By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 25, 2026
Who issues what in Ohio
The permit pages
Ohio-specific requirements
Ohio issues its own carrier number, the PUCO number
Ohio assigns an identification number with the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. Every self-propelled motor vehicle operated in intrastate commerce in Ohio displays, on both sides, the carrier's legal name or single trade name plus either the PUCO number preceded by the letters PUCO or the USDOT number preceded by the letters USDOT. The markings must contrast sharply with the background and be legible from fifty feet while the vehicle is stationary. An intrastate carrier only ever needs one PUCO number.
A PUCO number carries a sales tax exemption
PUCO states that a carrier holding a PUCO number is exempt from Ohio sales tax on equipment and oil. That makes the certificate more than a compliance cost for an Ohio-based carrier; it changes the purchase price of trucks, parts and lubricants.
Paying the UCR fee replaces the annual CPCN renewal, except for movers
Initial CPCN registration is required of every for-hire carrier operating point to point in Ohio regardless of participation in UCR, IFTA or IRP. Annual renewal is different: a carrier that pays the interstate Unified Carrier Registration fee each year does not renew the CPCN annually, but must keep company and insurance information on file with PUCO current. Household goods carriers are the exception and renew every year. An IFTA or IRP holder that runs intrastate must still renew the CPCN annually.
Ohio-only carriers pay no UCR fee but do pay a per-vehicle tax every May to June
Motor carriers operating only in Ohio are not subject to UCR fees. What they do owe is the ORC 4921.19 per-vehicle tax, paid to the commission annually between May 1 and June 30: $30 for each commercial tractor used for transporting property, $30 for each vehicle used for transporting persons, and $20 for each other property-carrying motor vehicle. Trailers are not taxed. PUCO issues a tax receipt for each vehicle and the carrier keeps the right receipt in the right truck.
Seasonal agricultural equipment pays a quarter of the annual tax
Where the commission finds that moving agricultural commodities or foodstuffs made from them requires temporary and seasonal use of equipment for no more than ninety days, the annual per-vehicle tax on that equipment drops to twenty-five per cent of the normal amount. Equipment used past the ninety-day window owes the full annual tax.
Ohio is a 13 feet 6 inch height state
ORC 5577.05(D) caps vehicle height at thirteen feet six inches with or without load. Carriers coming from 14 foot states such as Texas cross into Ohio needing a permit for a load that was legal at home. Legal width is 102 inches including load and legal gross weight is 80,000 pounds.
Two different axle weight tables, and the carrier picks the better one
Ohio runs the federal axle pattern on the interstate system and a separate, older table off it. Under ORC 5577.04(I), a carrier off the interstate applies whichever of the two divisions yields the higher total gross weight limit, then must use only the sub-limits inside that division. The 80,000 pound overall gross cap applies either way.
Twelve-foot-wide loads face a rush-hour curfew in 22 named counties
Movement of any vehicle or load over twelve feet wide is prohibited from 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 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. The same twelve-foot line also closes Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 3 p.m., and Friday afternoons from 3 p.m. between April 1 and November 30.
Ohio has no superload tier
The word superload does not appear in Ohio Adm.Code Chapter 5501:2-1. The practical break is 120,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, above which the overweight surcharge adds four cents per ton over sixty tons per mile travelled. Where a move needs special traffic control or special engineering analysis, the applicant deposits the department's estimated direct costs in advance and reimburses the actual cost, which is what Ohio uses in place of a named superload review tier.
The Michigan legal permit, a border-county-only overweight credential
Ohio issues a permit found in almost no other state: the Michigan legal permit lets an overweight vehicle run prescribed routes between Williams, Fulton or Lucas counties and the Michigan border at Michigan weight law, with gross vehicle weight up to 154,000 pounds and enough axles to satisfy the Michigan rule. It is a continuing permit of up to ninety days, or a continuing annual permit.
Tow trucks are for-hire motor carriers in Ohio
ORC 4921.25 makes any person or company engaged in the towing of motor vehicles subject to regulation by the PUCO as a for-hire motor carrier under Chapter 4921. A new Ohio towing company files for a CPCN like any freight carrier, and PUCO also sets the acceptable scope of county and township towing regulations.
PUCO, not ODOT, sets hazardous materials routes
The PUCO is responsible for specifying the routes hazardous materials carriers must follow in Ohio, chosen to avoid heavily populated areas and narrow streets. Highway route controlled quantities of radioactive material must run only over PUCO preferred routes with a written route plan given to the driver and shipper before departure. PUCO also staffs a 24-hour hazardous materials incident reporting line at (800) 642-3443 and employs hazardous materials specialists statewide. Intrastate hazmat carriers register with PUCO; interstate hazmat carriers use a USDOT number plus a separate PHMSA registration.
