By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026
Kansas oversize and overweight permits are issued by the Kansas Department of Transportation through K-TRIPS, the Kansas Truck Routing and Intelligent Permitting System, with every fee fixed by K.S.A. 8-1911. Legal limits are 8 feet 6 inches wide, 14 feet high, 65 feet for most combinations (59 feet 6 inches for a semitrailer pulled by a truck tractor) and 80,000 pounds gross on the Interstate. A single-trip (standard) permit costs $40 and runs seven days up to 16 feet 6 inches wide, 126 feet long, 18 feet high and 150,000 pounds; an annual permit costs $200 up to 16 feet 6 inches wide, 126 feet long, 15 feet high and 120,000 pounds. Loads over 150,000 pounds are superloads and loads over 16 feet 6 inches wide or 18 feet high are large structures, each $200 single-trip with added review. Loads over 14 feet wide need front and rear escorts, and overwidth or overlength loads move in daylight only.
Kansas legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)
- Width
- 8.5 ftK.S.A. 8-1902(a): total outside width of any vehicle or its load may not exceed 8 1/2 feet. Hay bales may load to 12 feet wide off the national network (8-1902(d)), and a motor home or travel trailer may exceed 102 inches only by an appurtenance that extends no farther than the mirrors (8-1902(f)).
- Height
- 14 ftK.S.A. 8-1904(a): no vehicle including its load may exceed 14 feet, except that cylindrically shaped hay bales may be loaded to 14 1/2 feet.
- Gross weight
- 80,000 lbK.S.A. 8-1909(a)(2): the bridge-formula table may not authorize more than 80,000 pounds gross on the interstate system. A vehicle fueled primarily by natural gas may exceed the limits up to 82,000 pounds by the weight difference between its natural gas tank and fueling system and a comparable diesel system (8-1909(e)).
- Length: Note
- K.S.A. 8-1904: a single motor vehicle and its load may not exceed 45 feet excluding bumpers (b); no combination may exceed 65 feet (c); a semitrailer pulled by a truck tractor may not exceed 59 1/2 feet, and each semitrailer or trailer in a truck tractor, semitrailer and trailer combination may not exceed 28 1/2 feet, with no length limit on the truck tractor itself (d). Exceptions: stinger-steered automobile transporters 80 feet and stinger-steered boat transporters or custom-harvest truck and trailer combinations 75 feet, exclusive of overhang (g); driveaway saddlemount combinations 97 feet (h); a truck tractor towing a house trailer 97 feet (f); custom-harvester doubles April through November 81 1/2 feet of property-carrying units (i); towaway trailer transporters 82 feet (j); daytime structural loads such as poles and pipe up to 85 feet without a permit (e). K.S.A. 8-1905: loads may extend no more than 3 feet beyond the front wheels or bumper, and vehicle transporters may carry loads extending 4 feet in front and 6 feet to the rear.
- Off interstate limits
- Off the interstate system the K.S.A. 8-1909(a) table governs gross weight by axle count and spacing without the 80,000 pound cap: it runs to 85,500 pounds for seven axles spread 60 feet, and two consecutive tandem sets may carry 34,000 pounds each when the first and last axles are 36 feet or more apart. Dump combinations hauling sand, gravel, rock, dirt, fill or highway salt to a construction or maintenance site are exempt from the table except for triple and quad axle weights (8-1909(a)(3)).
Axle weight limits
Gross weight is one ceiling; each axle group carries its own limit, and a load can be legal on gross weight yet overweight on an axle. Exceeding any of these needs an overweight permit.
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Permit fees
- Single trip
- $40 (K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(A): $40 for each single-trip permit on and after January 1, 2020. The KDOT permit price list prices the Overdimension Oversize and/or Overweight permit at $40. Large structure and superload single trips are $200 each (8-1911(f)(2)(B) and (C)). A standard permit is good for seven days and allows repeat trips on the same route with similar loads inside that window (K.A.R. 36-1-38(b)).)
- Annual permit
- $200 (K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(E): $200 for each annual permit. The KDOT price list shows the Annual Oversize Only permit at $200 and leaves the other annual types (oversize and/or overweight, overweight agricultural, tow truck, cotton, farm implement dealer, ocean container, oil service rig) without a printed price.)
