G Singh
1 year ago
Freight that needs a permit
and a plan.
What counts as a
project move
Freight that exceeds legal dimensions or weight, needs more than one truck moving in coordination, requires a route survey and permits, or delivers somewhere without a dock.
The legal limits, roughly, are 8 feet 6 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches high, 53 feet long and 80,000 pounds gross. Past any one of those you are into permits, and permits change the timeline before they change the price.
Permits, realistically
Issued per state, per route
An oversize permit covers one state and one specific route. A four-state move is four permit processes, not one, and a route change means starting parts of it again.
Timing varies a lot
Some states issue the same day. Some take several business days. Anyone quoting a next-day pickup on a genuinely oversize load without asking your dimensions first has not started the permit.
Daylight, weekends and escorts
Many states restrict travel to daylight hours and some prohibit weekend and holiday movement. Above certain dimensions you need escort vehicles, and above others a police escort.
Some routes are simply closed
Closed to your dimensions, that is. That means a longer route and more miles, and it is better to find out at the quoting stage than with the load on the trailer.
What we need
to quote
Exact dimensions
Length, width, height and weight, measured rather than estimated. 'About 12 feet wide' is not enough: the difference between 12 feet 0 and 12 feet 6 can change the permit class, the escort requirement and the route.
The site on both ends
Origin and destination, with GPS coordinates for remote sites, and what is on site to load and unload at each. If it is machinery, the center of gravity and the lift points too.
Your date, and how firm it is
Permits set the floor on the timeline. Tell us the target and how much of it is negotiable, and we will tell you what is achievable rather than what you want to hear.
- Route survey
Somebody drives
the route first
For tall or wide loads, someone physically drives the planned route and checks bridge clearances, overhead lines, turn radii at intersections, road weight ratings and construction.
It costs money and it takes time. It costs a great deal less than discovering a 13 foot 2 bridge with a 14 foot load already on the trailer.
- Equipment
The trailer decides a lot
What the freight rides on sets the height you have to work with, and the height is usually what drives the permit.
- Flatbed. Standard, up to 8 feet 6 wide and about 8 feet 6 of cargo height.
- Step-deck. Taller freight. The lower deck buys you roughly eighteen more inches.
- Double drop or lowboy. Very tall freight, carried in the well.
- RGN. Removable gooseneck, for machinery that drives or rolls on.
- Multi-axle. Very heavy freight, spreading the weight across more axles.
Related services to elevate your
delivery strategy
Ground freight
Full truckload and LTL for the parts of the project that fit inside legal dimensions.
Ocean freight
For project cargo with an overseas leg, including the equipment that will not fit in a container.
Energy
Turbine sections, transformers and site deliveries, which is where most project freight comes from.
Exact dimensions, weight,
and both locations
Send those and we will tell you what it takes and how long the permits run. If the date you have in mind is not achievable, you will hear that from us before you promise it to anyone else. Or call 1-800-632-1760.
