Florida Truck Weight Limits

How much a truck can weigh in Florida

Gross tops out at 80,000 pounds on every road (Fla. Stat. 316.535). Florida's quirk is the built-in 10% scale tolerance: off the interstate a 40,000 tandem can scale to 44,000, and a 20,000 single to 22,000. Overweight is cheap next to its neighbors: 5 cents a pound on everything over, and just $10 flat if you are 200 pounds or less over (Fla. Stat. 316.545).

Axles, off-Interstate, and permits

• Off the Interstate: 80,000 lb (the s. 316.535 enforcement weight tables build in a 10% scale tolerance, so axle weights scale higher but gross still caps at 80,000).
• Single axle: 20,000 lb (22,000 lb scaled with the 10% tolerance on non-interstate roads)
• Tandem axle: 34,000 lb federal on the interstate. Off the interstate Florida allows 40,000 lb per tandem, which scales to 44,000 lb with the 10% tolerance.
• With a permit: No fixed high divisible-load ceiling. Gross stays at 80,000 lb, but tandems reach 44,000 lb with the built-in scale tolerance. Higher gross weight requires a trip or blanket overweight permit.
• The 10% tolerance lives in the published weight tables under 316.535(7); it lifts axle weights, not the 80,000 gross. On the interstate the federal 20,000/34,000 axle limits apply with no such tolerance.

Posted bridge and road limits

Bridges and local roads carry MUTCD 'WEIGHT LIMIT X TONS' signs (short tons). The posted number overrides the legal maximum, so a legal 80,000 lb truck must detour around a lower-posted bridge. Crossing over a posted limit is enforced under Ch. 316 with the overweight penalty plus liability for any damage.

What running heavy costs

Fla. Stat. 316.545: a flat $10 if you are 200 lb or less over; if more than 200 lb over, 5 cents per pound on every pound above the legal maximum. When gross exceeds the declared GVW, the penalty is 5 cents per pound on the difference. It is one of the cheaper overweight schedules in the region.

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