- Annual eligibility
- An annual permit covers continuous daylight movement of oversize or overweight loads, special mobile equipment, manufactured houses or modular building sections, up to 16 feet 6 inches wide, 126 feet long and 15 feet high, with axle limits of 22,000 pounds (single non-drive), 24,000 pounds (single drive), 45,000 pounds (tandem), 60,000 pounds (triple) and 65,000 pounds (quad or more) and 120,000 pounds gross (K.A.R. 36-1-37(a)). It is assigned to one power unit, lasts one year, cannot be transferred to another company or vehicle, and allows route deviation only at origin and destination on the safest, shortest and most direct roads (K.A.R. 36-1-38(a)).
Single-trip permit fee schedule
A single-trip permit stacks a base fee with a weight-tiered maintenance fee, and the heaviest loads add a supervision fee.
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To price a specific load, try the oversize permit cost estimator, or compare every state on the national oversize permit table.
To see how these fees combine on real loads, walk through Kansas oversize permit cost worked examples.
Escort thresholds
What the escort itself has to be
Hitting the threshold is only half of it. The escort vehicle, its equipment, its driver's certification and where it rides are all regulated, and the carrier is the one holding the permit when they are not met.
- Four lane rule
- The 1997 common-requirements rule, K.A.R. 36-1-36(f), still in the regulations, says that on highways of four or more lanes only superloads and large structures need a (rear) escort and other loads over 14 feet wide need none, while the 2020 escort rule, K.A.R. 36-45-8, states its counts without a highway-class split. Both are in force as printed; check the escort conditions printed on the permit.
- Escort provider registration
- Every escort vehicle service provider must register with KDOT each year, listing each escort vehicle by VIN and plate and attesting that each operator holds a valid license, finished an escort training course from a state KDOT accepts, has no DUI or reckless driving conviction in the last 36 months, and that each escort vehicle carries the required insurance (K.A.R. 36-45-2).
- How far ahead or behind the escort rides
- Inside city limits the lead escort stays within 500 feet of the load; outside city limits within 1,000 feet. The rear escort stays within 500 feet (K.A.R. 36-45-8(h)).
- Communication
- Each escort operator must talk by two-way radio with the load driver and every other escort (K.A.R. 36-45-8(i)).
Escort rules beyond the thresholds
Knowing when you need an escort is half of it. These are the Kansas rules on who may run one, what the vehicle has to carry, and how the move is conducted.
- Four lane rule
- The 1997 common-requirements rule, K.A.R. 36-1-36(f), still in the regulations, says that on highways of four or more lanes only superloads and large structures need a (rear) escort and other loads over 14 feet wide need none, while the 2020 escort rule, K.A.R. 36-45-8, states its counts without a highway-class split. Both are in force as printed; check the escort conditions printed on the permit.
- Escort provider registration
- Every escort vehicle service provider must register with KDOT each year, listing each escort vehicle by VIN and plate and attesting that each operator holds a valid license, finished an escort training course from a state KDOT accepts, has no DUI or reckless driving conviction in the last 36 months, and that each escort vehicle carries the required insurance (K.A.R. 36-45-2).
- Spacing
- Inside city limits the lead escort stays within 500 feet of the load; outside city limits within 1,000 feet. The rear escort stays within 500 feet (K.A.R. 36-45-8(h)).
- Communication
- Each escort operator must talk by two-way radio with the load driver and every other escort (K.A.R. 36-45-8(i)).
Conditions attached to every permit
The standing conditions Kansas writes into the permit itself, which apply whether or not they are printed on your copy.
- Non divisible
- Permits go to nondivisible loads: a load that would lose its intended use or value, or take more than eight work hours to dismantle, if split (K.A.R. 36-1-35(i)). Multiple-item loads may not exceed legal axle or gross weights (K.A.R. 36-1-36(j)).
- Registration prerequisite
- The power unit must be registered for at least the total gross weight moved under the permit (K.S.A. 8-1911(c)).
- Carry requirement
- The permit must ride in the vehicle and be open to inspection by any police officer or permitting agent (K.S.A. 8-1911(e)).
- Convoy
- At most two permitted loads may travel in convoy, no more than 1,000 feet apart (K.A.R. 36-1-36(d)).
- Utilities
- Carriers of loads more than 17 feet high must notify all affected utilities before moving (K.A.R. 36-1-36(l)(2)).
