Follow Your Oversize Permit Route, Turn By Turn

Why Can’t An Ordinary GPS Follow The Permit?

A route-specific permit names the roads you may use, in order, with the conditions that go with them. A phone GPS does something different: it routes to an address and recalculates around traffic. That is correct for a car and wrong for a permitted load, because the new road may be one the state never reviewed for your size and weight.

Texas states the principle in its permit rule: a permitted vehicle is routed over the most practical route available, and a different route needs more than one permit unless the department grants an exception (43 Texas Administrative Code 219.11). Our guide on why Google Maps cannot follow your permit covers the detail.

How Do You Follow The Route From The Paper Permit?

The oldest way still works with every permit from every state. Read the route at the yard, with the permit in front of you, and turn it into a list you can drive from.

1. Find both ends. Note the exact origin and destination, including the first and last streets.
2. Read each road in order. Write the road, its direction and where you leave it.
3. Mark every junction. Each change of road is a place a missed turn takes you off the permit.
4. Attach the conditions. Put any bridge, escort or time instruction beside the road it applies to.
5. Share the list. Give the lead escort the same list so turns can be called on the radio.

If two lines of the route do not seem to connect, stop there and ask the issuing state. What roads your permit allows walks through reading the route section. The cost of paper is attention: nothing warns you if a turn is missed at night or in rain.

How Does ProMiles Permit Route Guidance Work?

ProMiles Permit Route Guidance is a free app that loads the route from the state’s own permitting system. You scan the permit’s barcode or QR code, or pick the state and type the permit number. The app then speaks the next maneuver as you approach it and shows the trip line on the screen.

It has limits worth knowing before you count on it. ProMiles says it works only with single-trip routed permits, not annual or envelope permits, and the route is not stored, so you load it each trip. Its FAQ says the app has no routing capabilities: if you leave the route, guidance stops and tells you to contact the permit office.

Coverage is the main question. As of November 3, 2026, ProMiles lists Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and Ohio as live, with Colorado and New Hampshire testing. If your permit comes from one of those states, it is a sound free choice.

How Does RouteAll Follow The Permit?

RouteAll starts from the permit itself, so it works with a permit from any state. Upload the PDF or a photo. RouteAll reads the route, draws it, and lists every road it read so you can check each one against the permit before you confirm. It has read real permits from 29 states so far, and formats differ, so that check matters.

• Turn by turn on the permitted roads only. It never reroutes you off the permit the way Google Maps does, and it warns you if you leave the permitted roads.
• Multi-state trips. Up to 6 state permits join into one route that meets at each state line.
• The escort sees the same route. Viewing a route the driver shares is free.
• No signal needed once it is loaded. Guidance keeps working when the phone loses coverage.

One trip is free every month, with no card to start. RouteAll does not issue permits or choose a legal route; the permit and the issuing state still govern the move. The permit-to-GPS walkthrough shows each step.

Which Way Fits Your Trip?

• Paper: any permit, any state, no phone. Best with an experienced escort calling turns.
• ProMiles: a single-trip routed permit from a state it lists as live.
• RouteAll: a permit from any state, trips that cross state lines, and an escort who should see the same route.

Other apps read permits too, and their states and prices differ. Our comparison of permit route apps lists each one’s own claims.

What If You Leave The Route Anyway?

Stop where it is safe and legal, and do not improvise a way back on a road the permit does not name. Call the issuing state or your permit service before you continue. What happens if you leave your permitted route covers what states say about it.

Common Questions

Can I follow an oversize permit route on Google Maps?

Not reliably. Google Maps routes to an address and recalculates around traffic, and it does not read the permit, so it can send a permitted load onto roads the permit never named. Follow the permit’s own route, from a written list or in an app that reads it.

Is ProMiles Permit Route Guidance free?

Yes. ProMiles says the app is free. It works only with single-trip routed permits from connected states; as of November 3, 2026 those were Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and Ohio.

Which app follows an oversize permit from any state?

RouteAll reads a permit PDF or photo from any state, has read real permits from 29 states so far, and joins up to 6 state permits into one trip. Check every road it read against the permit before you drive.

Before You Roll

Have the current permit, with any amendment, in the cab. Check the route on your list or screen against the permit road by road, agree turns with the escort, and know who to call if a road is closed.