Minnesota Truck Weight Limits

How much a truck can weigh in Minnesota

Minnesota holds 80,000 pounds on every street and highway, Interstate or not (Minn. Stat. 169.824). Single axle 20,000, tandem 34,000. Two things move that number: a winter frost period adds 10 percent (169.826), and spring thaw drops posted roads to 5 tons per axle (169.87). Six axles hauling agricultural products, livestock included, run 90,000 pounds on an annual permit and seven axles run 97,000, off the Interstate only (169.865).

Axles, off-Interstate, and permits

• Off the Interstate: 80,000 lb on all streets and highways (Minn. Stat. 169.824); 90,000 lb on six axles or 97,000 lb on seven axles for agricultural loads, livestock included, on an annual permit, paved non-Interstate roads only (Minn. Stat. 169.865)
• Single axle: 20,000 lb (10 tons)
• Tandem axle: 34,000 lb
• With a permit: 90,000 lb on a six-axle annual agricultural permit and 97,000 lb on seven axles, both rising to 99,000 lb during the winter frost period, paved non-Interstate roads only (Minn. Stat. 169.865). A winter frost-period 10% increase (169.826) can lift a legal 80,000 to about 88,000; harvest permit adds 10% for sugar beets, carrots, and potatoes to first unload
• Watch the calendar. Frost-period winter increase adds 10%; spring thaw cuts posted roads to 5 tons/axle. The 169.871 civil penalty runs on gross excess and doubles for knowingly evading a scale; a first offense can be held to $150.

Posted bridge and road limits

Two posting systems. Spring thaw brings seasonal load restrictions (Minn. Stat. 169.87) that drop posted roads to 5 tons per axle for weeks. Bridges and weak roads carry standard 'WEIGHT LIMIT __ TONS' signs (short tons). Either way the posted number overrides your legal weight, and crossing over it is its own violation.

What running heavy costs

Civil penalty on gross excess (Minn. Stat. 169.871): up to 1,000 over = 1 cent/lb; 1,001-3,000 = $10 + 5 cents/lb over 1,000; 3,001-5,000 = $110 + 10 cents/lb over 3,000; 5,001-7,000 = $310 + 15 cents/lb over 5,000; over 7,000 = $610 + 20 cents/lb over 7,000. The penalty doubles if you knowingly dodge a weigh station. The $150 cap is narrow: it applies only to a violation in the course of a first haul as defined in Minn. Stat. 168.013, and only if that vehicle has no two or more prior gross-weight violations in the previous 12 months (169.871 subd. 1b).

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