By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026
MassDOT Highway Division issues oversize and overweight permits through its OASIS web system. Legal limits come from M.G.L. c. 90, ss. 19 and 19A: 102 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches high, 53-foot semitrailers and 80,000 pounds gross. Under 700 CMR 8.00 an irreducible load permit costs $40 per trip or $400 a year, and a superload over 130,000 pounds needing detailed engineering costs $300 per trip. Six holidays are no-move days, with a wider noon-to-noon ban around New Year's Day, Independence Day and Christmas, and the Callahan and Sumner Tunnels in Boston cap height at 12 feet 6 inches.
Massachusetts legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)
- Width
- 8.5 ftM.G.L. c. 90, s. 19 bars a vehicle more than 102 inches wide, including load, from operating without a special permit. The width excludes load-induced tire bulge, mirrors, turn signal lamps, hand-holds and splash and spray suppressant devices, and other approved safety devices may extend no more than 3 inches per side. The MassDOT limits page states the same 8 feet 6 inches no-permit width.
- Height
- 13.5 ftNo vehicle may exceed 13 feet 6 inches including load without a special permit (M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19). Route limits are lower in Boston: the Callahan Tunnel and Sumner Tunnel allow 12 feet 6 inches; the Turnpike, Ted Williams Tunnel, O'Neill Tunnel (I-93) and CANA (City Square) Tunnel allow 13 feet 6 inches. A registered vehicle over 10 feet tall (excluding load) must have its height painted or printed in 4-inch characters on the side or front.
- Gross weight
- 80,000 lbUnder M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19A a two-axle vehicle may weigh up to 46,000 pounds and a vehicle or unit with three or more axles up to 80,000 pounds without a permit, subject to 22,400 pounds per axle (18,000 pounds per axle when axles are spaced less than 6 feet apart) and the bridge formula W = 500(LN/(N-1) + 12N + 36) on any axle group, with two consecutive tandems allowed 34,000 pounds each when the first and last axles are 36 feet or more apart. An idle reduction system adds up to 400 pounds.
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 (700 CMR 8.05(4), Table 1: an irreducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight is $40 per trip or $400 annually; a super load over 130,000 pounds requiring detailed engineering calculations is $300 per single trip; a reducible load permit is $50 for every 1,000 pounds over the federal bridge formula. The regulation (dated 1/31/14) is the fee source; OASIS quotes the fee on each application, and the MassDOT pages publish no other schedule.)
- Annual eligibility
- 700 CMR 8.05(4) sets $400 a year for an irreducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight. Reducible load permits (such as triaxle and construction haulers) are also issued annually under 700 CMR 8.05(1), on MassDOT's Application for Reducible Annual Permit, up to 73,000 pounds on three axles (triaxles up to 77,000 pounds by axle spread), 87,000 pounds on four axles and 99,000 pounds on five or more, only on the designated state highways and through routes in Attachment A, and never above the vehicle's registered weight or GVWR. Adding I-90 (the Mass Pike) to a reducible permit costs 25 percent of the total state roadway permit fee.
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 Massachusetts 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.
- Published thresholds
- MassDOT publishes no width, height or length escort table on its Commercial Truck Permits pages, in 700 CMR 8.00 or on the public OASIS page; escort and police detail conditions are set on each permit issued through OASIS. The one statutory escort rule found is the crane or boom rule in M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19 recorded above.
Escort rules beyond the thresholds
Knowing when you need an escort is half of it. These are the Massachusetts rules on who may run one, what the vehicle has to carry, and how the move is conducted.
- Published thresholds
- MassDOT publishes no width, height or length escort table on its Commercial Truck Permits pages, in 700 CMR 8.00 or on the public OASIS page; escort and police detail conditions are set on each permit issued through OASIS. The one statutory escort rule found is the crane or boom rule in M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19 recorded above.
Conditions attached to every permit
The standing conditions Massachusetts writes into the permit itself, which apply whether or not they are printed on your copy.
