By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 28, 2026
MnDOT issues oversize and overweight permits for state trunk highways, U.S. highways and the interstate through its online permit system; county and city roads need the local road authority's own approval. Legal limits are 8 feet 6 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches high, 75 feet for combinations, and 80,000 pounds. A single-trip permit is $15 for 7 days, plus a per-mile damage assessment fee when axle groups are overweight. Loads over 16 feet wide or high, over 150 feet long, or over 250,000 pounds are superloads.
Minnesota legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)
- Width
- 8.5 ft102 inches (8 feet 6 inches), exclusive of rearview mirrors or load securement devices extending up to 3 inches on each side.
- Height
- 13.5 ft13 feet 6 inches on all roads and highways; double-deck buses up to 14 feet 3 inches with an annual permit.
- Length: Note
- Lengths include front and rear overhang. A semitrailer over 48 feet may not exceed 43 feet from kingpin to the center of the rear axle group. No more than two commercial vehicles may run in combination except 28 foot 6 inch twin trailers on designated twin-trailer routes.
- Axle limits lb: note
- 10-ton route limits: 10,000 pounds per wheel, 20,000 pounds per single axle, 34,000 pounds per tandem group, 80,000 pounds for a combination with five or more properly spaced axles. All paved routes are 10-ton routes unless posted lower; unpaved routes are 9-ton routes (18,000 pound single axle). All axle groups must also meet the gross weight schedule in Minn. Stat. 169.824.
- Off interstate limits
- All paved routes are 10-ton routes unless posted with a lower limit, and unpaved routes are 9-ton routes (9,000 pounds per wheel, 18,000 pounds per single axle, 34,000 pounds per tandem, 80,000 pounds gross) unless posted lower. Seasonal spring load restrictions cut axle weights further, and bridges rated below the legal limit carry posted gross weight limits.
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
- $15 (A single-trip permit is $15 and valid for 7 days for individual trips of non-divisible loads (Minn. Stat. 169.86, subd. 5(a)). An oversize and overweight single trip needs route approval and adds a damage assessment fee: the per-mile cost factors of each overweight axle group are added together and multiplied by the miles traveled. A job permit for like loads on one route with the same power unit is $36 for 60 days, plus the damage fee times the number of moves for overweight loads.)
- Annual permit
- $120 (There is no single general-purpose annual permit. Most oversize annual permits (construction equipment and supplies, mobile cranes, manufactured homes, commercial boat haulers, double-deck buses, new empty trailers) are $120 for up to 12 months (Minn. Stat. 169.86, subd. 5(d)); overweight versions of those permits are priced by gross weight on the annual overweight schedule, from $200 at 90,000 pounds or less to $900 at 145,001 to 155,000 pounds. Commodity permits have their own fees, from $60 to $850.)
- Annual eligibility
- Annual oversize permits cover up to 16 feet wide, 15 feet high, and 110 feet long for construction equipment, machinery and supplies, manufactured homes, and commercial boat hauling (12 feet wide, 14 feet high, 75 feet long for mobile cranes), with route approval required. The oversize and overweight versions allow up to 155,000 pounds. Annual permits are valid on state roads, highways, and the interstate unless otherwise noted.
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 Minnesota 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.
- Escort driver certification
- Escort drivers must hold current Minnesota pilot car certification under Minn. Stat. 299D.085 (an initial 8-hour class and exam; classes run through Hennepin Technical College), under the Pilot Car Escort Rules in Minnesota Rules chapter 7455. Holders of Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, or Washington certification may escort in Minnesota if they meet Minnesota insurance, driver, vehicle, signage, lighting, and safety equipment requirements.
Escort rules beyond the thresholds
Knowing when you need an escort is half of it. These are the Minnesota rules on who may run one, what the vehicle has to carry, and how the move is conducted.
- Certification
- Escort drivers must hold current Minnesota pilot car certification under Minn. Stat. 299D.085 (an initial 8-hour class and exam; classes run through Hennepin Technical College), under the Pilot Car Escort Rules in Minnesota Rules chapter 7455. Holders of Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, or Washington certification may escort in Minnesota if they meet Minnesota insurance, driver, vehicle, signage, lighting, and safety equipment requirements.
Conditions attached to every permit
The standing conditions Minnesota writes into the permit itself, which apply whether or not they are printed on your copy.
- Carried in vehicle
- The driver must carry a paper or legible electronic copy of the permit and its attachments, including the Minnesota General Provisions for oversize and overweight loads.
- Void conditions
- A permit is void if altered or duplicated, when actual dimensions or axle weights exceed the permit, when off route, or when the load description misrepresents the load.
- Local roads
- A MnDOT permit is valid on 10-ton paved trunk highways, U.S. highways, and interstates only. MnDOT cannot approve county or local roads; the permit holder must get approval from the local agency.
