By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 25, 2026
Pennsylvania 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
- $46 (PennDOT's current single-trip special hauling permit fee, effective July 1, 2025, is $46 when the load is 14 feet wide or less and $97 when it is over 14 feet wide, plus a 0.04 per ton-mile charge on overweight. The underlying statutory schedule in 75 Pa.C.S. § 1942(a) reads $35 and $71 with 4 cents per mile per ton over the registered gross weight; the published fee document carries the higher current amounts, and § 1942(b) makes the oversize and overweight charges cumulative for a load that is both.)
- Annual permit
- There is no single annual permit price to quote. Pennsylvania does not sell a blanket annual or seasonal oversize and overweight permit, so PennDOT publishes no statewide annual fee. Annual and seasonal permits are priced by load type on the PennDOT special hauling permit fee schedule effective July 1, 2025, so a carrier reads the price for its own load type on that schedule rather than one general figure.
- Annual eligibility
- Pennsylvania does not sell a general annual or blanket oversize and overweight permit for any load. Annual and seasonal permits are issued by LOAD TYPE, each with its own fee, and a single-trip permit is the default for a general oversize or overweight move. The PennDOT fee schedule effective July 1, 2025 prices each annual and seasonal load type separately.
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 Pennsylvania oversize permit cost worked examples.
Escort thresholds
Travel restrictions
- Curfews
- Weekend curfew is built into the regulation rather than published per city: no permitted movement after 12 noon on Saturday or at any time on Sunday, plus the urbanized-area windows above.
- Weekend / holiday
- Movement is barred on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas and on the day preceding each. PennDOT publishes the dated windows each year. For 2026 they are: New Year's Day 2025-26, 12 noon December 31, 2025 to sunrise January 2, 2026; Memorial Day, 12 noon May 22 to sunrise May 26, 2026; Independence Day, 12 noon July 2 to sunrise July 6, 2026; Labor Day, 12 noon September 4 to sunrise September 8, 2026; Thanksgiving and the day after, 12 noon November 25 to sunrise November 30, 2026; Christmas Day, 12 noon December 24 to sunrise December 28, 2026; New Year's Day 2026-27, 12 noon December 31, 2026 to sunrise January 4, 2027. The Pennsylvania Turnpike publishes its own holiday restrictions separately.
Superload and beyond-permit review
Loads past the standard single-trip permit thresholds get individual state review rather than an off-the-shelf permit.
67 Pa. Code § 179.1 defines a super load as a vehicle, combination or load having a gross weight exceeding 201,000 pounds, a total length exceeding 160 feet, or a total width exceeding 16 feet, subject to listed exceptions.
A completed preliminary application on Form M-936A, with Form M-936AS where required, must be submitted in writing to the central permit office at least 3 weeks before the anticipated move date, with justification: detailed routing, manufacturer certification that the object cannot be made smaller, statements from air, water and rail carriers that they cannot accommodate the move, written approvals from cities along the route, and a projection of similar moves within one year.
Legal limits before you need a permit
Pennsylvania publishes its no-permit maximums in Chapter 49 of the Vehicle Code: total outside width including the load, height including the load, length by vehicle configuration, gross weight, and axle group weight. Height is the one that catches out-of-state drivers, because Pennsylvania's ceiling is lower than the figure allowed in several other states, and running over it without a valid permit carries a fixed fine on conviction.
Length depends on the configuration, from a single motor vehicle through semitrailers, twin trailers, saddle-mount and maxi-cube combinations, tow-away trailer transporters, and stinger-steered auto and boat transporters, which also get front and rear overhang allowances. Gross weight is capped overall, but lower caps apply by configuration and axle count, so a five-axle combination and a seven-axle one do not share a ceiling. The limits tables below carry each figure with its Vehicle Code section.
Single-trip permits and what they cost
A single-trip permit covers one move. The base fee steps up once the load passes a published width, and an overweight charge is added for every ton-mile by which gross weight exceeds your registered gross weight. The Vehicle Code makes the oversize and overweight charges cumulative, so a load that is both pays both. Mobile homes, modular housing units and modular housing undercarriages carry their own single-trip prices, and a refund request carries a processing fee.
Watch the gap between the law and the price list. The Vehicle Code and the hauling permit regulations print older, lower amounts than PennDOT's current published fee document, and the same gap shows up in the regulatory figures for annual special mobile equipment permits and super load preliminaries. Price from the current fee schedule, which is what the sourced table below carries.
