Kansas Truck Weight Limits

How much a truck can weigh in Kansas

Kansas gives you 85,500 pounds on state highways and 80,000 on the Interstate (K.S.A. 8-1909). Single axle 20,000, tandem 34,000. Load over 80,000 and you are off the Interstate. The Kansas Turnpike is the outlier: up to 120,000 pounds for a triple with a Special Vehicle Combination permit, and a divisible-load permit gets a 6-axle rig to 90,000 (K.S.A. 8-1919).

Axles, off-Interstate, and permits

• Off the Interstate: 85,500 lb (bridge-formula cap, K.S.A. 8-1909)
• Single axle: 20,000 lb (10,000 lb per wheel)
• Tandem axle: 34,000 lb
• With a permit: 120,000 lb on the Kansas Turnpike (triple-trailer LCV with a Special Vehicle Combination permit); 90,000 lb divisible-load permit on 6+ axles off the Interstate (K.S.A. 8-1919)
• State-highway cap is 85,500 by bridge formula; Interstate is 80,000. The first tier of the 8-2118 fine schedule reads as a flat charge (about $40 in the current statute text) before the per-pound tiers kick in - worth confirming the exact figure locally as older schedules cited $25.

Posted bridge and road limits

Local authorities post bridge and road limits under K.S.A. 8-1917 as 'WEIGHT LIMIT __ TONS' in short tons (15 tons = 30,000 lb). The posted figure controls, so a legal 80,000-pound truck still cannot cross a bridge posted lower. Ignore it and you are cited and can be held liable for bridge repair.

What running heavy costs

Scheduled fine under K.S.A. 8-2118(c) for gross or axle violations: up to 1,000 over is a flat charge (about $40); 1,001-2,000 = 3 cents/lb; 2,001-5,000 = 5 cents/lb; 5,001-7,500 = 7 cents/lb; 7,501 and over = 10 cents/lb. Example: 10,000 lb over is about $1,000. Other size-and-weight violations carry up to $500 (K.S.A. 8-1901).

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