Wyoming Oversize Permit Cost: Worked Examples

Four worked Wyoming moves: the flat oversize fee, the three-cent foot-mile charge past 15 feet, the ton-mile overweight math, and superload costs.

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

Wyoming writes its oversize permit price into statute as arithmetic. A single-trip oversize permit costs

$25.00

under W.S. 31-18-804(f), and that flat fee covers any width, height, or length problem up to 15 feet wide, 15 feet high, or 75 feet long for a single vehicle. Past that line the state bills by the foot and the mile. Heavy loads pay by the ton and the mile under W.S. 31-18-804(g). Every current figure renders with its official source on the Wyoming oversize and overweight permits page. This guide runs four moves through the statute 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.

How Wyoming builds the number

The legal envelope comes first. Under W.S. 31-18-802, a truck may run 8 feet 6 inches wide and 14 feet high on any highway without a permit. Gross weight can reach 117,000 pounds on the interstate, but only a truck with enough axles and spacing reaches that ceiling under the Gross Weight Table I bridge formula. A load past any of those lines needs a permit, and four pieces build the price:

Base fee: $25.00 for any oversize single trip.
Foot-mile charge: $0.03 for each foot, or fraction of a foot, beyond 15 feet wide, 15 feet high, or 75 feet long for a single vehicle, for each mile traveled.
Ton-mile charge: $0.06 for each ton, or fraction of a ton, over the weight limit, for each mile traveled, with a floor of $40.00 per overweight permit.
Cost recovery: past 80 tons, the state bills its own route, structure, and escort-personnel costs before the permit issues.

The permit runs for a reasonable period to finish the move, and never more than four days under WYDOT rule chapter 5, section 7(c). Weather, illness, or a breakdown can earn an extension from the permit office.

Worked example 1: the 14-foot load that stays flat

A contractor moves a 14-foot-wide modular equipment skid across the state on I-80, loaded 13 feet 6 inches high and within legal weight. Width is the only line crossed, and 14 feet sits under the 15-foot line where the foot-mile charge starts. The permit costs the flat

$25.00

whether the trip runs 40 miles or 400.

The escort count depends on the road, and here is why the route matters more than the fee. Rule chapter 5, section 8(g) requires two escorts, one front and one rear, on two-lane state routes once a load reaches 14 feet wide. On the interstate and divided highways, the rear escort starts at 15 feet. This skid runs I-80 with no escort and picks up two the moment it turns onto a two-lane highway to reach the job site.

Two clocks apply. Any load over 10 feet wide moves in daylight only under section 7(a), unless the Highway Patrol grants permission. And once a move needs escorts, section 7(d) and (e) keep it off the road on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas, from half an hour after sunset the evening before until half an hour before sunrise the day after. When the holiday makes a three-day weekend, the ban covers the whole weekend.

Worked example 2: the 16-foot-6 load and the foot-mile math

A 16-foot-6-inch-wide tank section runs 180 miles, 14 feet 6 inches high and within legal weight. Width is now past the 15-foot line, so the statute adds the foot-mile charge. Let's break it down:

Width over the line: 16 feet 6 inches minus 15 feet is 1 foot 6 inches.
W.S. 31-18-804(f) bills each foot or fraction of a foot, so the half foot rounds up: 2 billable feet.
Foot-mile charge: 2 feet x 3 cents x 180 miles = $10.80.
Add the base fee: $25 + $10.80 = $35.80 for the permit.

The rounding is where the money moves. A load 17 feet 11 inches wide on the same route bills 3 feet, so the charge becomes 3 x 3 cents x 180 miles = $16.20, and the permit totals $41.20. Measure the load to the inch before you buy, because an inch past a whole foot buys another full foot of charge for every mile.

At 16 feet 6 inches, this load takes one rear escort on the interstate and two on two-lane state routes under section 8(g). It still fits inside the 18 foot limit that ports of entry and highway shops can clear, so a port can write the permit. Past 18 feet wide, the load leaves two-lane state routes during local school bus or heavy commuter traffic, as the Overweight Loads Office sets those hours.

Worked example 3: the heavy excavator and the ton-mile math

A lowboy carries a tracked excavator at legal width and height. The port of entry weighs it 20,000 pounds over the W.S. 31-18-802 limit that applies to that axle setup, and the routed trip runs 250 miles. The overweight math:

Excess weight: 20,000 pounds is 10 tons.
Ton-mile charge: 10 tons x 6 cents x 250 miles = $150.
The $40 minimum does not bite, so the permit costs $150.

The minimum shapes short hauls. A load 5,500 pounds over is 2.75 tons, which bills as 3 because W.S. 31-18-804(g) counts each fraction of a ton as a full one. At 3 tons x 6 cents, each mile costs 18 cents, so the charge stays under the $40 floor until the trip passes 222 miles. A 150-mile trip at that weight pays $40, the same as a 30-mile trip.

