Pennsylvania Oversize & Overweight Permits

When Pennsylvania needs a permit

Pennsylvania splits the base fee by width: $46 for 14' wide or less, $97 over, plus $0.04 per ton-mile overweight. A single-trip permit covers one move in 5 days, and PennDOT permits don't cover the Turnpike, which sells its own. A pilot car follows past 90' long, a lead car runs ahead past 14'6" high, and two pilots over 14' wide. Superload starts at 201,000 lb, 16' wide, or 160' long.

Thresholds, escorts, and curfews

• Legal max before a permit: Permit needed over 8'6" wide, 13'6" high, 80,000 lb gross, or over legal length (53 ft semitrailer; longer combinations and non-divisible loads need a permit). PennDOT issues, and the PA Turnpike sells its own separate permit for its roads.
• Escort / pilot car: One pilot car follows if total length tops 90 ft or rear overhang exceeds 15 ft. Width is the trigger most drivers miss: over 13 ft you need a pilot car, following you on a highway with two or more lanes in your direction and preceding you where there is only one (67 Pa. Code 179.10(13)). A lead car runs 1,000 to 3,000 ft ahead if height tops 14'6" to catch overhead obstructions. In urbanized areas a pilot car both precedes and follows during darkness, and outside them one follows any load that cannot hold 40 mph. Superloads use Pennsylvania State Police or PennDOT-certified escort vehicles.
• Superload: Superload over 201,000 lb gross, over 16' wide, or over 160' long (height case-by-case). A windshield route survey and structure analysis follow, with State Police or PennDOT-certified escorts riding the move.
• Travel curfew: Sunset to sunrise is closed, and so is Saturday after 12 noon and all day Sunday (67 Pa. Code 179.10(7)). The six holidays and the day before each are closed too: New Year's, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Inside urbanized areas you move only 3 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. to sunset, and only 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the Fort Pitt, Squirrel Hill and Liberty Tunnels in Allegheny County. A load that cannot hold 40 mph on a limited-access highway is boxed into 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. behind a pilot car. Never in inclement weather.
• Permit fee: Single-trip base is $46 for 14' wide or less, $97 over 14' wide, plus $0.04 per ton-mile for overweight; one single-trip permit covers a move within 5 days. Superloads add a $68 preliminary fee plus $12 per county on top of the permit fee. Annual and seasonal permits cost more.

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