Apportioned registration is optional in Ohio
The Ohio BMV states that IRP registration is not mandatory. A carrier that only occasionally leaves Ohio with a qualified vehicle may buy a trip permit from each jurisdiction it enters instead of running apportioned plates. The BMV's own stated average for a full-year apportioned plate at 80,000 pounds is $1,600 to $2,400, which is the figure that decision gets weighed against.
Four agencies, four separate portals
An Ohio carrier logs into four different systems: the PUCO Motor Carrier Registration system for the CPCN and insurance records, the Ohio Hauling Permit System for oversize and overweight permits from ODOT, OH|TAX eServices for IFTA licensing, decals and quarterly returns from the Department of Taxation, and the Ohio Commercial Registration Online System for apportioned registration from the BMV. IFTA only joined OH|TAX eServices on November 12, 2025.
A wind limit written into the permit provisions
Ohio prohibits movement of mobile homes, manufactured structures, office trailers and park model recreational vehicles when wind velocity exceeds 25 mph on the roadway or 15 mph on bridges. The rule sits on Form OS-1A, the two-page limitations sheet that has to be carried in the truck in its entirety alongside the permit itself.
Ohio levies no weight-distance or weight-mile tax
Ohio is not one of the four weight-distance states. An Ohio-based carrier files IFTA quarterly through OH|TAX eServices and owes no separate per-mile highway use tax to Ohio. The Ohio Department of Taxation's own IFTA pamphlet lists the states with an additional mileage tax, and Ohio is not among them; the list it gives is Kentucky, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oregon, Idaho, New York and Connecticut.
The permit office and the hauling permit system
The Special Hauling Permits Section sits inside the Ohio Department of Transportation and works through the Ohio Hauling Permit System. Applications, routing and the conditions written onto each permit all live there. Paper is still possible on Form OS-1, mailed to the Columbus office, though the director may limit how many mailed permits are accepted.
One limit is worth knowing before you apply. An ODOT permit covers the state, federal and interstate highway system. County and township roads, local streets outside that system, and the Ohio Turnpike each need permission from the authority that owns them.
The permit types Ohio issues
Single trip permits cover one movement over the legal limits and run up to five calendar days, with a single trip and return version at the same ceiling. Above those sit continuing permits of up to ninety days and continuing annual permits of up to a year, each tied to the same vehicle moving between the same two locations over the same route. That route-and-vehicle lock matters, because Ohio's annual credential is not a blanket statewide envelope.
Past the general permits Ohio keeps a long bench of special ones: construction equipment, farm equipment, manufactured building, marina and boat permits that each run a year; steel or aluminum coil permits that treat three or fewer coils as a nondivisible load; an international sealed container permit for sealed export freight; a regional heavy hauling permit the director must issue on written application; and the Michigan legal permit, which lets an overweight truck run prescribed routes between three border counties and the Michigan line at Michigan weight law.
Our Ohio oversize and overweight page carries the full fee schedule, escort thresholds, curfews and the cost deposit Ohio uses in place of a superload tier.
Curfews and moving bans
Movement rules attach to the load, not to the company. Loads past the published width line are barred from weekday rush hour windows in twenty-two named counties, and from Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with Friday afternoons closing as well between April and November. Permitted movements other than legal-dimension overweight loads stop for six named holidays, beginning at noon the day before and running until the morning after.
Weather and wind close things too. No permitted move may run in storms, on slippery or snow-covered roads, or in visibility-limiting fog, and the permit is void whenever the State Highway Patrol or local law enforcement judges conditions unsafe. Mobile homes, manufactured structures, office trailers and park model recreational vehicles stop once wind passes the published limits on the roadway or on bridges.
Compare beyond Ohio
Running multi-state loads? The oversize permit costs by state table compares limits and fees across all 51 jurisdictions, and the permit cost estimator prices a specific load per state.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I apply for Ohio truck permits?
- In the Ohio Hauling Permit System, run by the Department of Transportation Special Hauling Permits Section. It handles the application, the route and the conditions written onto the permit. Form OS-1 by mail still exists, but the director may cap how many mailed applications are taken.
Does Ohio offer an annual oversize permit?
- Yes, the continuing annual permit. It covers unlimited movements of the same vehicle between the same two locations over the same route for up to a year, so it is route-specific and vehicle-specific rather than a statewide envelope. A ninety-day continuing permit covers the same pattern at a lower fee.
Do Ohio permits cover county roads and the Turnpike?
- No. An ODOT special hauling permit covers the state, federal and interstate highway system. County and township roads, local streets outside that system, and the Ohio Turnpike each need permission from the authority that owns them, obtained separately before the move.
When can permitted loads not move in Ohio?
- Most permitted movement is daylight only, and wide loads sit out weekday rush hours in twenty-two counties plus weekend afternoons. Six holidays close permitted movement entirely, starting at noon the day before. Adverse weather voids a permit outright, and wind limits ground manufactured structures.
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.