By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 25, 2026
Ohio legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)
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
- $75 (Ohio prices every permit as a $20 basic processing charge plus the applicable surcharge units under Ohio Adm.Code 5501:2-1-05. A one-way oversize single trip permit for width up to fourteen feet and/or height up to fourteen feet six inches costs $20 plus a $55 surcharge, so $75 total. A one-way overweight single trip permit up to 120,000 pounds gross vehicle weight costs $20 plus a $125 surcharge, so $145 total. When a movement is both overweight and over width and/or over height, only one basic processing fee and the applicable overweight surcharge are charged. Fees are waived for federal, state and local governments and political subdivisions. A single trip permit is valid up to five calendar days.)
- Annual permit
- $980 (Ohio's annual credential is the continuing annual permit, valid up to 365 calendar days for an unlimited number of movements of the same vehicle between the same two locations over the same route. An oversize continuing annual permit for width up to fourteen feet and/or height up to fourteen feet six inches costs $20 basic plus a $960 outbound surcharge, so $980; the return-trip surcharge is $200. An overweight continuing annual permit up to 120,000 pounds gross vehicle weight costs $20 basic plus a $1,960 outbound surcharge, so $1,980; the return-trip surcharge is $1,000. A steel or aluminum coil continuing annual permit is $20 plus $460. Michigan legal continuing annual permits are $20 plus $450 up to 120,000 pounds and $20 plus $610 over 120,000 pounds.)
- Annual eligibility
- A continuing annual permit covers an unlimited number of movements of the same vehicle, including the approved load, axle weight and axle spacing, between the same two specific locations over the same specified route, for up to 365 calendar days. It is route-specific and vehicle-specific, not a blanket statewide envelope. A ninety-day continuing permit exists for the same pattern at a lower fee. No permit may be issued for a duration extending beyond the expiration date of the insurance policy or endorsement filed as evidence of financial responsibility.
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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Overweight permit fee tiers (annual)
Annual overweight permits are priced by the gross weight the load reaches, in fixed steps.
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 Ohio oversize permit cost worked examples.
Escort thresholds
Travel restrictions
- Curfews
- Loads over twelve feet wide may not move between 6:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. or between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, in Butler, Clermont, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Geauga, Hamilton, Lake, Licking, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Medina, Montgomery, Pickaway, Stark, Summit, Union, Warren and Wood counties.
- Weekend / holiday
- Loads over twelve feet wide may not move Saturday from 3 p.m. until one-half hour before sunrise Sunday, Sunday from 3 p.m. until one-half hour before sunrise Monday, or Friday from 3 p.m. until one-half hour before sunrise Saturday from April 1 through November 30. Separately, all permitted movements other than legal-dimension overweight loads are prohibited on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day; the prohibition begins at noon the day preceding and runs until one-half hour before sunrise the day following the holiday or holiday weekend. Under Ohio Adm.Code 5501:2-1-01(K), a listed holiday falling on a Sunday moves to the following Monday and one falling on a Saturday moves to the preceding Friday, and the director may add holidays.
Superload and beyond-permit review
Loads past the standard single-trip permit thresholds get individual state review rather than an off-the-shelf permit.
Ohio does not define a superload. The word does not appear anywhere in Ohio Adm.Code Chapter 5501:2-1. The practical line is 120,000 pounds gross vehicle weight: at or below it the overweight surcharge is a flat amount, and above it the surcharge adds four cents per ton over sixty tons for every mile travelled, so the cost of a heavy move scales with distance rather than jumping into a named tier.
Where a movement requires special work by the department such as special traffic control or special engineering analysis, the applicant reimburses the department's total direct costs. The director estimates those costs and the applicant deposits the estimate by cash, check or money order before the work is performed; the excess is refunded or the shortfall billed once the actual cost is known. That deposit mechanism is what Ohio uses in place of a named superload review tier. Separately, every application is reviewed to determine the best route that protects the state highway system, and the director may deny a permit or write additional limitations onto it to protect pavements or structures.
Legal limits before you need a permit
Ohio publishes width, height, length by configuration and weight limits in ORC 5577.04 and 5577.05. Height is the one that surprises carriers, because Ohio sits at the lower of the two common national ceilings, with or without load. Width is measured including the load, with mirrors, marker lamps, cab handholds, mud flaps, spray suppressants, load-induced tire bulge and short tarp hardware excluded. Length depends on configuration, from a semitrailer in a tractor-semitrailer combination up to a stinger-steered auto transporter.
Weight is where Ohio gets unusual. It runs the federal axle pattern on the interstate system and a separate, older table off it, and ORC 5577.04(I) lets a carrier off the interstate apply whichever division yields the higher total gross weight limit, then hold to only the sub-limits inside that division. The overall gross cap is the same either way. The sourced tables below carry every dimension and axle group.
