North Dakota Oversize Permit Cost: Worked Examples

Three worked North Dakota moves: the 20 dollar permit plus routing fee, the graduated heavy-load fee, and the superload ton-mile charge.

By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026 · 9 min read

North Dakota prices an oversize move in up to three layers. The permit itself costs

$20.00

under NDCC 39-12-02 for loads up to 150,000 pounds gross. Every single-trip permit then picks up an

$8.00

service and routing fee, per the Highway Patrol's 2026 Motor Carrier Handbook. Above 150,000 pounds the permit fee climbs in steps, and above 200,000 pounds the weight itself starts billing by the ton and the mile. Every current figure renders with its official source on the North Dakota oversize and overweight permits page. This guide walks three moves through that schedule so the numbers read like a quote. To check where your load crosses a legal line first, run it through the oversize permit cost estimator.

How North Dakota builds the number

Four inputs shape any North Dakota quote:

Gross weight: a flat permit fee up to 150,000 pounds, a graduated fee from 150,001 pounds, and a ton-mile charge on weight above 200,000 pounds.
Road: the legal gross limit is 80,000 pounds on the interstate (NDCC 39-12-05) and up to 105,500 pounds on state highways under the state's own bridge formula (NDCC 39-12-05.3). A truck can be legal on a state highway and overweight on I-94 at the same weight.
Season: spring load restrictions change what a permit can carry and add ton mile fees on restricted highways.
Dimensions: pilot cars and travel windows depend on width, length, and height.

Here is how the pieces stack on real loads.

Worked example 1: the 13-foot steel tank, width only

A fabricator hauls a 13-foot-wide steel tank from Fargo to a customer near Devils Lake on state highways. Height, length, and weight are all legal. Legal width in North Dakota is 8 feet 6 inches under NDCC 39-12-04, so width is the only line crossed.

The quote is two lines:

Single-trip permit: $20.00
Service and routing fee: $8.00

That comes to 28 dollars for the trip. No pilot car is needed: under Highway Patrol Policy 9-15, the first escort attaches over 14 feet 6 inches wide. What 13 feet does buy is a clock. NDCC 39-12-02(5) allows night travel only for movements 12 feet wide or less, so this load runs from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset. Weather can stop it too: Policy 9-6 bars movement on slippery roads or with visibility of half a mile or less.

Now say the fabricator runs that same width every week. North Dakota sells an annual over-width permit at

$150.00

for loads over-width only, up to 14 feet 6 inches, with every other dimension and weight legal. At 28 dollars a trip, the sixth single trip passes the annual price, so a weekly hauler stops buying single trips within the first two months. The same annual price covers the over-length permit, for loads over-length only up to 120 feet.

Worked example 2: the 175,000-pound transformer, graduated fee

A heavy haul carrier moves a non-divisible transformer at 175,000 pounds gross across state highways. Overweight permits in North Dakota issue only for single-piece loads and self-propelled non-reducible vehicles, per Policy 9-6, and the vehicle must be registered for the gross weight it can legally carry without a permit.

At 175,000 pounds the flat fee no longer applies. The handbook's graduated schedule places this load in the 170,001 to 180,000 pound band:

Graduated single-trip fee: $50.00
Service and routing fee: $8.00

That totals 58 dollars. For scale, the full ladder runs from

$30.00

at 150,001 pounds to

$70.00

at 190,001 pounds and over. Each band spans 10,000 pounds. NDCC 39-12-02 also lists an $25.00 engineering fee per trip. Our data does not record which moves draw it, so confirm with the Permit Office before you quote the job.

The weight also changes the axle math. Above 150,000 pounds, Highway Patrol rules cap tandem axles at 40,000 pounds and single axles at 22,000 pounds, so the trailer spec has to spread the load before the fee matters. Pilot cars can attach on weight alone as well: Policy 9-15 lets DOT engineers require one or two pilot cars on overweight moves beyond normal permittable weights.

Worked example 3: the 240,000-pound superload, ton-mile math

A 240,000-pound load runs 100 miles of state highway. Loads over 200,000 pounds fall under Policy 9-6 Annex E, the Heavy Load Permit Policy. The load must be non-reducible, and the carrier must show it has no way to move other than a state highway.

The fee has three parts:

Graduated fee: 240,000 pounds is past 190,001 pounds, so the load sits in the top band. That band costs $70.00.
Service and routing fee: $8.00.
Ton-mile charge: the handbook bills 5 cents per ton per mile on the portion of gross weight above 200,000 pounds. This load is 40,000 pounds over, which is 20 tons. Twenty tons across 100 miles is 2,000 ton-miles, and at 5 cents that adds 100 dollars.