Travel restrictions
- Daylight only
- Minnesota does not impose a general daylight-only rule: the 2026 Resource Book states permit travel hours are generally unrestricted except for rush hour, night-travel, summer weekend, and holiday rules, or as the permit specifies. Loads over 16 feet wide in the Twin Cities 7-county metro must move at night, midnight to 5 a.m. Monday to Friday.
- Curfews
- Rush hour, 6:00 to 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday in the Twin Cities and Duluth metro areas, for loads over 14 feet 6 inches wide or 110 feet long.
- Weekend / holiday
- Loads over 12 feet 6 inches wide or 110 feet long may not move from 2 p.m. the day before to 2 a.m. the day after New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, during the fishing opener weekend, or from 4 to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Sundays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day (the 2026 schedule runs May 29 to August 31). Overweight-only loads are not restricted on holidays unless the permit says so. The Resource Book's travel-hours table describes the summer window as Friday through Sunday; MnDOT's 2026 holiday page lists Fridays and Sundays.
- Daylight hours rule
- Minnesota does not impose a general daylight-only rule: the 2026 Resource Book states permit travel hours are generally unrestricted except for rush hour, night-travel, summer weekend, and holiday rules, or as the permit specifies. Loads over 16 feet wide in the Twin Cities 7-county metro must move at night, midnight to 5 a.m. Monday to Friday.
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 any vehicle or load over 16 feet wide, over 16 feet high, over 150 feet long, or over 250,000 pounds gross vehicle weight.
Applications go through the Minnesota SUPERLOAD Permit System, with heavy haul permit technicians available for preliminary reviews and route feasibility studies. MnDOT may require a physical route survey, done by the driver or a Minnesota-certified escort no more than 14 days before the move, Coordination with the owner of any overhead power line or cable to be lifted must be completed before the permit issues, and any traffic signal or light pole work needs a MnDOT-approved certified electrician.
More Minnesota permit rules
- Single trip fee note
- A single-trip permit is $15 and valid for 7 days for individual trips of non-divisible loads (Minn. Stat. 169.86, subd. 5(a)). An oversize and overweight single trip needs route approval and adds a damage assessment fee: the per-mile cost factors of each overweight axle group are added together and multiplied by the miles traveled. A job permit for like loads on one route with the same power unit is $36 for 60 days, plus the damage fee times the number of moves for overweight loads.
- Annual permit fee note
- There is no single general-purpose annual permit. Most oversize annual permits (construction equipment and supplies, mobile cranes, manufactured homes, commercial boat haulers, double-deck buses, new empty trailers) are $120 for up to 12 months (Minn. Stat. 169.86, subd. 5(d)); overweight versions of those permits are priced by gross weight on the annual overweight schedule, from $200 at 90,000 pounds or less to $900 at 145,001 to 155,000 pounds. Commodity permits have their own fees, from $60 to $850.
- Annual permit eligibility
- Annual oversize permits cover up to 16 feet wide, 15 feet high, and 110 feet long for construction equipment, machinery and supplies, manufactured homes, and commercial boat hauling (12 feet wide, 14 feet high, 75 feet long for mobile cranes), with route approval required. The oversize and overweight versions allow up to 155,000 pounds. Annual permits are valid on state roads, highways, and the interstate unless otherwise noted.
- Escort notes: certification
- Escort drivers must hold current Minnesota pilot car certification under Minn. Stat. 299D.085 (an initial 8-hour class and exam; classes run through Hennepin Technical College), under the Pilot Car Escort Rules in Minnesota Rules chapter 7455. Holders of Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, or Washington certification may escort in Minnesota if they meet Minnesota insurance, driver, vehicle, signage, lighting, and safety equipment requirements.
- Escort notes: additional escorts
- MnDOT may require additional escorts when needed to protect public safety or the roadway, and must state in the permit how many and whether they must be licensed peace officers.
- Escort notes: convoys
- Convoying permit vehicles is prohibited unless the permit says otherwise; permit vehicles should keep at least 15 minutes apart, and an escort may not escort more than one overdimensional load at a time unless the permit allows it.
- Permit conditions: carried in vehicle
- The driver must carry a paper or legible electronic copy of the permit and its attachments, including the Minnesota General Provisions for oversize and overweight loads.
- Permit conditions: void conditions
- A permit is void if altered or duplicated, when actual dimensions or axle weights exceed the permit, when off route, or when the load description misrepresents the load.
- Permit conditions: local roads
- A MnDOT permit is valid on 10-ton paved trunk highways, U.S. highways, and interstates only. MnDOT cannot approve county or local roads; the permit holder must get approval from the local agency.
