West Virginia Oversize Permit Cost: Worked Examples

Three worked West Virginia moves: the $20 single-trip base, the 4 cent ton-mile overweight charge, and bridge monitoring capped at $750.

By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 28, 2026 · 10 min read

West Virginia prices an oversize permit with one flat fee and one rate. The Division of Highways charges

$20.00

for a single-trip oversize or overweight permit, and overweight loads add

$0.04

per ton-mile. A superload pays the same base. The line most quotes miss is bridge monitoring, which only shows up after the Division runs its bridge analysis. Every current figure renders with its official source on the West Virginia oversize and overweight permits page. This guide runs three loads through the fee schedule so the numbers read like a quote. To see where your load crosses a legal line in the first place, run it through the oversize permit cost estimator.

Sources for the fees below: West Virginia Division of Highways, Permit Types, accessed September 28, 2026, transportation.wv.gov; West Virginia Division of Highways, Permit Information (revised March 17, 2023), transportation.wv.gov.

How West Virginia builds the number

The legal envelope comes first. Legal height is 13 feet 6 inches on every route, legal width is 8 feet 6 inches on Interstate, US and WV routes, and gross weight tops out at 80,000 pounds (West Virginia Division of Highways, Legal Size and Weight Limits, accessed September 28, 2026, transportation.wv.gov). US and WV routes allow a 10 percent weight tolerance; Interstates allow none. W. Va. Code 17C-17-11 gives the Commissioner the power to permit loads past those lines, and the Division of Highways sets the price. Four pieces build it:

Base fee: $20.00 for any single trip, oversize, overweight or both.
Ton-mile charge: $0.04 per ton-mile, on overweight loads only. The published schedule adds no mileage charge for width, height or length.
Bridge monitoring: when a superload is approved at low impact, $150.00 for the first bridge, $100.00 for the second, and $50.00 for each one after that, with the monitoring total capped at $750.
A cancellation charge you can avoid: the office may bill $20.00 for a superload application that is not activated within 30 days of its analysis.

One gap in the published rules matters for the ton-mile line. The Permit Types page and the Permit Information document both state the rate but neither says whether the tons counted are the tons over the legal limit or the gross tons of the load. We found no published worked example from the Division either. The examples below show both readings side by side, and the wv.gotpermits.com system shows the actual charge before you pay.

Single-trip and superload permits are good for five days, and a permit can be amended once: a plate correction, an extension of up to three days, or a date change before it goes active (West Virginia Division of Highways, Frequently Asked Questions-Hauling Permits, accessed September 28, 2026, transportation.wv.gov).

Worked example 1: a 13-foot load at legal weight

A contractor moves a 13-foot-wide excavator 120 miles on US and WV routes, loaded 13 feet 6 inches high and within legal weight. Width is the only line crossed, so the permit costs the flat $20.00. It costs the same at 12 miles or 200, because no ton-mile charge applies to a load at legal weight.

The escort grid costs more than the permit here. A load from 12 feet 1 inch to 14 feet wide takes front and rear escorts on two-lane highways and a rear escort on four-lane highways. The Permit Information document lets that width band move seven days a week, sunrise to sunset. Loads 14 feet wide or less may move seven days a week on every route except the West Virginia Turnpike, where weekend travel must be requested. Highway districts and the Parkway Authority can require more escorts than the chart, never fewer, and the permit itself states the final count.

Two clocks shape the delivery date. Escorted loads stay off two-lane highways from 7 to 9 a.m. and 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on school weekdays. And no permitted load moves on the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day or New Year's Day. The Charleston area adds rush-hour windows of its own, and the full list renders on the state permits page. The travel calendar the Division links is the 2024 edition, so confirm the current dates with the Permit Office before you book the move.

Worked example 2: a heavy machine at legal size

A lowboy carries a nondivisible transformer at legal width and height. The load scales 100,000 pounds gross, 20,000 pounds over the 80,000 pound limit, and the routed trip runs 150 miles on the Interstate, where no tolerance applies. It stays under the 120,000 pound gross line where a load becomes a superload, so it is an ordinary single trip.

Here is the ton-mile math under each reading of the published rate:

Excess tons: 20,000 pounds over is 10 tons. 10 tons x 150 miles is 1,500 ton-miles.
At 4 cents per ton-mile, that is $60. Add the $20.00 base: $80.00.
Gross tons: 100,000 pounds is 50 tons. 50 tons x 150 miles is 7,500 ton-miles.
At 4 cents per ton-mile, that is $300. Add the $20.00 base: $320.00.