Single trip permits and how Ohio prices them
Ohio prices every permit the same way: a processing charge on every application plus the surcharge that matches the movement. Oversize surcharges step up once width or height passes the published lines, and a return leg costs less than the outbound one. Overweight surcharges step up at the published gross weight line, and above that line the surcharge adds a per-ton, per-mile component so cost scales with distance.
When a movement is both overweight and oversize, only one processing charge and the overweight surcharge apply. Federal, state and local governments and political subdivisions pay nothing. A single trip permit runs up to five calendar days. The sourced schedule below carries each component and the movement it matches.
Continuing and continuing annual permits
For repeat work Ohio sells a continuing permit of up to ninety days and a continuing annual permit of up to a year. Both cover unlimited movements of the same vehicle, including the approved load, axle weight and axle spacing, between the same two locations over the same route. Change the truck or the route and you are back to a new permit.
One timing trap sits underneath all of it. No permit may be issued for a duration running past the expiration date of the insurance endorsement or bond on file. Every applicant keeps an insurance policy endorsement or surety bond on file with the section as evidence of financial responsibility, on the department's own form, and cancellation takes at least thirty days notice. Governments are waived out of that filing as well.
Escort requirements
Escorts phase in by dimension. Crossing the first length line takes a rear escort. Crossing the first width line takes a lead escort, plus a rear escort on multiple lane highways. Crossing the first height line takes a lead escort carrying a height sensing device. Cross the higher width or height lines and it becomes a lead and a rear escort, and meeting more than one trigger at once does the same.
Ohio publishes no fixed dimension threshold for a police escort. Ohio Adm.Code 5501:2-1-04(L) leaves private and police escorts to the director's discretion, with the requirement stated on the permit itself, and the permittee arranges whatever the permit calls for. Escort vehicles carry their own rules: an oversize load sign of published size, a roof mounted amber flashing or rotating light, radio contact with the operator of the permitted vehicle, single unit construction with clear front and rear vision, and no towing or hauling of anything past the escort's own dimensions. The sourced table below carries each threshold and placement.
When permitted loads can move
Most permitted movement is daylight only, from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset, and Ohio Adm.Code 5501:2-1-04(C) states the same rule the other way round: no movement at night except emergencies. Overweight loads that stay within legal dimensions are the exception and face no travel hour or day restriction, so long as they do not obstruct the normal flow of traffic.
Wide loads carry more restrictions. Weekday rush hour windows close in twenty-two named counties, weekend afternoons close, and Friday afternoons close between April and November. Six holidays stop permitted movement from noon the day before until the morning after, with a holiday landing on a weekend shifting to the adjacent weekday. Permitted vehicles stay in the far right lane except to pass, turn or exit, and may not convoy inside the published following distance behind another permitted vehicle. Anything unusually tall has to be coordinated in advance with the owners of overhead signs, signals and utilities on the route.
Ohio has no superload tier
The word superload does not appear anywhere in Ohio Adm.Code Chapter 5501:2-1. There is no named review tier and no published dimension or weight figure that triggers a mandatory bridge or structural analysis, so we record none rather than infer one.
What Ohio has instead is a cost mechanism. Past the published gross weight line the overweight surcharge stops being flat and starts adding a per-ton, per-mile component, so a heavy move gets more expensive with distance rather than jumping into a named category. And where a movement needs special work from the department, such as special traffic control or special engineering analysis, the applicant deposits the department's estimated direct costs up front and settles the difference once the actual cost is known. Every application is also reviewed for the route that best protects the highway system, and the director may deny a permit or write extra limitations onto it.
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 Ohio permit stack, see Ohio trucking permits.
Frequently asked questions
What can I haul in Ohio without an oversize permit?
- Anything inside the published width, height, length-by-configuration and weight limits in ORC 5577.04 and 5577.05. Ohio's height ceiling is the lower of the two common national figures, so check it before routing a tall load in from a taller state. The sourced limits table below carries each figure.
How much does an Ohio oversize permit cost?
- Every permit is a processing charge plus a surcharge matched to the movement, its direction and its size or weight band. A move that is both overweight and oversize pays one processing charge and the overweight surcharge. Governments pay nothing. The sourced schedule below lists each component.
When does an oversize load need an escort in Ohio?
- Once permitted length, width or height passes the published lines. The first line in a dimension takes one escort, the higher line takes a lead and a rear, and meeting more than one trigger at once takes two as well. A height sensing device rides with the lead escort on tall loads.
What counts as a superload in Ohio?
- Nothing does. Ohio publishes no superload definition and no named review tier. Cost scales instead: past the published gross weight line the overweight surcharge adds a per-ton, per-mile component, and any move needing special engineering or traffic control work runs on a cost deposit paid before the work is done.
Can permitted loads move at night in Ohio?
- Generally no. Movement runs daylight only, and Ohio Adm.Code 5501:2-1-04(C) bars night movement except in emergencies unless the permit says otherwise. Overweight loads within legal dimensions are the exception and face no hour or day restriction, so long as traffic keeps flowing.
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.