North Dakota Oversize & Overweight Permits

When North Dakota needs a permit

Legal to 8'6" wide, 14' high, 80,000 lb on the Interstate; ND state highways allow more gross by axle formula. Over that, buy a single-trip permit (about $20) from the ND Highway Patrol before you enter. Run sunrise to sunset. Loads over 16' wide and 110' long park Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Past 150,000 lb it's engineering review with graduated fees, and over 200,000 lb adds a nickel per ton-mile.

Thresholds, escorts, and curfews

• Legal max before a permit: Permit needed over 8'6" wide, over 14' high, over 80,000 lb on the Interstate, or over your route's legal length. ND state highways allow more gross by axle formula (up to about 105,500 lb), so the weight trigger depends on your route.
• Escort / pilot car: Width 14'6"-16' needs one front pilot car on 2-lane, or a rotating or flashing amber light on the load in its place, and nothing at all on 4-lane divided. Over 16' needs a front and a rear pilot car on 2-lane and a rear pilot car on 4-lane divided. Over 18' wide you contact the Highway Patrol regional commander for every region you cross, and a trooper escort rides on top of your pilot cars only if that commander deems it necessary. Height over 18' needs a lead pilot car plus written authority from the utility companies. Length over 120' needs a rear pilot car (NDAC 38-06-02-03; NDHP Policy 9-6).
• Superload: Over 150,000 lb gross the load goes to the district engineer and the bridge engineer for review, and the permit fee becomes a graduated $30 to $70 that replaces the $20 base rather than adding to it. Over 175,000 lb the load has to come apart if engineering will not clear the route: blades and rippers off the dozer, scrapers split, counterweights off the crane. Over 200,000 lb you move under the separate Heavy Load Permit Policy with a ton-mile fee plus route and bridge analysis. Loads over 18' high, not 18' wide, need written authority from the utility companies to pass under overhead wires (NDHP Policy 9-6).
• Travel curfew: Oversize runs a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset, weekends included. A load 12' wide or less and 120' long or less can run at night with clearance lights and a rotating or flashing amber light above the cab. Any load over 16' wide is barred Saturday after 12 noon, all day Sunday, and from 12 noon the day before New Year's, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas until sunrise the day after, whatever its length (NDAC 38-06-02-07; NDHP Policy 9-6). Overweight-only loads at legal dimensions can run continuously. No permit is valid when highways are slippery or visibility is a half mile or less.
• Permit fee: Single-trip $20 plus a $10 service/routing fee, and $5 more if you want it faxed. Over 150,000 lb the graduated fee replaces the $20 instead of stacking on it: $30 at 150,001-160,000 lb, up $10 per 10,000 lb, $70 at 190,001 lb and over. Overweight self-propelled special mobile equipment is $25. An NDHP trooper escort runs $50 an hour plus $0.50 a mile per trooper. Annual overwidth $150, annual overweight $100, full annual around $700. Ton-mile fee kicks in over 200,000 lb (NDHP Policy 9-6).

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