- Permit conditions: registered weight
- The vehicle's registered weight must meet or exceed the gross weight on the permit; register the weight with DVS Prorate before moving.
| Component | Applies to | Fee USD |
|---|---|---|
| Annual overweight permit, gross vehicle weight 90,000 lb or less | Oversize and/or overweight annual permits for construction equipment, mobile cranes, and commercial boat hauling (up to 155,000 lb) | 200 |
| Annual overweight permit, gross vehicle weight 90,001 to 100,000 lb | Oversize and/or overweight annual permits for construction equipment, mobile cranes, and commercial boat hauling (up to 155,000 lb) | 300 |
| Annual overweight permit, gross vehicle weight 100,001 to 110,000 lb | Oversize and/or overweight annual permits for construction equipment, mobile cranes, and commercial boat hauling (up to 155,000 lb) | 400 |
| Annual overweight permit, gross vehicle weight 110,001 to 120,000 lb | Oversize and/or overweight annual permits for construction equipment, mobile cranes, and commercial boat hauling (up to 155,000 lb) | 500 |
| Annual overweight permit, gross vehicle weight 120,001 to 130,000 lb | Oversize and/or overweight annual permits for construction equipment, mobile cranes, and commercial boat hauling (up to 155,000 lb) | 600 |
| Annual overweight permit, gross vehicle weight 130,001 to 140,000 lb | Oversize and/or overweight annual permits for construction equipment, mobile cranes, and commercial boat hauling (up to 155,000 lb) | 700 |
| Annual overweight permit, gross vehicle weight 140,001 to 145,000 lb | Oversize and/or overweight annual permits for construction equipment, mobile cranes, and commercial boat hauling (up to 155,000 lb) | 800 |
| Annual overweight permit, gross vehicle weight 145,001 to 155,000 lb | Oversize and/or overweight annual permits for construction equipment, mobile cranes, and commercial boat hauling (up to 155,000 lb) | 900 |
| Oversize-only annual permit | Construction equipment and supplies, mobile cranes, manufactured homes and storage buildings, commercial boat haulers, double-deck buses, new empty trailers | 120 |
| Tow truck annual permit | All tow trucks owned by the applicant when towing a disabled vehicle to repair or safekeeping | 300 |
| Forest products annual permit | Six or more axles, raw or unfinished forest products to 90,000 lb (99,000 lb in the winter increase season) | 300 |
| Livestock annual permit | Six or more axles, livestock only, to 88,000 lb; no interstate travel | 200 |
| Special farm products or road construction materials annual permit, six or more axles | Up to 90,000 lb (99,000 lb in the winter increase season); no interstate travel | 300 |
| Special farm products or road construction materials annual permit, seven or more axles | Up to 97,000 lb (99,000 lb in the winter increase season); no interstate travel | 500 |
| Name |
|---|
| Harvest season increase: 10 percent above legal weights for the first haul from the field to the first unloading point on U.S. and Minnesota highways, from the start of harvest to November 30 ($60) |
| Winter increase: 10 percent over legal weights on interstate highways ($60); no permit is needed for the 10 percent increase on Minnesota and U.S. highways, and the dates vary with the freezing index |
| Snow plow: blades up to 10 feet wide from October 1 to April 1 ($60) |
| Spring load restriction permits: over legal gross weight on state trunk and U.S. highways during spring restrictions, with every axle group held to legal axle weights |
The Minnesota permit office
- Apply or log in (Minnesota online permit system (mn.gotpermits.com): order annual, seasonal, or single-trip permits; superload applications go through the Minnesota SUPERLOAD Permit System at the same address)
- mn.gotpermits.com
Minnesota's legal size and weight limits
Anything past the legal width, height, length or gross weight needs a permit. Minnesota also rates its roads: paved routes are 10-ton routes unless posted lower, unpaved routes are 9-ton routes, and spring load restrictions cut axle weights further. A truck legal on a trunk highway can be overweight on a township road in April.
Length limits depend on configuration, and a long semitrailer carries a kingpin-to-rear-axle limit of its own. Every axle group also has to meet the gross weight schedule in Minn. Stat. 169.824.
How Minnesota prices a permit
The base price is flat and the weight charge is by the mile. A single trip permit and a job permit each carry a set fee. When axle groups run overweight, MnDOT adds a damage assessment: each overweight group's per-mile factor comes from a table by axle spacing and weight, the factors are added together, and the total is multiplied by the miles traveled. Heavier groups cost more per mile, and each table stops at a weight above which no permit issues.
Annual overweight permits are priced by gross weight in steps, while oversize-only annual permits carry one flat fee.
Escorts, curfews and travel bans
Escort rules split by road type. On a multi-lane divided road a very wide or long load takes one certified rear escort; on an undivided road the same load takes front and rear escorts, and a load crossing the centerline adds a licensed peace officer. Escort drivers need Minnesota pilot car certification, though several other states' certificates are accepted.
Timing rules are stricter than most states. Wide or long loads stay off Twin Cities and Duluth roads at rush hour, the widest loads in the metro move only at night, and loads above the holiday threshold cannot move around the major holidays, on fishing opener weekend, or on summer Friday and Sunday evenings.
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 Minnesota permit stack, see Minnesota trucking permits.