North Carolina Oversize & Overweight Permits

When North Carolina needs a permit

Run the numbers first: over 8'6" wide, 14' high, 80,000 lb, or legal length and you buy a permit from NCDOT's Central Permit Office. Legal height here is 14', not 13'6" (G.S. 20-116(c)). Single-trip is $12 per dimension over legal, plus $3 per 1,000 lb above 132,000. On the road, escorts start at 12' wide and a high-pole car at 14'5", and you move sunrise to sunset any day of the week, Sunday included. Loads over 12' wide sit out 7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. within 10 miles of Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, and a posted low bridge beats the permit.

Thresholds, escorts, and curfews

• Legal max before a permit: Permit needed over 8'6" wide, 14' high, 80,000 lb gross, or over legal length. Legal height here is 14', not the 13'6" most of the Southeast runs (G.S. 20-116(c)). On length, a truck tractor pulling a semitrailer of 53 ft or less has no overall length limit on any road; any other combination caps at 60 ft and a single vehicle at 40 ft. Axle limits and the federal Bridge Formula still cap weight. NCDOT's Central Permit Office issues, now through the PIMS online system.
• Escort / pilot car: One escort over 12' wide, two escorts over 14' wide (front and rear on two-lane roads), and police escort may be required over 15' wide. Height over 14'5" needs a high-pole (height) car. Length over 110' takes one escort, over 150' two. A front escort is required above 149,999 lb. Escort drivers must hold NC certification.
• Superload: No single named 'superload' dimension. Weight over 132,000 lb jumps the fee tier and pulls a bridge/structure analysis, and anything over 15' wide (or roughly 15' high or 105' long) needs Central Permit Office review and route engineering before it moves.
• Travel curfew: Sunrise to sunset, Monday through Sunday, weekends included. Continuous travel 24 hours a day, seven days a week is authorized when permitted gross weight stays at or under 112,000 lb and nothing is over-dimension. Loads over 12' wide face a 7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. ban within a 10-mile radius of the city limits of Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Only three holidays close the road, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, from noon the weekday before to noon the weekday after, and only for loads over 112,000 lb or with any over-dimension. A posted low bridge overrides the permit either way.
• Permit fee: Single-trip is $12 per dimension over legal (height, width, length, and weight up to 132,000 lb), plus $3 per 1,000 lb over 132,000 lb. Permits needing an engineering study add a $100 non-refundable application fee. Annual permits run into the low hundreds.

More for North Carolina