The permit comes to 178 dollars. The same load over a 250-mile route adds 250 dollars in ton-miles instead, so on a superload the route length sets the bill.

The paperwork scales with the weight too. The North Dakota E-Permits page asks for a vehicle loading diagram (a track width diagram) above 200,000 pounds or with 8 tires on an axle, and the Highway Patrol's heavy load rules require one above 250,000 pounds. Heavy load permits are not issued during spring road restrictions, and Policy 9-6 voids overweight permits on flexible (bituminous) pavement when the air temperature reaches 90 degrees F.

The spring restriction layer

North Dakota's seasonal rules can reshape any of these quotes. Under Policy 9-6, overweight permits are not issued during spring road restrictions or on highways with year-round load limits, except under the Road Restriction Permit Policy (9-17). Moves permitted under that policy on state highways other than the interstate pay ton mile fees. The Highway Patrol's Ton Mile Fee Schedule prices those per mile by gross weight and by restriction class (legal, 8-ton, 7-ton, and 6-ton). Our data does not carry that table's rates, so read the schedule itself for a spring quote.

Heavy divisible loads: the 105,500 and 80,000 split

The split between interstate and state-highway limits creates a permit that has nothing to do with oversize freight. A legal-size grain load at 105,500 pounds can be legal on state highways under the bridge formula but runs 25,500 pounds over on the interstate. The interstate permit fixes that for

$10.00

per trip on I-94 and I-29, and NDCC 39-12-02 sells an annual version too. For divisible loads over 105,500 pounds, the E-Permits page lists a 129,000 pound network permit at

$20.00

per trip on designated routes.

What a pilot car adds in North Dakota

Policy 9-15 ties pilot cars to dimension and road type:

Over 14 feet 6 inches up to 16 feet wide: one pilot car ahead on two-lane highways, none on four-lane divided highways. A rotating or flashing amber light visible 500 feet front and rear may replace the pilot car.
Over 16 feet wide: a pilot car ahead and behind on two-lane highways, one following on four-lane divided highways.
Over 18 feet wide: the regional commander may require a Highway Patrol escort on top of the pilot cars, billed at 50 dollars per hour and 50 cents per mile per trooper under Policy 9-6.
Over 120 feet long: one pilot car following.
Over 18 feet high: one pilot car ahead, plus written authority from utility companies to pass under overhead wires.

Width over 16 feet also changes the calendar. Policy 9-6 issues no such permits for Saturday after noon, all day Sunday, or six named holidays, and the permit is void from noon the day before a holiday until sunrise the day after.

Where to buy the permit

The North Dakota Highway Patrol issues permits through its E-Permits system, which routes most single-trip permits automatically around the clock. The Permit Office in Bismarck answers at 701-328-2621, Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central. Any trooper or motor carrier inspector can issue one as well. County roads in coal, oil, and gas producing counties are a separate lane: those moves need a Uniform County Truck Permit from the Western Dakota Energy Association.

For a quick quote, start with the gross weight band, add the routing fee, run the ton-miles above 200,000 pounds, then check the season and the pilot car table. Compare North Dakota against the same move elsewhere on the oversize permit costs by state table. Every other credential the state expects sits on North Dakota trucking permits, and nonresident carriers without North Dakota registration or IFTA can find the 72-hour options on North Dakota trip and fuel permits.

FAQ

How much does a North Dakota oversize permit cost?

NDCC 39-12-02 sets a single-trip oversize or overweight permit at 20 dollars for loads up to 150,000 pounds gross, and the Highway Patrol handbook adds an 8 dollar service and routing fee to each single-trip permit. Annual over-width permits (to 14 feet 6 inches) and annual over-length permits (to 120 feet) cost 150 dollars each.

How is the North Dakota overweight permit fee calculated?

Up to 150,000 pounds gross, the single-trip permit is a flat 20 dollars. Above that the fee is graduated in 10,000 pound steps, from 30 dollars at 150,001 pounds to 70 dollars at 190,001 pounds and over. Weight above 200,000 pounds adds 5 cents per ton per mile on the portion over 200,000. The 8 dollar service and routing fee applies to every single-trip permit.

When does a North Dakota oversize load need a pilot car?

Under Highway Patrol Policy 9-15, a load over 14 feet 6 inches wide takes one pilot car ahead on two-lane highways, and an amber light visible 500 feet front and rear may replace it. Over 16 feet takes a pilot car ahead and behind on two-lane highways. Over 18 feet, the regional commander may add a Highway Patrol escort. Loads over 120 feet long take a following pilot car, and loads over 18 feet high take one ahead.