Vermont Oversize Permit Cost: Worked Examples

How 23 V.S.A. § 1402 prices Vermont oversize permits, worked through an 11 ft wide excavator, an 85 ft long load and a 170,000 lb superload.

By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 5, 2026 · 12 min read

Vermont prices its oversize and overweight permits in the statute, and the base fee is flat. One single trip permit covers an overweight, overwidth, indivisible overlength or overheight move at the same price. The number climbs only when a load is big enough to need an engineering inspection, and that survey fee steps up by gross weight. Permits come from the DMV's Commercial Vehicle Operations unit in Montpelier through the VT Haul Pass online system. Every fee this guide works through renders with its source on the Vermont oversize and overweight permits page. To see which states treat your load as oversize at all, run it through the oversize permit cost estimator.

Sources for the fees below: Vermont General Assembly, 23 V.S.A. § 1402, Overweight, width, height, and length permits; fees, accessed October 5, 2026, legislature.vermont.gov; and Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, Commercial Trucking Fees, page dated April 21, 2026, accessed October 5, 2026, dmv.vermont.gov.

How Vermont builds the number

Start with the legal envelope. 23 V.S.A. § 1431 caps vehicle and load at 8 feet 6 inches wide and 13 feet 6 inches high. Under § 1432 a single motor vehicle may run 46 feet, and a combination up to 75 feet needs no permit on state highways. On the Interstate and qualifying federal-aid primary highways, and for one mile off them, § 1432 sets no overall length for a tractor-semitrailer, but the semitrailer may not exceed 53 feet. Gross weight tops out at 80,000 pounds without a permit under § 1392.

Once a load breaks one of those lines, 23 V.S.A. § 1400 lets the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles permit it on state highways and class 1 town highways, and § 1402 sets the fee. There is no mileage charge and no bracket by overage. Let's break it down:

Single trip permit. Each permit for an overweight, overwidth, indivisible overlength or overheight move costs $48.00. A load that is wide and tall at once pays the same as one that is only wide.
Overlength combination. A single trip overlength permit for a combination longer than 75 feet costs $34.00.
Engineering inspection. Superloads add a survey fee set by weight. Loads under 150,000 pounds pay $800.00 for up to 8 hours of review, plus an hourly charge after that. The top tier, over 250,000 pounds, is $10,000.00.
Annual blanket permit. A blanket permit for nondivisible loads costs $135.00 for the first unit, with a smaller charge for each additional unit.

A single trip permit is good for 7 business days under § 1402(f) and the DMV permit rules. One FAQ answer on the DMV's blanket permit page says 10 working days, which conflicts with the statute, so go by the date printed on the permit. Permits issue in the registrant's name, one vehicle or combination per permit, and the vehicle must be registered for the maximum legal load of its class before an overweight permit issues.

Worked example 1: an 11 foot wide excavator

Start with a common move. A contractor hauls an 11 foot wide excavator on a trailer, at legal height, a combination under 75 feet, and legal weight. Width is the only line it breaks.

The single trip permit is $48.00. The fee would be the same at 9 feet or at 11 feet 11 inches.

The load needs no escort. Form CVO-110 calls for one only from 12 feet wide, 80 feet long or 15 feet of overhang. It still carries 7-foot by 18-inch OVERSIZE LOAD signs front and rear and 18-inch red or orange flags at its corners. Three timing rules apply:

Daylight only. Over-width moves run from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset unless the permit says otherwise.
Speed. Loads over 10 feet wide are held to 45 mph on state highways and 60 mph on the Interstate.
Summer Fridays. The permit rules bar weekend moves only above 12 feet wide. The DMV's blanket permit FAQ states a stricter summer rule: from July 1 to Labor Day, nothing over 10 feet 6 inches wide moves on a Saturday, a Sunday or a Friday afternoon. This load is caught by the FAQ version, so plan a summer move for Monday through Thursday or confirm with the permit desk.

If you move this machine often, price the annual blanket permit. It covers nondivisible loads up to 12 feet 6 inches wide when the vehicle is no longer than 75 feet, and up to 14 feet high. The first unit costs $135.00, less than three single trips. A blanket permit expires with the vehicle's registration (Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, Blanket Permit - Annual, accessed October 5, 2026, dmv.vermont.gov).

Worked example 2: an 85 foot combination

Now a long one. A tractor and extendable trailer carry a precast beam for an overall length of 85 feet, at legal width, height and weight.

The combination runs past the 75-foot state highway limit, so § 1402(b)(1) prices it as a single trip overlength permit at $34.00. Read the route before you file. On the Interstate and qualifying federal-aid primary highways, § 1432 sets no overall combination length, though the semitrailer itself must stay within 53 feet. The DMV permit rules also list a lower 68 to 72 foot combination limit on Route 4 from the New Hampshire line to the junction of Route 100S.

The cost shows up in the rules around the fee:

One escort. At 80 feet or longer, CVO-110 requires one escort vehicle, in front on an undivided highway and behind on a divided one. It must be at least compact-car size, keep two-way radio contact with the load, show a flashing amber light and carry an OVERSIZE LOAD sign.
Weather. A load 80 feet or longer may not travel in ice, sleet, freezing rain, slush or sticking snow, or when visibility is too poor to identify it at a quarter mile. A load already moving exits at the first safe place.
Speed. Loads over 75 feet long are held to 45 mph on state highways.
Weekends. The permit rules bar weekend moves only above 100 feet long, so this load can run on a Saturday unless the permit says otherwise.

We have no sourced escort vehicle rate for Vermont, so get quotes from escort services when you price the job.

Worked example 3: a 170,000 pound superload

Now the big one. A transformer on a multi-axle trailer makes a combination 90 feet long and 13 feet wide, at legal height, grossing 170,000 pounds.

