Superload Permits: When Your Load Is Too Big

Whitney S. Johnson · CEO of RouteAll · 4 years running height pole, mostly east coast, escorting data center equipment.

Last verified September 8, 2026 against the state regulations linked in each table row.

A superload is an oversize load so large the state stops issuing the permit by formula and starts reviewing it by hand. Delaware calls it a superload at 15 feet wide. Pennsylvania calls it one at 201,000 pounds. Every state draws the line somewhere different.

This guide is written from the state regulations, and each number links to the rule it came from.

In one minute: your load becomes a superload when it passes a width, height, length or weight number written into that state's rules. Pass any one of them and the permit stops being routine.

• The state reviews the bridges and structures on the route you asked for.
• A travel plan may be required in writing before the permit is issued.
• Law enforcement may have to be scheduled to escort the move.
• The wait is measured in days or weeks, not minutes.

Cross a state line and the number changes underneath you.

What is a superload?

A superload is a non-divisible load that exceeds the size or weight a state will permit routinely. The state stops applying a formula and assigns a person to review the route. Delaware, Georgia, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Virginia each publish a threshold, and no two of them match.

Delaware writes the definition most plainly.

Where does oversize end and superload begin?

Oversize begins at the federal width limit and superload begins wherever the state says. Under 23 CFR 658.15, no state may set a National Network width limit other than 102 inches, which is 8 feet 6 inches (8'6"). Above that you need a permit. Far above it, you need a reviewed one.

Which states call it a superload, and at what number?

Delaware sets the lowest width trigger in this guide at 15 feet, and Virginia the highest at 18 feet. On weight, Delaware again starts lowest at 120,000 pounds while Virginia's travel-plan trigger is 250,000 pounds. The table gives the published trigger for seven states.

Two of these states name no dimension at all.

• Kansas and Pennsylvania define a superload by gross weight alone.
• A wide but light load is handled under their ordinary oversize rules instead.

Georgia is the one to read twice.

• Georgia's band has a ceiling as well as a floor, running from over 150,001 pounds up to 180,000 pounds.
• A heavier load in Georgia falls outside that superload category again.

What does the state actually review?

The state reviews whether the structures on your route will carry the load. That review is the reason a superload permit takes longer than a routine one. Kansas writes the requirement directly into its rule, and ties travel to its completion.

Other states describe the same review in their own words:

• Virginia issues the permit only after review or VDOT engineering analysis finds the configuration will not damage roadways, bridges or structures on the route.
• Missouri may require a minimum of $425 in escrow to cover the cost of a bridge analysis before it will process the application.
• Kansas issues superload permits only for single-trip movements, so there is no annual permit covering this category.
• Kansas also makes movers of superloads pay for all damage caused by the movement.

The analysis is what produces your route. The roads you are given are the roads the bridges allowed.

How much lead time do you need?

Plan on weeks, not days. Missouri tells applicants to allow at least two weeks for a route evaluation. Virginia asks that superload applications reach the DMV at least 10 working days before the anticipated movement date. A permit that needs a bridge analysis cannot be issued while you wait.

Virginia also asks for a written travel plan on the largest moves. Per 24VAC20-82-60, movements over 18 feet wide, 250,000 pounds, 200 feet long or 16 feet high may have to submit one. The plan it describes is detailed.

• Load facts: description, dimensions, weight, and why the load cannot be broken down.
• Route detail: specific origin and destination, with the preferred routes named.
• Law enforcement: written authorization from local police for escort services.
• Utility authorization: written agreement from the utility for handling overhead wires.
• Emergency plan: how emergency vehicles will get past the load.

Alabama runs its law enforcement escort as a separate booking. Under Ala. Admin. Code 760-X-2-.04, ALDOT issues the superload permit only after the state police confirm the escort is scheduled, and the permittee is invoiced afterward.

Route detail matters more on a superload

On a superload the route is the whole permit. An engineer chose those roads because the bridges on them were analyzed and cleared. A detour that looks harmless on a map may cross a structure nobody checked.

Leaving the route is a different kind of mistake here than on a routine oversize move. Our guide on what happens if you leave your permitted route covers the general consequences.

If your load is nowhere near these numbers, start with do you need an oversize permit? The 4 numbers that decide instead. Escort requirements sit on a separate scale again, and are listed in pilot car requirements by state.

RouteAll reads the permit you already hold and follows the roads printed on it, which is the part that matters once an engineer has chosen them. How that works is on the RouteAll home page.

Superload checks before you roll

Find the superload threshold for every state on your route before you apply, not after. One state's routine oversize permit is another state's engineering review, and the review is what sets your schedule. Start with the state that has the lowest trigger on your lane. The RouteAll driver guides cover the permit side, and RouteAll support: report a permit the app read wrong takes those reports.

Common questions

Further reading

Sources

• Delaware, 2 Del. Admin. Code § 2405-3.0, Permit Descriptions and Procedures.
• Georgia, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 672-2-.01, Definitions.
• Kansas, Kan. Admin. Regs. § 36-1-38, Types of permits.
• Missouri, 7 CSR 10-25.020, section (15), Super Heavy and Large Load Movement.
• Nebraska, 415 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 3, § 001.27, Definitions.
• Pennsylvania, 67 Pa. Code § 179.9, Issuance of permits.
• Virginia, 24VAC20-82-60, Superload single trip permit.
• Alabama, Ala. Admin. Code r. 760-X-2-.04, Superload Law Enforcement Escort Procedures.
• Federal, 23 CFR § 658.15, Width.

RouteAll reads the permit you provide. It does not issue permits or guarantee compliance. The driver remains responsible for the load. Rules change; verify against the permit and the issuing state before every move. This guide is written from published state regulations, not from operating experience with superloads.