Alabama Oversize Load Permits: ALPASS, Escorts, Travel Days

What Are Alabama’s Legal Size Limits?

ALDOT’s rules presentation lists the limits in Code of Alabama §32-9-20: 8 feet 6 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches high, 40 feet for a single vehicle and 57 feet for a semitrailer or a truck-semitrailer combination. Past any of them, or past legal weight, you need a permit for the state highway system (Ala. Admin. Code r. 450-3-1-.03).

How Do You Get An Alabama Oversize Permit?

Register for ALPASS online or send ALDOT a new hauler form, then order through ALPASS or by phone. ALDOT’s FAQ says single-trip permits have a two-hour turnaround and are valid for five business days and one round trip: loaded one way and empty the other. ALDOT recommends the Free Form route entry, where you type the highways yourself.

Those figures are ALDOT’s permit fee schedule, revised March 11, 2025. Card payments carry an added transaction fee.

When Does Alabama Require An Escort?

Rule 450-3-1-.05 lists the minimum escorts, and ALDOT can require more:

• 12 to 14 feet wide: one front escort on two-lane roads, or one rear escort on multilane roads.
• Over 14 feet wide: one front and one rear escort on all roads.
• Over 15 feet 6 inches high: a front escort with a height indicator.
• 90 to 125 feet long: one rear escort. 125 to 150 feet: front and rear.
• Over 150 feet long: front and rear law enforcement escorts.
• Overhang: a rear escort past 5 feet behind the vehicle, a front escort at 10 feet or more ahead of it.

Escort operators need a pilot/escort flagging course; see Alabama pilot car qualifications.

When Can An Oversize Load Move In Alabama?

“Permitted vehicles may travel daylight hours only. Travel is not permitted at any time on Sundays, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.”

ALDOT’s 2026 holiday list widens those days into longer windows, and marks several of them “subject to change”:

• Thanksgiving: no permitted travel from sunset Wednesday, November 25, to sunrise Monday, November 30.
• Christmas: sunset Thursday, December 24, to sunrise Monday, December 28.

Office closures on other holidays (such as Veterans Day) do not stop travel on a valid permit. Stop and park when visibility drops under 500 feet (r. 450-3-1-.04(3)), keep half a mile between permitted loads, and pull off when traffic backs up (r. 450-3-1-.04(8)).

What Signs, Flags And Lights Does Alabama Require?

Rule 450-3-1-.04(9) is specific: a 7-foot by 18-inch OVERSIZE LOAD sign, black 10-inch letters on yellow, front and rear, with no other signage allowed; an 18-inch fluorescent orange or red flag at each corner of the load; and an amber flashing or strobe light visible 360 degrees at 500 feet. Every vehicle in the move must be able to talk to the others. The Alabama signs guide covers escort vehicles.

What Is A Superload In Alabama?

ALDOT’s superload requirements define one as any load over 16 feet wide, 16 feet high, 150 feet long or 300,000 pounds gross. You send a justification letter from the shipper (including why the load cannot go by rail or barge), dimensioned drawings and an axle configuration drawing with the application.

Superloads follow different hours from other permitted loads: ALDOT says most will be required to travel between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., Sunday through Thursday, unless the permit office approves otherwise, and every superload needs at least two state trooper or police escorts.

Where Does RouteAll Fit?

RouteAll does not issue or approve permits. Once Alabama issues yours, upload the PDF and RouteAll lists every road it read, so you can check them against the permit, then warns you if you leave them. One free trip every month covers up to six state permits.

Before You Roll

• Confirm the permit’s five business days cover your trip, and that it is one round trip.
• Plan around Sundays and the holiday windows, which start at sunset the evening before.
• Over 12 feet wide, match the escort side to the road type on each leg.
• Order the 7-foot by 18-inch sign: Alabama allows no other wording.

Common Questions

How much is an oversize permit in Alabama?

ALDOT’s fee schedule charges $20 for an over-width, height or length load up to 100,000 pounds, $40 to 125,000, $70 to 150,000 and $110 above that. An annual renewal is $100. Checked November 12, 2026.

Can you move an oversize load on Sunday in Alabama?

Not for ordinary permitted loads. Rule 450-3-1-.04(2) bars permitted travel at any time on Sundays and on six holidays, and limits it to daylight hours. Superloads are handled separately: ALDOT says most travel between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., Sunday through Thursday, unless the permit office approves otherwise.

How long is an Alabama single-trip permit good for?

Five business days, for one round trip: loaded one way and empty the other. ALDOT’s FAQ says single-trip permits usually arrive in under two hours.