- Summary
- Permits issue only for registered vehicles registered for the full gross weight of vehicle and load, on the understanding that the vehicle is insured and meets RMV, DPU and FMCSA requirements; bridge postings must be obeyed; vehicles carrying dangerous articles through Boston must follow 700 CMR 7.00; the permittee is liable for roadway and bridge damage; a denial may be appealed in writing to the Chief Engineer within five working days. Under M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19A a vehicle up to 105 percent of its permit weight is not treated as in violation.
Travel restrictions
- Daylight only
- MassDOT publishes no statewide daylight-only rule; its stated window is travel on State Highways from 12:01 a.m. Monday to noon Saturday, and Sunday from 12:01 a.m. to noon.
- Weekend / holiday
- No permit movements on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day, and none between noon the day before and noon the day after New Year's Day, Independence Day and Christmas.
- Weekly window
- Travel is allowed on State Highways from Monday morning at 12:01 a.m. to noon on Saturday, and Sunday morning from 12:01 a.m. to noon.
- Tunnels and tandems
- Tandem trailers generally run only on I-90 between the New York line and the I-95 interchange in Weston, with four permit parking and breakdown lots (Chicopee, Millbury and two in Weston), and are never allowed in the Sumner, Callahan or Ted Williams Tunnels.
- Daylight hours rule
- MassDOT publishes no statewide daylight-only rule; its stated window is travel on State Highways from 12:01 a.m. Monday to noon Saturday, and Sunday from 12:01 a.m. to noon.
- Weekly window
- Travel is allowed on State Highways from Monday morning at 12:01 a.m. to noon on Saturday, and Sunday morning from 12:01 a.m. to noon.
- Tunnels and tandems
- Tandem trailers generally run only on I-90 between the New York line and the I-95 interchange in Weston, with four permit parking and breakdown lots (Chicopee, Millbury and two in Weston), and are never allowed in the Sumner, Callahan or Ted Williams Tunnels.
Superload and beyond-permit review
Loads past the standard single-trip permit thresholds get individual state review rather than an off-the-shelf permit.
700 CMR 8.05(4) Table 1 prices a super load at weight over 130,000 pounds with detailed engineering calculations required, $300 per single trip.
More Massachusetts permit rules
- Single trip fee note
- 700 CMR 8.05(4), Table 1: an irreducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight is $40 per trip or $400 annually; a super load over 130,000 pounds requiring detailed engineering calculations is $300 per single trip; a reducible load permit is $50 for every 1,000 pounds over the federal bridge formula. The regulation (dated 1/31/14) is the fee source; OASIS quotes the fee on each application, and the MassDOT pages publish no other schedule.
- Annual permit eligibility
- 700 CMR 8.05(4) sets $400 a year for an irreducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight. Reducible load permits (such as triaxle and construction haulers) are also issued annually under 700 CMR 8.05(1), on MassDOT's Application for Reducible Annual Permit, up to 73,000 pounds on three axles (triaxles up to 77,000 pounds by axle spread), 87,000 pounds on four axles and 99,000 pounds on five or more, only on the designated state highways and through routes in Attachment A, and never above the vehicle's registered weight or GVWR. Adding I-90 (the Mass Pike) to a reducible permit costs 25 percent of the total state roadway permit fee.
- Annual permit details: irreducible annual: covers
- Irreducible load exceeding any legal limit for size and weight
- Annual permit details: reducible annual: covers
- Overweight reducible loads on designated state highways and through routes
- Annual permit details: reducible annual: fee
- $50 per 1,000 pounds over the federal bridge formula; I-90 added at 25 percent of the total state roadway permit
- Annual permit details: reducible annual: conditions
- Skid chains carried November 1 through May 1; no movement on large areas of hard packed snow or ice or during a snowstorm; the list of designated ways must be carried with the permit; the permit is revoked for at least 90 days after a second overweight conviction within 12 months.