This move has one scheduling advantage. Rule chapter 5, section 7(b) lets an overweight move of legal size travel with a permit outside daylight hours, so a night run is open to it. Two prerequisites come before the fee. The Wyoming Apportioned Plates Manual says the vehicle must be registered at the maximum Wyoming weight before an oversize or overweight permit is bought, and the rule withholds any permit without proof of valid registration and a valid USDOT number. That registration step lives on the Wyoming IRP registration page.

The same move without a permit costs more. W.S. 31-18-805(e) fines excess weight on a sliding scale that reaches $700 for a load between 18,000 and 20,000 pounds over, and W.S. 31-18-804(e) still makes the operator unload the excess and pay the permit fees for the distance already traveled.

Worked example 4: the long single unit and the superload line

Length follows the same foot-mile rule, measured on a single vehicle including its load. A trailer carrying a girder that makes the unit 85 feet long sits 10 feet past the 75-foot line. On a 200-mile route, 10 feet x 3 cents x 200 miles = $60, plus the $25 base, for $85. The overall combination also sets the escorts: on two-lane state routes, section 8(h) calls for two escorts at 110 feet overall, and on the interstate, one rear escort at 150 feet.

Past the Class B and C limits, the permit leaves the port of entry. The Class A (super load) permit covers loads beyond 18 feet wide, 17 feet high, 120 feet long for a combination, or 160,000 pounds gross, and only the Overweight Loads Office in Cheyenne approves it, at (307) 777-4376, weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Loads over 18 feet wide or high need at least 24 hours notice, loads over 26 feet wide are generally kept off state highways 32 feet wide or less, and a route study can take 72 hours or more.

The fee math runs the same, with one more line. W.S. 31-18-804(g) bars a permit for loads over 80 tons, which is 160,000 pounds, until the carrier pays the state's costs to study the route and structures and to send personnel with the move. WYDOT rule chapter 5, section 6(c) sets its analysis trigger at 125 tons (250,000 pounds). Budget for cost recovery from 80 tons, and ask the Overweight Loads Office which applies to your load when you file.

The annual permit for repeat moves

A carrier moving the same equipment often can skip the single trips. The Class D extended-period permit runs up to one year for a vehicle without load or with a non-divisible load within 12 feet wide, 15 feet high, and 75 feet long for a single vehicle. The oversize fee is

$50.00

under W.S. 31-18-804(d), the price of two single trips, so the third trip of the year is where it pays. Overweight Class D permits pay the ton-mile charge on the mileage you declare when you apply, with the same minimum. Class D permits list specific equipment by VIN and are not available for transportable homes.

Next steps before you buy

Wyoming sells permits through the Highway Patrol's online system at wydotpermits.wyo.gov, at ports of entry, and at highway shops for loads within the Class B and C limits. Buy before the wheels touch a Wyoming highway: W.S. 31-18-804(e) requires the permit in advance, though the Patrol can grant permission by phone to run to the nearest permit facility for weighing and measuring. The permit rides in the truck, and any altered word or figure voids it.

For a quick quote: flat fee to 15 feet, three cents per foot per mile past it, six cents per ton per mile for weight, and cost recovery past 80 tons. Compare Wyoming against the same move elsewhere on the oversize permit costs by state table, and see every other credential the state expects at Wyoming trucking permits.

FAQ

How much does a Wyoming oversize permit cost?

W.S. 31-18-804(f) prices a single-trip oversize permit at 25 dollars. A load wider than 15 feet, higher than 15 feet, or a single vehicle longer than 75 feet adds 3 cents for each foot or fraction of a foot over that line, for each mile traveled. A 16 foot 6 inch wide load bills 2 feet over 15, so a 180 mile trip adds 10 dollars 80 cents to the base fee.

How is the Wyoming overweight permit fee calculated?

W.S. 31-18-804(g) charges 6 cents for each ton or fraction of a ton over the W.S. 31-18-802 weight limit, for each mile traveled, and no overweight permit costs less than 40 dollars. A load 10 tons over the limit for 250 miles pays 150 dollars. A load billed at 3 tons pays the 40 dollar minimum until the trip passes 222 miles.

Does Wyoming sell an annual oversize permit?

Yes. The Class D extended-period permit runs up to one year for a vehicle without load or with a non-divisible load within 12 feet wide, 15 feet high, and 75 feet long for a single vehicle. The oversize fee is 50 dollars under W.S. 31-18-804(d), the same as two single trips. Overweight Class D permits pay the 6 cent ton-mile charge on declared mileage with a 40 dollar minimum.

When does a Wyoming oversize load need an escort?

WYDOT Motor Carrier rules chapter 5, section 8 sets the triggers. On two-lane state routes, a load 14 feet wide or wider, 110 feet long or longer, or crossing the centerline takes two escorts, one front and one rear. On the interstate and divided highways, one rear escort starts at 15 feet wide or 150 feet long. Any move over 17 feet high takes a front escort with a height-measuring device, and a rear overhang of 25 feet or more takes a rear escort on every highway.