Annual and seasonal permits by load type
Pennsylvania has no blanket annual permit, so the annual option is a load-type permit. The published list runs from excess damage and construction equipment through live domestic animals, animal feed and grain, special mobile equipment hauled or driven, waste coal and beneficial combustion ash, wooden structures, float and flat glass, highway crossings and quarry equipment. Seasonal permits cover building structural components, utility construction equipment, and cranes, with crane pricing prorated by month and the heavier crane class adding a per-mile charge. Military convoy permits are free.
One honest gap sits in the implement of husbandry line: the regulation prints a seasonal fee, but the current fee document does not list a price for that load type, so no current amount is recorded rather than carried forward from the older figure.
Pilot car requirements
Pennsylvania calls escorts pilot cars, and the regulation defines one as a convoying vehicle the permittee provides to warn traffic about an oversize vehicle or a slow-moving overweight vehicle. Thresholds phase in by dimension: width past a published line takes a pilot car, with the placement flipping between following and leading depending on whether the highway is multi-lane or single-lane; height past its line takes a leading pilot car positioned well ahead of the load; length and rear overhang past their lines each take a following pilot car on all highways.
Bridges and darkness add their own rules. A permitted move over a two-directional bridge takes pilot cars front and rear, a one-directional bridge takes a following car, and any movement in an urbanized area during darkness takes pilot cars both ahead and behind plus extra lighting on all sides of the load. PennDOT runs a certified escort vehicle operator program through APRAS and publishes a pilot car reference sheet with it. One honest gap: the regulation contemplates a police escort accompanying a wide move, but the text sets no dimension that compels one, so no police-escort threshold is recorded.
When permitted loads can move
Pennsylvania is one of the stricter states on movement windows, and the rules live in the regulation rather than in a district-by-district curfew list. Permitted movement is not authorized from sunset to sunrise. It is barred after midday on Saturday and at any time on Sunday. Urbanized areas get defined windows instead of a blanket daylight rule, including a set window through the Fort Pitt, Squirrel Hill and Liberty Tunnels, and a night move in an urbanized area needs extra lighting on all sides plus a pilot car.
Six holidays and the day preceding each are closed, and PennDOT publishes the dated windows every year. Weather closes the road too: no movement on snow-covered highways until they are plowed full width, on icy pavement until it is cindered or salted, when rain, fog or snow cuts visibility below a published distance, or in winds strong enough to deflect the trailer wheels past a published amount. The Turnpike publishes its own holiday restrictions separately.
Super loads
Past the ordinary permit ceiling sits the super load, defined by gross weight, total length, or total width above published lines, subject to listed exceptions. A super load starts with a preliminary application in writing to the central permit office at least three weeks before the move date, and the justification package is heavy: detailed routing, a manufacturer certification that the object cannot be made smaller, statements from air, water and rail carriers that they cannot handle the move, written approvals from the cities along the route, and a projection of similar moves within the coming year.
Pricing stacks. The preliminary review carries its own fee plus a per-county charge along the route, and the permit itself is then priced on the standard single-trip schedule. PennDOT notes that additional fees can apply. The sourced threshold and fee fields below carry each figure.
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 Pennsylvania permit stack, see Pennsylvania trucking permits.
Frequently asked questions
What can I haul in Pennsylvania without an oversize permit?
- Anything inside the published Vehicle Code maximums for width, height, length by configuration, gross weight and axle groups. Pennsylvania's height ceiling is lower than several other states allow, and the gross weight cap steps down for configurations with fewer axles. The sourced limits tables below list each figure with its statute.
How much does a Pennsylvania single-trip oversize permit cost?
- A base fee that steps up past a published width, plus a ton-mile charge on the weight above your registered gross weight, and the two are cumulative when a load is both oversize and overweight. Price from PennDOT's current fee document, not from the Vehicle Code, which still prints older lower amounts. The sourced fee table below carries each component.
When does an oversize load need a pilot car in Pennsylvania?
- Once the load crosses the published width, height, length or rear overhang lines, and whenever a permitted move crosses a bridge or runs through an urbanized area during darkness. Placement changes with the trigger: leading for height, following for length and overhang, and both ends for a two-directional bridge or a night urban move. The sourced pilot car table below carries each threshold.
Can permitted loads move at night in Pennsylvania?
- Not generally. The regulation does not authorize permitted movement from sunset to sunrise. Urbanized areas have defined daytime and early evening windows instead, and a night movement in an urbanized area requires additional lighting on all sides of the load plus a pilot car escort. Weekend movement is also closed from Saturday midday through Sunday.
What counts as a super load in Pennsylvania?
- A vehicle, combination or load above the published gross weight, total length, or total width lines, subject to listed exceptions. Super loads need a preliminary application filed in writing with the central permit office at least three weeks ahead, with routing, manufacturer certification, statements from other carrier modes, and written city approvals. The sourced threshold fields below carry the figures.
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.