- Us 83 location reporting
- Loads 14 feet or wider or 126 feet or longer traveling the 131-mile U.S. 83 corridor between the southern Finney County line and the east Thomas County line must share their live location through the KanDrive app, as instructed on the permit (KDOT letter to oversize load carriers, August 2, 2024).
Travel restrictions
- Daylight only
- Yes (Loads over legal width or length may not move between 30 minutes after sunset and 30 minutes before sunrise unless another statute or regulation allows it (K.S.A. 8-1911(m)(1)); KDOT may issue a night permit only for an emergency (K.A.R. 36-1-36(m)(2)). Loads that are only overweight may run 24 hours a day (8-1911(m)(2)).)
- Curfews
- No urban rush-hour curfew was found in K.S.A. 8-1911 or K.A.R. 36-1 as read; route-specific restrictions are written onto each K-TRIPS permit.
- Daylight hours rule
- Loads over legal width or length may not move between 30 minutes after sunset and 30 minutes before sunrise unless another statute or regulation allows it (K.S.A. 8-1911(m)(1)); KDOT may issue a night permit only for an emergency (K.A.R. 36-1-36(m)(2)). Loads that are only overweight may run 24 hours a day (8-1911(m)(2)).
- Weather
- No oversize or overweight load may move when visibility is under one-half mile, in moderate to heavy rain, sleet, snow, fog or smoke, or when the road is slippery from ice, packed snow or rain (K.A.R. 36-1-36(p)). The statute separately bars oversize loads in visibility under one-half mile or on ice, snow pack or drifting snow, and bars overweight-only loads on ice, snow pack or drifting snow (K.S.A. 8-1911(m)).
Superload and beyond-permit review
Loads past the standard single-trip permit thresholds get individual state review rather than an off-the-shelf permit.
A superload is a vehicle carrying a nondivisible load over 150,000 pounds gross, or one in which any axle group exceeds the permit axle limits (K.A.R. 36-1-35(o)). A large structure is any load over 16 feet 6 inches wide or 18 feet high (K.A.R. 36-1-35(h)).
Superload permits are single-trip only and must include a bridge analysis completed by KDOT before the load travels on any Kansas highway; the mover pays for all damage the move causes, and escort companies need KDOT-approved certification (K.A.R. 36-1-38(c)). Large structure permits last 30 calendar days, are not granted on interstates except in extreme cases with KDOT approval and a law enforcement escort, and require the mover to notify utilities and railroads and clear tree trimming or sign removal with the district engineer (K.A.R. 36-1-38(d)).
More Kansas permit rules
- Single trip fee note
- K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(A): $40 for each single-trip permit on and after January 1, 2020. The KDOT permit price list prices the Overdimension Oversize and/or Overweight permit at $40. Large structure and superload single trips are $200 each (8-1911(f)(2)(B) and (C)). A standard permit is good for seven days and allows repeat trips on the same route with similar loads inside that window (K.A.R. 36-1-38(b)).
- Annual permit fee note
- K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(E): $200 for each annual permit. The KDOT price list shows the Annual Oversize Only permit at $200 and leaves the other annual types (oversize and/or overweight, overweight agricultural, tow truck, cotton, farm implement dealer, ocean container, oil service rig) without a printed price.
- Annual permit eligibility
- An annual permit covers continuous daylight movement of oversize or overweight loads, special mobile equipment, manufactured houses or modular building sections, up to 16 feet 6 inches wide, 126 feet long and 15 feet high, with axle limits of 22,000 pounds (single non-drive), 24,000 pounds (single drive), 45,000 pounds (tandem), 60,000 pounds (triple) and 65,000 pounds (quad or more) and 120,000 pounds gross (K.A.R. 36-1-37(a)). It is assigned to one power unit, lasts one year, cannot be transferred to another company or vehicle, and allows route deviation only at origin and destination on the safest, shortest and most direct roads (K.A.R. 36-1-38(a)).
- Annual permit details: covers
- Oversize or overweight loads, special mobile equipment, manufactured houses, or modular sections of buildings, during daylight hours.
- Annual permit details: note
- A permit is valid only when the power unit's registration equals or exceeds the vehicle's total gross weight; when the gross exceeds the top available registration, the maximum registration must be bought (K.S.A. 8-1911(c)).
