allow extra weight for farm and forest loads?
- Yes. A published variance raises the gross weight ceiling for a defined commodity list within a fixed radius of the origin, barred inside the metropolitan non-attainment counties and conditioned on the equipment being certified for the weight. A 2025 act removed its expiry date.
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.