By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 4, 2026
New Hampshire's oversize and overweight permits come from the Department of Transportation's permit office in Concord and are priced by statute at some of the lowest rates in the country: $6 for any over-dimension permit, and $5.50 to $10.50 by gross weight for an overweight one, plus $2 for each 10,000 pounds above 100,000. An annual permit is $115 a unit. Legal limits are 102 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches high, 45 feet for a single unit, a 53-foot semitrailer on approved routes, and 80,000 pounds gross. Permitted oversize moves run in daylight on weekdays only, never on the listed holidays, with a seasonal Saturday-morning window.
New Hampshire legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)
- Width
- 8.5 ftRSA 266:12 bars a vehicle wider than 102 inches including load. Loose hay or fodder may exceed 102 inches when the excess is only the hay (RSA 266:13).
- Height
- 13.5 ftRSA 266:10 caps total height including load at 13 feet 6 inches. Manufactured housing and modular buildings may reach 14 feet 6 inches with a non-police escort above 13 feet 6 inches, and no permit is issued beyond that.
- Gross weight
- 80,000 lbOn the Interstate System (RSA 266:18) a tractor-semitrailer of 5 or more axles over 73,280 pounds is limited to 80,000 pounds including law enforcement tolerances and to the bridge formula on every axle group; 2-axle vehicles are capped at 33,400 pounds and single-unit 3-axle vehicles at 47,500 pounds or the formula. Off the Interstate (RSA 266:18-a) the same 80,000-pound cap applies to 5-axle combinations, single-unit 3-axle trucks may carry 55,000 pounds and 4-axle trucks 60,000, and police must allow a 5 percent tolerance. Vehicles with the state's additional weight certification (RSA 266:18-d) may run up to 99,000 pounds off the Interstate, and RSA 266:18, III extends the non-Interstate limits to unposted sections of I-89, I-93 and I-95 while the federal exemption in 23 U.S.C. 127 lasts.
- Axle limits lb: note
- On the Interstate above 73,280 pounds gross, 20,000 pounds per axle on axles more than 8 feet apart and 17,000 on axles 8 feet apart or less, with the bridge formula table giving 34,000 pounds for two axles 8 feet apart or less. At or under 73,280 pounds gross (Interstate or not), 22,400 pounds per axle on 3-axle single units and on axles 10 feet or more apart, 18,000 on axles under 10 feet apart, and 36,000 on a tandem of a 5-or-more-axle tractor-semitrailer. Two axles less than 40 inches apart count as one.
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
- $6 (RSA 266:22 sets a flat $6 for each permit for over-length, over-width or over-height, or any combination of them. An overweight permit is priced by the gross weight of vehicle and load, from $5.50 up to 50,000 pounds to $10.50 for 90,001 to 100,000 pounds, plus $2 for each additional 10,000 pounds. Tra 304.18 makes every fee nonrefundable and issues permits free to federal, state and local government. Permits cover only state-maintained highways; town roads need the town's permission.)
- Annual eligibility
- A special annual permit covering all types of moves is $115 a unit and runs one year from issue; a permit limited to moves within 100 miles of the holder's home location (inside New Hampshire) is $60 a unit. Tra 304.09 grants annual permits for loads of construction equipment or self-propelled units that exceed legal width or length but stay within 45 feet long (single unit) or 75 feet (tractor, trailer and load), 10 feet 6 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches high and the legally registered weight. Moves beyond the annual envelope need a single-trip or emergency supplemental under the annual permit. Annual permits are valid on class I and class II highways in the permitted area and never for a supermove.
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 New Hampshire 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.
- Additional escorts
- No escort is needed for a load under 12 feet wide, under 90 feet long and with less than 15 feet of rear overhang, provided the load flags are displayed. No more than 2 non-police escorts are required, but State Police escorts are added on top, and the permit office may require more of either.
- Equipment the escort vehicle carries
- Non-police escorts must be compact-car size or larger, registered and inspected, with a top-mounted flashing or strobe amber light visible for 1,000 feet, a two-way radio on the load's frequency, low-beam headlights on, and OVERSIZE LOAD signs at least 5 feet by 12 inches (10-inch black letters on yellow). The load shows 18-inch fluorescent red or orange flags at the extremities, OVERSIZE LOAD signs at least 7 feet by 18 inches front and rear, and a top-mounted amber light on the hauling unit. Convoys are not permitted, and a permitted move must pull over once 7 or more vehicles are queued behind it.