- Permitted weight notes: allowances
- Axle groups wider than 8 feet 7 inches earn higher permitted weights, stepping up to 24,000 pounds single non-drive, 26,000 pounds single drive, 49,000 pounds tandem, 66,000 pounds triple and 73,000 pounds quad at 10 feet wide or more (K.A.R. 36-1-37(b)(4)). Gross weight on a permit is also capped by the external spacing table from steering axle to last axle, which reaches the 150,000 pound ceiling at 91 feet or more.
- Permitted weight notes: over cap rule
- Standard permits run to 150,000 pounds gross and annual permits to 120,000 pounds. Above 150,000 pounds the move is a superload: single trip only, with a KDOT bridge analysis before travel.
- Escort notes: four lane rule
- The 1997 common-requirements rule, K.A.R. 36-1-36(f), still in the regulations, says that on highways of four or more lanes only superloads and large structures need a (rear) escort and other loads over 14 feet wide need none, while the 2020 escort rule, K.A.R. 36-45-8, states its counts without a highway-class split. Both are in force as printed; check the escort conditions printed on the permit.
- Escort notes: escort provider registration
- Every escort vehicle service provider must register with KDOT each year, listing each escort vehicle by VIN and plate and attesting that each operator holds a valid license, finished an escort training course from a state KDOT accepts, has no DUI or reckless driving conviction in the last 36 months, and that each escort vehicle carries the required insurance (K.A.R. 36-45-2).
- Escort notes: spacing
- Inside city limits the lead escort stays within 500 feet of the load; outside city limits within 1,000 feet. The rear escort stays within 500 feet (K.A.R. 36-45-8(h)).
- Escort notes: communication
- Each escort operator must talk by two-way radio with the load driver and every other escort (K.A.R. 36-45-8(i)).
- Escort notes: traffic control
- Escort operators may stop traffic for up to 15 minutes to let a load cross a closed bridge, turn at a tight intersection, or clear a breakdown; longer stops require notifying law enforcement or the local KDOT office (K.A.R. 36-45-8(g)).
- Escort notes: signs and flags
- Oversize loads carry an OVERSIZE LOAD sign at least 7 feet by 18 inches with 10-inch letters, visible from 500 feet, and red flags on all four corners (K.S.A. 8-1911(l)). Overweight-only loads within legal width and length must not display the OVERSIZE LOAD sign.
- Permit insurance requirements: detail
- As a minimum prerequisite to any KDOT permit, the applicant must carry $500,000 of general liability insurance and $500,000 of auto liability insurance covering bodily injury and damage to any structure or roadway the permitted load travels, written by an insurer authorized in Kansas, in force for the life of the permit. Except for vehicles registered with the KCC, proof of insurance must ride in the permitted vehicle (K.A.R. 36-1-36(i)). Special vehicle combination permits require $500,000 general liability and $50,000 property damage (K.A.R. 36-1-33).
- Permit conditions: non divisible
- Permits go to nondivisible loads: a load that would lose its intended use or value, or take more than eight work hours to dismantle, if split (K.A.R. 36-1-35(i)). Multiple-item loads may not exceed legal axle or gross weights (K.A.R. 36-1-36(j)).
- Permit conditions: registration prerequisite
- The power unit must be registered for at least the total gross weight moved under the permit (K.S.A. 8-1911(c)).
- Permit conditions: carry requirement
- The permit must ride in the vehicle and be open to inspection by any police officer or permitting agent (K.S.A. 8-1911(e)).
- Permit conditions: convoy
- At most two permitted loads may travel in convoy, no more than 1,000 feet apart (K.A.R. 36-1-36(d)).
- Permit conditions: utilities
- Carriers of loads more than 17 feet high must notify all affected utilities before moving (K.A.R. 36-1-36(l)(2)).
- Permit conditions: US 83 location reporting
- Loads 14 feet or wider or 126 feet or longer traveling the 131-mile U.S. 83 corridor between the southern Finney County line and the east Thomas County line must share their live location through the KanDrive app, as instructed on the permit (KDOT letter to oversize load carriers, August 2, 2024).