Budget for the higher figure until the permit system quotes the move. Whichever basis the system applies, distance moves the overweight line and nothing else does: the same load on a 50-mile route bills a third of the ton-miles.

This load has a scheduling advantage the wide load in example 1 lacks. The permit office FAQ says loads that are overweight but not oversize may request night travel up to 110,000 pounds on multi-lane highways, with two-lane requests reviewed case by case. And the overweight permit issues only for a nondivisible load, one that would lose its intended use or its value if split, or that would take more than eight work hours to take apart, under W. Va. Code 17C-17-11(b)(2) (West Virginia Legislature, W. Va. Code 17C-17-11, Permits for excess size and weight, accessed September 28, 2026, code.wvlegislature.gov). The applicant carries the burden of proof on the hours.

Worked example 3: a superload with bridges on the route

Now load the lowboy to 140,000 pounds gross, 13 feet wide, for a 60-mile move. That is past the 120,000 pound gross line, so the load is a superload. A superload permit costs $20.00, the same as a single trip. West Virginia sets no gross weight cap for superloads, but every one must pass a bridge analysis, and processing takes a minimum of 48 hours.

Say the analysis approves four bridges on the route at low impact. The permit names the bridges, the required speed and a number to schedule the monitors, and moving without the monitor violates the permit. Here is the full quote:

Base fee: $20.00.
Bridge monitoring: $150 + $100 + $50 + $50 = $350.
Ton-mile, excess reading: 60,000 pounds over is 30 tons. 30 tons x 60 miles is 1,800 ton-miles, or $72.00. Total: $442.00.
Ton-mile, gross reading: 140,000 pounds is 70 tons. 70 tons x 60 miles is 4,200 ton-miles, or $168.00. Total: $538.00.

On a short superload, bridge monitoring can be the largest line in the quote, bigger than the ton-mile charge under either reading. The cap changes that math on long routes. Monitoring adds $50 per bridge after the second, so the total hits $750 at the twelfth bridge: $150 + $100 + (10 x $50) = $750. A route with 12 low impact bridges and a route with 20 pay the same monitoring fee.

Two process costs follow. Apply only when the move is ready, because an analysis left unused for 30 days can draw the cancellation charge. And a repeat of the identical move on the same route within 30 days can skip the full re-analysis, though it still needs a new application quoting the old permit number, per the permit office FAQ.

Buying a blanket instead

A carrier that repeats one kind of move can price a blanket permit against the single trips. The oversize-only regular blanket costs

$200.00

for a year on one power unit, and the oversize and overweight blanket costs $500.00. At a $20.00 base, the oversize blanket costs the same as ten single trips, and the oversize and overweight blanket the same as 25 single-trip bases before any ton-mile charge. Blankets are self-issued through wv.gotpermits.com or gotpermits.com and cover unlimited trips inside their size and weight limits, which the state permits page lists by route type.

What to check before quoting

Measure width against the escort bands first, because escorts usually cost more than the permit. Weigh the load and price the ton-mile line under both readings until the permit system confirms the charge. If the load crosses 120,000 pounds gross or 16 feet wide, add at least 48 hours for the bridge analysis and budget monitoring up to the $750 cap. Then check the calendar against the holiday, school bus and event restrictions. Compare West Virginia against the same move elsewhere on the oversize permit costs by state table, and see the rest of the credential stack at West Virginia trucking permits.

FAQ

How much does a West Virginia oversize permit cost?

A single-trip oversize or overweight permit costs $20.00 from the Division of Highways. A load that is oversize but at legal weight pays only that base fee, whatever the distance. Overweight loads add 4 cents per ton-mile, and a superload that is approved at low impact adds bridge monitoring fees. The permit is good for five days.

How is the West Virginia overweight ton-mile fee calculated?

Multiply tons by miles, then by 4 cents. The Division of Highways publishes the rate as $0.04 per ton-mile for overweight loads but does not say, on its Permit Types page or in its Permit Information document, whether the tons counted are the tons over the legal limit or the gross tons. The wv.gotpermits.com system prices the permit before you pay, so read the fee there rather than assuming either basis.

What are low impact bridge monitoring fees in West Virginia?

When a superload's bridge analysis approves a crossing at low impact, the permit names the bridges and the load must be monitored across them. Monitoring costs $150 for the first bridge, $100 for the second and $50 for each additional bridge, with the total capped at $750. The cap is reached at the twelfth bridge.

Does West Virginia sell an annual oversize permit?

Yes. Regular blanket permits are tied to one power unit and cover unlimited trips for a year: $200.00 for oversize only at legal weight, or $500.00 for oversize and overweight. Overweight loads must be nondivisible, and divisible load permits are not available.