- Police escort
- Night moves for NHDOT construction projects need a State Police escort, booked with 48 hours' notice at 1-800-443-5268 or 603-223-3861, and the carrier hands the escort a hard copy of the permit.
- Manufactured housing
- Manufactured housing, modular buildings and building components follow their own table: 1 non-police escort at 90 feet long, 12 feet wide, over 14 feet 6 inches high or 15 feet of overhang; 2 when 12 feet wide combines with 15 feet of overhang; State Police at 100 feet long or over 14 feet wide. Nothing over 16 feet wide moves, units over 14 feet wide move only Tuesday to Thursday, and no move is allowed when ground wind exceeds 25 miles per hour.
Escort rules beyond the thresholds
Knowing when you need an escort is half of it. These are the New Hampshire rules on who may run one, what the vehicle has to carry, and how the move is conducted.
- Additional escorts
- No escort is needed for a load under 12 feet wide, under 90 feet long and with less than 15 feet of rear overhang, provided the load flags are displayed. No more than 2 non-police escorts are required, but State Police escorts are added on top, and the permit office may require more of either.
- Equipment
- Non-police escorts must be compact-car size or larger, registered and inspected, with a top-mounted flashing or strobe amber light visible for 1,000 feet, a two-way radio on the load's frequency, low-beam headlights on, and OVERSIZE LOAD signs at least 5 feet by 12 inches (10-inch black letters on yellow). The load shows 18-inch fluorescent red or orange flags at the extremities, OVERSIZE LOAD signs at least 7 feet by 18 inches front and rear, and a top-mounted amber light on the hauling unit. Convoys are not permitted, and a permitted move must pull over once 7 or more vehicles are queued behind it.
- Police escort
- Night moves for NHDOT construction projects need a State Police escort, booked with 48 hours' notice at 1-800-443-5268 or 603-223-3861, and the carrier hands the escort a hard copy of the permit.
- Manufactured housing
- Manufactured housing, modular buildings and building components follow their own table: 1 non-police escort at 90 feet long, 12 feet wide, over 14 feet 6 inches high or 15 feet of overhang; 2 when 12 feet wide combines with 15 feet of overhang; State Police at 100 feet long or over 14 feet wide. Nothing over 16 feet wide moves, units over 14 feet wide move only Tuesday to Thursday, and no move is allowed when ground wind exceeds 25 miles per hour.
Conditions attached to every permit
The standing conditions New Hampshire writes into the permit itself, which apply whether or not they are printed on your copy.
- Summary
- Permits are issued only to the registered owner of the hauling unit, only for non-divisible loads (one that would lose its function or value if split, or take more than 8 work hours to dismantle), and only for state-maintained highways and bridges; town and city roads need local permission. A vehicle registered outside New Hampshire cannot get a permit for a move between two New Hampshire points unless it is IRP-registered with New Hampshire on the cab card. The permit (paper or electronic) must be in the vehicle, single-trip permits are valid for 5 business days (10 for a round trip by reverse route), and postings on bridges and highways still apply. NHDOS additional weight certification cannot be combined with an NHDOT OS/OW permit.
Travel restrictions
- Daylight only
- Yes (Oversize moves are limited to daylight, from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset, except supermoves and building moves over 12 feet wide that the permit schedules otherwise. Overweight-only vehicles that travel at normal traffic speed are not restricted by date or time of day.)
- Curfews
- Oversize permits are not valid on weekend days (Tra 304.14(h)). Under the 2026 seasonal program, from April 18 to November 21, 2026, permitted vehicles may also travel on designated routes on Saturdays from 30 minutes before sunrise until noon; from May 30 to August 29, 2026, Saturday travel on I-95 ends at 9 a.m. The Saturday Morning Move option is selected on the permit application.
- Weekend / holiday
- Permits are not valid on New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr./Civil Rights Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and Christmas; a holiday on Sunday also closes Monday, and one on Saturday closes Friday. For 2026 NHDOT lists travel restrictions on Jan. 1, Jan. 19, Feb. 16, May 25, July 3, Sept. 7, Oct. 12, Nov. 11, Nov. 26, Nov. 27 and Dec. 25, and none on Juneteenth (June 19). The permit office stays open on Columbus Day even though travel is restricted.