The permit fee is still $48.00. The real cost starts with the engineering inspection. Here is why:

Superload status. CVO-110 requires an engineering inspection for loads 15 feet or more wide, more than 100 feet long, more than 14 feet high, or 150,000 pounds or more. This load trips the weight line.
Survey fee. For loads from 150,000 to 200,000 pounds, the inspection costs $2,000.00. The next tier, 200,001 to 250,000 pounds, costs $5,000.00. So this move pays the permit fee plus the inspection fee before a single escort is booked.
Lead time. The inspection takes up to 10 working days. It stays valid for 6 months for loads of the same or lesser size on any part of the approved route, and the permit itself runs 7 business days.
Insurance. Before the permit issues, § 1402 requires a special certificate of insurance of at least $250,000 for injury or death of one person, $500,000 for two or more persons, and $250,000 for property damage.
Escorts. The load is past both the 12-foot width line and the 80-foot length line, and each calls for one escort. The Commissioner may require two or more, or a police escort, and Vermont publishes no fixed police escort threshold or rate. Read the count on the permit.
Calendar and weather. Loads over 108,000 pounds do not move on state highways on Saturdays, Sundays or listed holidays unless the permit allows it. A load that needed an engineering review may not travel in inclement weather at all, and speed is held to 45 mph on state highways.

Out-of-state carriers face one more check. Under § 1400(e), Vermont does not issue overweight permits to a vehicle registered in another state or province unless that jurisdiction issues similar permits to Vermont vehicles. The apportioned side of registration is on the Vermont IRP registration page.

Divisible heavy loads: the annual special excess weight permit

Single trip permits cover nondivisible loads only, meaning a load that would lose its function or value if split or would take more than 8 work hours to dismantle. A log or gravel hauler running heavy every day uses a different tool. 23 V.S.A. § 1392 sells annual special excess weight permits by axle configuration for divisible loads on designated routes, off the Interstate. The heaviest lets a combination of 6 or more axles, registered to 80,000 pounds with at least 51 feet between extreme axles, run at up to 99,000 pounds. A 5-axle combination can step up to 90,000 pounds, and 3-axle and 4-axle trucks have their own tiers. The annual fee for each configuration renders with its source on the Vermont oversize and overweight permits page (Vermont General Assembly, 23 V.S.A. § 1392, Gross weight limits on highways, accessed October 5, 2026, legislature.vermont.gov).

The calendar

Vermont's travel windows shape the schedule more than the fee does (Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, Permitting Rules, accessed October 5, 2026, dmv.vermont.gov; and Saturday, Sunday & Holiday Restrictions, page dated August 20, 2020, accessed October 5, 2026, dmv.vermont.gov):

Over-width, over-length and over-height moves run in daylight, from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. An overweight-only vehicle that keeps up with traffic is not held to daylight.
Loads over 108,000 pounds, over 12 feet wide or over 100 feet long do not move on state highways on a Saturday or Sunday unless the permit says otherwise.
The same loads stay parked on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The DMV Permitting Rules page also lists Veterans Day. A holiday on a Saturday closes the Friday before, and one on a Sunday closes the Monday after.
No numeric wind limit is published, but loads 12 feet or wider or 80 feet or longer stop for ice, sleet, freezing rain, slush, sticking snow or poor visibility.
During thaws the Agency of Transportation may post state highways, and a permit does not override a road posting.

Town roads

A state permit covers state highways and class 1 town highways. Class 2, 3 and 4 town roads need the municipality's permit. Statutory limits there are lower: 24,000 pounds on class 2, 3 and 4 town highways and non-wood bridges unless posted otherwise.

What to check before quoting

Next steps, in order:

Measure each dimension and the gross weight, and compare them against the legal limits.
Price the single trip permit, or the overlength permit for a long combination, from § 1402.
Check whether the load crosses a superload line, and add the engineering inspection tier and the insurance certificate if it does.
Count escorts from the CVO-110 table and leave room for the Commissioner to add more.
Check the date against the weekend rule, the summer FAQ rule and the holiday list.
If the move repeats and fits the blanket envelope, compare the annual permit against single trips. For divisible heavy hauling, look at the § 1392 special excess weight permits instead.

The permit desk answers at 802-828-2064 and DMV.CommercialVehicleOSOWPermitting@vermont.gov, Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. The DMV says a permit clerk usually responds in about 45 minutes through VT Haul Pass (Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, Commercial Vehicle Operations, accessed October 5, 2026, dmv.vermont.gov). Compare your quote against the same move elsewhere on the oversize permit costs by state table, see how the neighbor prices it in the New Hampshire oversize permit cost examples, and see the rest of the credential stack at Vermont trucking permits.

FAQ

How much does a Vermont oversize permit cost?

23 V.S.A. § 1402 sets one flat fee for each single trip permit for an overweight, overwidth, indivisible overlength or overheight move, and a lower fee for a single trip overlength permit for a combination longer than 75 feet. Loads big enough for an engineering inspection add a survey fee that rises with gross weight. An annual blanket permit is sold per unit. The current figures render with their source on the Vermont oversize and overweight permits page.

When does a Vermont oversize load need an escort?

Form CVO-110 calls for one escort at 12 feet wide or more, 80 feet long or more, or 15 feet or more of front or rear overhang. The escort runs in front on an undivided highway and behind on a divided one. The Commissioner may require two or more escorts, or a police escort, and Vermont publishes no fixed police escort threshold.

How long is a Vermont single trip permit valid?

Seven business days under 23 V.S.A. § 1402(f) and the DMV permit rules. One FAQ answer on the DMV's blanket permit page says 10 working days, which conflicts with the statute, so go by the date printed on the permit.