By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 6, 2026
Missouri oversize and overweight permits are issued by MoDOT Motor Carrier Services online only, through MoDOT Carrier Express. Legal limits are 8 feet 6 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches high (14 feet on the Interstate and designated highways), 45 feet for a single unit and 80,000 lbs gross. A single-trip permit costs $15, plus $20 for each 10,000 lbs over legal gross weight when overweight. Routine permits reach 16 feet wide, 16 feet high, 150 feet long and 160,000 lbs; past that a load is a superload with a $250 feasibility fee and bridge analysis. Annual blanket permits run $128 to $624.
Missouri legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)
- Height
- 13.5 ft13 feet 6 inches on most highways; 14 feet on the Interstate, designated routes and within 10 air miles of them, and for vehicles transporting motor vehicles (RSMo 304.170.2).
- Gross weight
- 80,000 lb80,000 lbs (40 tons) on Missouri highways, subject to bridge postings below that.
- Length: Note
- A tractor-semitrailer has no overall length limit on the Interstate, designated highways and within 10 miles of them, but the trailer and load may not exceed 53 feet; farther away the combination is limited to 60 feet. A single unit is 45 feet. Doubles trailers are 28 feet each on the Interstate system (28 feet 6 inches for trailers in service in 1982). Other combinations are 65 feet on primary and Interstate highways and 55 feet elsewhere (RSMo 304.170).
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 at legal weight costs $15. Overweight single trips add $20 for each 10,000 lbs over legal gross weight. Loads over 16 feet wide, 16 feet high or 150 feet long add a $250 movement feasibility fee, and loads over 160,000 lbs add a bridge and roadway analysis fee of $425, $625 or $925 depending on trip length.)
- Annual permit
- $128 (The $128 figure is the single-commodity annual blanket. A multiple-commodity blanket costs $400, well drillers and concrete pump trucks $300, and emergency response $624. All are prorated quarterly.)
- Annual eligibility
- Annual blanket permits cover loads up to 12 feet 4 inches wide and 150 feet long, depending on the commodity. Legal-weight blankets cover mobile homes, pipes, poles, beams, hay, farm implements, construction equipment, implements of husbandry, multiple commodities, like objects such as boats and portable buildings, a 100-mile radius blanket for farmers and implement dealers up to 14 feet 6 inches wide, and longer combination vehicles near the western border. Overweight blankets cover emergency response, concrete pump trucks and well drill rigs.
Single-trip permit fee schedule
Check the applies-to column and source for each fee component. A partial schedule does not establish the total charge.
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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.
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 rules beyond the thresholds
Knowing when you need an escort is half of it. These are the Missouri rules on who may run one, what the vehicle has to carry, and how the move is conducted.
Travel restrictions
- Daylight only
- Oversize loads only (Oversize loads move from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Overweight-only loads may move continuously. Single-trip permits allow night movement of loads up to 12 feet 6 inches wide (14 feet for hay) at legal height and no more than 110 feet long. Since March 31, 2025 loads up to 16 feet wide may travel on weekends.)
- Curfews
- Additional curfews apply in the Lake of the Ozarks, Branson, Kansas City, Springfield and St. Louis areas.
- Weekend / holiday
- No oversize or overweight movement during holiday periods under 7 CSR 10-25.020(1)(I); each period begins at noon and ends 30 minutes before sunrise. The 2026 periods: May 22-26 (Memorial Day), July 2-6 (Independence Day), September 4-8 (Labor Day), November 25-27 (Thanksgiving), December 24-28 (Christmas) and December 31 to January 4 (New Year).
- Daylight hours rule
- Oversize loads move from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Overweight-only loads may move continuously. Single-trip permits allow night movement of loads up to 12 feet 6 inches wide (14 feet for hay) at legal height and no more than 110 feet long. Since March 31, 2025 loads up to 16 feet wide may travel on weekends.
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 over 16 feet wide, over 16 feet high, over 150 feet long or over 160,000 lbs gross.
Apply online in MoDOT Carrier Express about two weeks ahead. MoDOT runs a structure analysis and feasibility study, then requires a route survey once the route is approved.
More Missouri permit rules
- Single trip fee note
- A single trip at legal weight costs $15. Overweight single trips add $20 for each 10,000 lbs over legal gross weight. Loads over 16 feet wide, 16 feet high or 150 feet long add a $250 movement feasibility fee, and loads over 160,000 lbs add a bridge and roadway analysis fee of $425, $625 or $925 depending on trip length.
- Annual permit fee note
- The $128 figure is the single-commodity annual blanket. A multiple-commodity blanket costs $400, well drillers and concrete pump trucks $300, and emergency response $624. All are prorated quarterly.
- Annual permit eligibility
- Annual blanket permits cover loads up to 12 feet 4 inches wide and 150 feet long, depending on the commodity. Legal-weight blankets cover mobile homes, pipes, poles, beams, hay, farm implements, construction equipment, implements of husbandry, multiple commodities, like objects such as boats and portable buildings, a 100-mile radius blanket for farmers and implement dealers up to 14 feet 6 inches wide, and longer combination vehicles near the western border. Overweight blankets cover emergency response, concrete pump trucks and well drill rigs.
- Escort notes: cumulative
- Escort requirements are cumulative across dimensions, but no more than two front and two rear escorts are required for one load except for unusually complex loads. Law enforcement escorts may be required as needed.
- Escort notes: house moves
- All house moves need front and rear escorts on two-lane and undivided highways, a rear escort on divided highways, and law enforcement on all highways.
| Component | Fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Annual blanket, single commodity | $128 | Prorated quarterly. |
| Annual blanket, well drillers and concrete pump trucks | $300 | Prorated quarterly. |
| Annual blanket, multiple commodity | $400 | Prorated quarterly. |
| Annual blanket, emergency response | $624 | Prorated quarterly. |
The Missouri permit office
- Apply or log in (MoDOT Carrier Express; all OSOW permits are applied for online, except house moves, which go through MoDOT district offices)
- modot.org/mce
Legal limits before you need a permit
Width, height and length come from RSMo 304.170 and axle weights from RSMo 304.180. A tractor-semitrailer has no overall length limit near the Interstate and designated system, but the trailer has one, and the combination is capped farther away.
Single-trip permits
Every single trip starts with the base fee. Overweight loads add a charge for each ten thousand pounds over legal gross. Very wide, tall or long loads add a movement feasibility fee, and the heaviest add a bridge and roadway analysis fee that rises with trip length.
Annual blanket permits
Blankets cover repeat moves of the same kind of load. Each type has its own price, prorated by quarter.
Escort requirements
Missouri sets escorts by width, length, height and weight, and they add up across dimensions, with a cap on how many front and rear escorts one load needs. Two-lane highways usually need a front escort that divided highways do not. Law enforcement joins the widest, longest and tallest loads.
When oversize loads can move
Oversize loads travel from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset, while overweight-only loads may run around the clock. Night permits are available for narrower, shorter loads. Holiday periods and city curfews apply on top.
Superloads
A load past MoDOT's routine width, height, length or weight is a superload. Apply about two weeks ahead; MoDOT checks structures and feasibility, then requires a route survey.
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 Missouri permit stack, see Missouri trucking permits.