- Wind / weather
- No permitted move may start in inclement weather (fog, haze, heavy rain, freezing rain, sleet, ice, snow or wind). A vehicle already under way must leave the highway at the first available location and park until conditions improve. NHDOT posts the current OS/OW travel status on nhdotpermits.org.
- Daylight hours rule
- Oversize moves are limited to daylight, from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset, except supermoves and building moves over 12 feet wide that the permit schedules otherwise. Overweight-only vehicles that travel at normal traffic speed are not restricted by date or time of day.
- Weather
- No permitted move may start in inclement weather (fog, haze, heavy rain, freezing rain, sleet, ice, snow or wind). A vehicle already under way must leave the highway at the first available location and park until conditions improve. NHDOT posts the current OS/OW travel status on nhdotpermits.org.
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 supermove is any vehicle and load over 15 feet wide or 110 feet long, a load over 13 feet 6 inches high, or a weight over 149,999 pounds (Tra 304.12(c)). Ordinary single-trip permits stop at those limits.
A supermove needs, at the applicant's expense, a New Hampshire-licensed professional engineer's report certifying the vehicle, pavement, bridges, clearances and turning paths along the whole route, plus confirmation from the district engineer or the Bureau of Bridge Design. A route survey is required for any load over 110 feet long or 13 feet 6 inches high. The permit is issued for a specific date and time, which may fall on a weekend, and no annual permit supplemental is available.
More New Hampshire permit rules
- Single trip fee note
- RSA 266:22 sets a flat $6 for each permit for over-length, over-width or over-height, or any combination of them. An overweight permit is priced by the gross weight of vehicle and load, from $5.50 up to 50,000 pounds to $10.50 for 90,001 to 100,000 pounds, plus $2 for each additional 10,000 pounds. Tra 304.18 makes every fee nonrefundable and issues permits free to federal, state and local government. Permits cover only state-maintained highways; town roads need the town's permission.
- Annual permit eligibility
- A special annual permit covering all types of moves is $115 a unit and runs one year from issue; a permit limited to moves within 100 miles of the holder's home location (inside New Hampshire) is $60 a unit. Tra 304.09 grants annual permits for loads of construction equipment or self-propelled units that exceed legal width or length but stay within 45 feet long (single unit) or 75 feet (tractor, trailer and load), 10 feet 6 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches high and the legally registered weight. Moves beyond the annual envelope need a single-trip or emergency supplemental under the annual permit. Annual permits are valid on class I and class II highways in the permitted area and never for a supermove.
- Annual permit details: radius 100 miles: covers
- All types of moves within 100 miles of the home location, one unit, for the period the commissioner sets
- Escort notes: additional escorts
- No escort is needed for a load under 12 feet wide, under 90 feet long and with less than 15 feet of rear overhang, provided the load flags are displayed. No more than 2 non-police escorts are required, but State Police escorts are added on top, and the permit office may require more of either.
- Escort notes: equipment
- Non-police escorts must be compact-car size or larger, registered and inspected, with a top-mounted flashing or strobe amber light visible for 1,000 feet, a two-way radio on the load's frequency, low-beam headlights on, and OVERSIZE LOAD signs at least 5 feet by 12 inches (10-inch black letters on yellow). The load shows 18-inch fluorescent red or orange flags at the extremities, OVERSIZE LOAD signs at least 7 feet by 18 inches front and rear, and a top-mounted amber light on the hauling unit. Convoys are not permitted, and a permitted move must pull over once 7 or more vehicles are queued behind it.
- Escort notes: police escort
- Night moves for NHDOT construction projects need a State Police escort, booked with 48 hours' notice at 1-800-443-5268 or 603-223-3861, and the carrier hands the escort a hard copy of the permit.
- Escort notes: manufactured housing
- Manufactured housing, modular buildings and building components follow their own table: 1 non-police escort at 90 feet long, 12 feet wide, over 14 feet 6 inches high or 15 feet of overhang; 2 when 12 feet wide combines with 15 feet of overhang; State Police at 100 feet long or over 14 feet wide. Nothing over 16 feet wide moves, units over 14 feet wide move only Tuesday to Thursday, and no move is allowed when ground wind exceeds 25 miles per hour.
