By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 25, 2026
Who issues what in Georgia
The permit pages
Georgia-specific requirements
A GA suffix instead of a state carrier number
Georgia has run an intrastate USDOT numbering program since October 1, 1998. A carrier operating only inside Georgia gets a USDOT number as an intrastate carrier and displays it as USDOT followed by the number and the letters GA, plus the legal name or a single trade name, on each side of the power unit, legible from 50 feet in daylight in a sharply contrasting color. There is no separate CA number or TxDMV number equivalent.
GIMC is the annual state filing, and it is per vehicle
Instead of an authority fee, Georgia charges a per-vehicle Georgia Intrastate Motor Carrier registration: $5.00 per vehicle before January 1 and $25.00 per vehicle after January 1 or for a new applicant. Carriers that cross state lines register under UCR instead of GIMC. Registration runs on the calendar year with a December 31 deadline and enforcement from January 1.
Oversize permits come from Public Safety, not the DOT
Georgia moved oversize and overweight permitting to the Department of Public Safety. Permits are bought in GAPROS, the Georgia Permitting and Routing Optimization System, and GDOT's own oversize page routes applicants there. The regulations, though, are still GDOT Board Rule 672-2. A carrier reading GDOT rules and calling GDOT for a permit ends up in the wrong place.
13 feet 6 inches, not 14
Georgia's legal height is 13 feet 6 inches. Legal width is 8 feet 6 inches, legal overall length is 100 feet including overhang, and legal gross weight is 80,000 pounds. Carriers coming from a 14 foot state need a permit for the same trailer they ran legally at home.
A 10 percent agricultural and forestry weight variance, now permanent
Georgia allows a 10 percent variance over the 80,000 pound limit, to 88,000 pounds, for trucks hauling forest products, live poultry or cotton, feed, poultry waste, agricultural products and finished goods, and recovered materials. The variance runs only within a 150 mile radius from the farm or point of origin, is prohibited in the 13 county non-attainment area, and requires the truck and trailer to be certified to meet or exceed the weights allowed. HB 189 raised it from 5 percent in 2023 with a July 1, 2025 sunset; Act 174 (HB 164) repealed that sunset effective July 1, 2025, so the variance is permanent.
The I-285 perimeter is closed to permitted loads
No oversize or overweight 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 it, and the driver must be able to prove it. Even with a pickup or delivery, the permit is void inside that area from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and waiting on interstate right of way is not allowed.
Georgia certifies pilot and escort vehicle drivers
Any driver escorting an oversize or overweight load in Georgia must complete the Department's training and certification program and carry the credentials in the escort vehicle for inspection. The certification may carry reciprocity with other states running a similar pre-approved program. Escort thresholds start earlier than many states: a rear escort with amber light is required once length passes 75 feet, and a front escort with a height sensor once height reaches 15 feet 6 inches unless the hauler holds a valid NJUNS trip approval ticket.
Apportioned plates go on the front of the truck
The Department of Revenue states that all IRP-apportioned license plates must be placed on the front of the truck in the appropriate license plate slot. Carriers used to rear plates get this wrong on their first Georgia renewal.
Three portals, two departments
A Georgia carrier ends up with three separate logins: the DPS UCR-GIMC system for intrastate registration and certificates, GAPROS for oversize and overweight permits, and the Department of Revenue's Georgia Tax Center for IFTA plus the Georgia Trucking Portal and EZ IRP for apportioned registration. New IRP accounts have had to start in EZ IRP since July 3, 2023.
The Heavy Vehicle Highway User Impact Fee skips IRP fleets
Georgia charges a Heavy Vehicle Highway User Impact Fee of $50.00 on vehicles rated 15,500 to 26,000 pounds GVWR and $100.00 at 26,001 pounds or higher, on top of the annual license fee, at initial registration and every renewal. It applies whether the vehicle is used commercially or not, including government and farm vehicles, but it does not apply to IRP registered vehicles.
Intrastate carriers live under the federal safety rules anyway
Georgia adopts the FMCSA Motor Carrier Safety Regulations in 49 CFR Parts 350, 376, 382, 383, and 390 through 397 for intrastate carriers, and reads every reference to interstate commerce in those parts as intrastate commerce in Georgia. An intrastate-only Georgia carrier therefore still faces hours of service, driver qualification, and drug and alcohol testing rules.