- Escort notes: published thresholds
- MassDOT publishes no width, height or length escort table on its Commercial Truck Permits pages, in 700 CMR 8.00 or on the public OASIS page; escort and police detail conditions are set on each permit issued through OASIS. The one statutory escort rule found is the crane or boom rule in M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19 recorded above.
- Escort notes: flagging
- A crane or boom extending more than 4 feet beyond the bed must show a red light or red flag at its rear end.
- Permit conditions: summary
- Permits issue only for registered vehicles registered for the full gross weight of vehicle and load, on the understanding that the vehicle is insured and meets RMV, DPU and FMCSA requirements; bridge postings must be obeyed; vehicles carrying dangerous articles through Boston must follow 700 CMR 7.00; the permittee is liable for roadway and bridge damage; a denial may be appealed in writing to the Chief Engineer within five working days. Under M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19A a vehicle up to 105 percent of its permit weight is not treated as in violation.
| Name | Detail |
|---|---|
| Reducible Annual Permit | Annual overweight permit for reducible loads (triaxles, construction and similar haulers) on designated state highways; application form on OASIS. |
The Massachusetts permit office
- Apply or log in (OASIS (Oversize Overweight Permitting and Routing Application))
- oasis.massdot.state.ma.us
- Address
- MassDOT Truck Permit Office, 668 South Avenue, Weston, MA 02493 (westbound on the Mass Pike, next to the State Police barracks)
- [email protected]
- Note
- The MassDOT permit pages also list [email protected], labeled Trip and Fuel Permits; that address belongs to the RMV IRP unit, which sells trip and fuel permits, not oversize permits.
Legal limits before you need a permit
Massachusetts publishes its no-permit width, height, length and weight limits in statute. Width and height follow the national pattern. Length depends on the configuration: a semitrailer or a trailer in a tractor-trailer unit has its own cap and no overall limit applies to the combination, while tandem trailers each have a shorter cap.
Weight is where Massachusetts stands out. The single-axle limit is higher than the common national figure, axles spaced closely together get a lower per-axle limit, and every axle group answers to the bridge formula. A small tolerance over the permit weight is not treated as a violation. The limits and axle rows each carry their statute.
How the permit fees work
The fees come from a MassDOT regulation, not a web page, and they split three ways. An irreducible load pays a flat fee per trip or a flat annual fee. A reducible load pays a set amount for every thousand pounds over the federal bridge formula. A superload past the regulation's weight line, the kind that needs detailed engineering calculations, pays its own per-trip fee.
OASIS quotes the fee on each application, and the MassDOT pages publish no other schedule. The fee schedule below carries each line from the regulation's own table.
The Reducible Annual Permit
Triaxle and construction haulers usually run on the Reducible Annual Permit. It raises the gross weight by axle count, runs only on the designated state highways and through routes listed with it, and never above the truck's registered weight or rating. Adding the Mass Pike costs a share of the state roadway fee.
The conditions are strict. Skid chains ride along through the winter season, the truck may not move on packed snow or ice or in a snowstorm, the list of designated ways travels with the permit, and a second overweight conviction inside a year revokes it for a set period.
Escorts
MassDOT publishes no width, height or length escort table on its permit pages, in its permit regulation or on the public OASIS page. Escort and police detail conditions are written onto each permit OASIS issues, so read the permit itself. The one statutory escort rule is for cranes and booms that project well past the truck body: another vehicle must follow right behind the projecting end, and a shorter projection needs a red flag or light.
When and where oversize loads can move
State highways are open to permit loads from early Monday to Saturday noon, and Sunday morning until noon. Six holidays are no-move days, and New Year's Day, Independence Day and Christmas carry a noon-to-noon blackout around them.
Boston adds route limits. The Callahan and Sumner Tunnels cap height below the statewide limit, tandem trailers are barred from the Boston tunnels, and hazardous cargo and cargo tankers are barred from the tunnels and restricted from downtown by day. MassDOT publishes no statewide daylight-only rule and no wind rule, so this page records neither.
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 Massachusetts permit stack, see Massachusetts trucking permits.