- Permit conditions: summary
- Permits are issued only to the registered owner of the hauling unit, only for non-divisible loads (one that would lose its function or value if split, or take more than 8 work hours to dismantle), and only for state-maintained highways and bridges; town and city roads need local permission. A vehicle registered outside New Hampshire cannot get a permit for a move between two New Hampshire points unless it is IRP-registered with New Hampshire on the cab card. The permit (paper or electronic) must be in the vehicle, single-trip permits are valid for 5 business days (10 for a round trip by reverse route), and postings on bridges and highways still apply. NHDOS additional weight certification cannot be combined with an NHDOT OS/OW permit.
- Permit conditions: regional
- RSA 266:24-b authorizes New Hampshire to join a New England regional truck permit agreement for oversize non-divisible interstate loads, and Tra 304.04(b) honors a permit issued under the New England Transportation Consortium agreement without a separate New Hampshire permit.
- Statute note
- RSA 266:24 lets the commissioner of transportation, with the approval of the director of motor vehicles, permit a move over the size or weight limits of RSA 266 on a specified way at a specified time, and to require a bond. RSA 266:22 sets the fees. Tra 304 sets the procedure, escort, marking and travel rules.
| Name | Detail |
|---|---|
| Seasonal Saturday morning moves (2026) | From April 18 to November 21, 2026, permitted loads may travel on designated routes on Saturday mornings until noon (until 9 a.m. on I-95 from May 30 to August 29, 2026). Not on holidays or holiday weekends. |
| Spring thaw road postings | On posted sections of state highways the maximum is 30,000 pounds gross, or the total width in inches of all tires on the road multiplied by 300, whichever is less. Under RSA 236:3-a, trucks carrying home heating oil, processed milk products or maple sap, and septic pumper trucks, may be exempted with the district engineer's approval. |
The New Hampshire permit office
- Apply or log in (NHDOT Permits online permitting system)
- nhdotpermits.org
- Address
- John O. Morton Building, 7 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH (walk-in); mail to PO Box 483, 7 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03302-0483
- Methods
- Online through NHDOT Permits (card payment only online), by mail on the paper application, or in person at the John O. Morton Building, where cash, card, check or money order are accepted. Annual permit supplementals may also be requested by phone. Permit services may apply for carriers once recognized through the online system. After hours, an emergency permit request goes through the online system followed by a call to the Transportation Management Center, 603-271-6862.
Legal limits without a permit
Width is capped by statute including load, with a narrow allowance for loose hay. Height is capped including load, with a higher limit for manufactured housing under escort. Length limits depend on configuration: single units, semitrailers on approved routes, twin trailers and auto transporters each have their own figure, and triple trailers are not allowed.
Gross weight is capped on the Interstate and off it, with axle limits and the bridge formula on top, and a police tolerance off the Interstate.
What permits cost
RSA 266:22 sets the prices, and they are among the lowest anywhere. Any over-dimension permit costs one flat fee whatever the dimension. An overweight permit is priced by gross weight of vehicle and load in brackets, with a fixed add-on for each extra block of weight above the top bracket. Every fee is nonrefundable, and government vehicles are permitted free.
An annual permit for all moves costs a set amount per unit, and a version limited to moves near the holder's home costs less.
Escorts
A load below the escort thresholds for width, length and rear overhang needs no escort if it shows load flags. Above them, one non-police escort is required, and two when wide and long overhang combine. State Police escorts are added for the widest and longest loads and for any road closure. Escort vehicles must meet the equipment rules in Tra 304, convoys are not allowed, and a permitted move pulls over when traffic queues behind it.
When permitted loads can move
Oversize moves run in daylight, from shortly before sunrise to shortly after sunset, on weekdays only. They stop on the listed state holidays, and a holiday next to a weekend closes the adjacent weekday too. From spring to late fall a Saturday-morning window opens on designated routes, cut shorter on I-95 in summer. Overweight-only loads moving at normal speed are not restricted by day or hour.
No permitted move may start in fog, heavy rain, freezing rain, snow, ice or wind, and a load already moving must leave the road at the first safe spot.
Supermoves
A load past the supermove limits for width, length, height or weight needs a report from a New Hampshire-licensed professional engineer covering the route's pavement, bridges, clearances and turns, at the carrier's expense, plus district or bridge-design sign-off. The permit names a specific date and time, which may fall on a weekend, and no annual supplemental is available.
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 New Hampshire permit stack, see New Hampshire trucking permits.