A 60 day motor fuel tax suspension in 2026 changed IFTA reporting
Georgia suspended the state excise tax on motor fuels from March 20 through May 19, 2026. The Department of Revenue told IFTA licensees to report all miles traveled in Georgia during the suspension in Total Miles but exclude them from Total Taxable Miles, and to report tax-free gallons in Total Gallons but exclude them from Tax-Paid Gallons. Carriers who filed those quarters the usual way overstated Georgia taxable miles.
Container freight from the ports gets its own weight envelope
A sealed container moving to or from a port used for international trading, with the driver able to show an international bill of lading, runs on separate numbers: a 40 foot box container is allowed 100,000 pounds gross on a five axle tractor-trailer, a 20 foot box container is allowed 80,000 pounds with a 44,000 pound tandem, and a 20 foot container on a 40 foot center mount or center-mount triaxle trailer is allowed 100,000 pounds on five or more axles.
Household goods movers run on a state rate tariff and a state fuel surcharge
Georgia sets maximum rates for intrastate household goods moves by department tariff, and the Commissioner of Public Safety sets the fuel surcharge. The DPS FAQ states that as of January 13, 2026 a for-hire intrastate household goods carrier may charge a fuel surcharge set by the Commissioner at $1.51 per mile from the shipment's origin to its destination, on weight and distance moves only.
Certificate applicants must show $50,000 in assets and sit a class
Household goods, passenger, and limousine certificate applicants must demonstrate they possess and can maintain minimum assets of $50,000, and must attend a training class on Georgia law and DPS rules that the Department schedules after the application arrives. Approval takes six to eight weeks and the carrier may not operate until the certificate is in hand. The first credential is an Interim Certificate valid for one year; a permanent certificate follows based on actual performance.
The permit office, and the split that trips people up
Read the rules at one agency, buy the permit at another. GDOT's board rules still govern oversize and overweight movement in Georgia, but GDOT's own oversize page now sends applicants to the Public Safety permit unit, and the permits themselves are issued through GAPROS.
That split costs new carriers time. A carrier that finds the rule chapter first will call the transportation department and be redirected. Start at the permit unit, which publishes its own phone line, hours, and mailing and walk-in addresses, and treat the board rules as the reference behind what the permit says.
The permit types Georgia issues
Georgia prices permits as flat permit types rather than as a base fee plus a weight-tiered maintenance charge, which makes budgeting easier than it is in many states.
Single trip permits come in tiers by how far past legal the load runs, from the standard permit up through the superload categories. Annual permits come in a standard version and a version limited to the interstate and limited access system, each with its own dimension and weight envelope. Two commodity permits sit beside them: a seasonal annual permit for cotton and tobacco, and an annual hazmat permit limited to liquefied natural gas, polychlorinated biphenyl, and radioactive materials.
The hazmat permit has its own procedure. The carrier needs insurance on file, uploads an emergency action plan with the application, and pays from an escrow account, because that permit does not take credit cards and arrives by mail only.
Trip and fuel permits, and the agricultural weight variance
Two more credentials come from Revenue rather than Public Safety, and they are bought before the truck reaches the state line. One stands in for apportioned registration and one stands in for the IFTA license. Georgia sells the registration permit only to out-of-state carriers, so a Georgia-based fleet that needs a permit for another jurisdiction buys it from that jurisdiction.
Georgia also runs a weight variance that raises the gross weight ceiling for a defined list of farm and forest commodities inside a fixed radius of the origin. The variance is barred inside the metropolitan non-attainment counties, and the truck and trailer have to be certified to meet or exceed the weights it allows. A 2023 act raised the variance and set it to expire; a 2025 act repealed that expiry, so it now stands permanently.
Compare beyond Georgia
Running multi-state loads? 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.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I apply for Georgia truck permits?
- Oversize and overweight permits come from the Public Safety permit unit through GAPROS, not from the transportation department, even though the transportation board's rules govern the movement. Temporary trip and fuel permits come from Revenue through the Georgia Trucking Portal.
Does Georgia offer an annual oversize permit?
- Yes, in two forms: a standard annual permit and a version limited to the interstate and limited access system with a wider allowance. Each carries its own width, height, length, and gross weight envelope, listed as sourced fields on the oversize page here.
Are there commodity permits in Georgia?
- Two. A seasonal annual permit covers cotton and tobacco for half a year within a set envelope, and an annual hazmat permit covers liquefied natural gas, polychlorinated biphenyl, and radioactive materials, with an emergency action plan and an escrow account required.
How long is a Georgia single trip permit good for?
- A single trip permit runs for a fixed number of travel days from issuance unless the department grants an extension. A multi-trip permit lets the load return to its original destination on the same permit inside that window, with the same configuration and route.
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.