- Statute note
- Size and weight limits are K.S.A. 8-1902 through 8-1909; permits and fees are K.S.A. 8-1911; KDOT's permit rules are K.A.R. 36-1-35 through 36-1-38 (1997) and its escort rules K.A.R. 36-45 (2020). The K.A.R. text was read in the Secretary of State's 2022 Kansas Administrative Regulations volume because the per-regulation viewer on sos.ks.gov refused automated requests; a regulation amended after that volume would not show here.
| Axle group | Max weight lb |
|---|---|
| Single axle, non-drive (standard and annual permits) | 22,000 |
| Single axle, drive (standard and annual permits) | 24,000 |
| Tandem axle (standard and annual permits) | 45,000 |
| Triple axle (standard and annual permits) | 60,000 |
| Quad or more (standard and annual permits) | 65,000 |
| Tandem axle, special mobile equipment | 49,000 |
| Name | Detail | Fee USD |
|---|---|---|
| Custom combine permit | Issued for May 1 to November 15, per power unit, to custom combine operators towing combine equipment. It allows two combine headers on designated interstates when the vehicle and load are no more than 14 feet wide, not overweight, and moved between 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. | 10 |
| Custom harvester length allowance | From April through November a truck tractor pulling two trailers, or a semitrailer and trailer, carrying custom harvesting equipment for wheat, soybean or milo harvests is exempt from the combination length limit, with property-carrying units up to 81 1/2 feet excluding load. |
The Kansas permit office
- Apply or log in (K-TRIPS (Kansas Truck Routing and Intelligent Permitting System); permits are ordered from a K-TRIPS company account, which also offers chat and call-back help after login)
- k-trips.ksdot.gov
- Note
- The phone number is printed on the K-TRIPS login page itself. KDOT's own website (ksdot.gov) refused both a browser-agent curl and a headless browser with an Akamai Access Denied page during this pass, so no street address or office hours are recorded. Only the transporting company or an authorized permit service may apply, and a permit may be used only by the parties named on it (K.A.R. 36-1-36(a)).
Legal limits before you need a permit
Width, height, and length limits come from K.S.A. 8-1902 through 8-1905, and gross and axle weights from K.S.A. 8-1908 and 8-1909. On the Interstate the bridge table caps gross weight at the federal level; off the Interstate the Kansas table runs higher for trucks with more axles spread farther apart.
Kansas has several length exceptions of its own, including stinger-steered auto and boat transporters, saddlemount driveaway combinations, and custom-harvest doubles.
Single-trip permits
The standard single-trip permit covers most oversize and overweight moves and stays good for a set number of days, with repeat trips allowed on the same route and similar loads inside that window. Loads must be nondivisible, and the power unit must be registered for at least the gross weight moved.
Permitted axle weights rise with axle width, so a wider axle group can carry more under the permit.
The annual permit
An annual permit covers continuous daylight moves of oversize or overweight loads, special mobile equipment, and manufactured or modular building sections within a set envelope of size and weight. It is assigned to one power unit and cannot be transferred. Route deviation is allowed only at origin and destination.
Escort requirements
Escort counts depend on width, height, and whether the load is a superload or large structure. A tall load needs a front escort with a height pole. Escort providers must register with KDOT every year, and each operator must have finished an accepted escort training course.
Two rules overlap on four-lane highways. The older common-requirements rule relaxes escorts there, while the 2020 escort rule states its counts without a highway split. Follow the escort conditions printed on your permit.
When oversize loads can move
Overwidth and overlength loads move only in daylight, with a short margin around sunrise and sunset; overweight-only loads may run around the clock. Kansas has no holiday moratorium. Rain, snow, fog, ice, and low visibility stop permitted moves, and manufactured housing loads stop in high sustained wind.
On the U.S. 83 corridor in western Kansas, wide or long permitted loads must share live location through the KanDrive app.
Superloads and large structures
Kansas sets its superload line high compared with many states. Above it, or with any axle group over the permit limits, the move needs a KDOT bridge analysis before travel, and the mover pays for any damage. Large structures, loads past the standard width or height envelope, stay off the Interstate except in extreme cases and require notice to utilities and railroads.
How to read this page
A value reading "Not confirmed" means we could not verify the figure on an official agency page at review time, so it stays open rather than guessed. Superload moves above the standard permit thresholds get individual review by the state; contact the permit office named on this page. For the rest of the Kansas permit stack, see Kansas trucking permits.