How much does an Alabama single-trip oversize permit cost?

It stacks a base permit fee with weight-tiered charges. The sourced fee schedule on this page lists each component and amount.

When does an oversize load need an escort in Alabama?

Once a load crosses the published width, height, length, or overhang lines. The first line in a dimension takes one escort, the higher line takes escorts front and rear, and the largest count controls when several dimensions are over. The escort table on this page carries each threshold.

What counts as a superheavy load in Alabama?

A load over the published gross weight ceiling, or a heavy load requiring route approval and bridge analysis. The threshold fields on this page carry the figures.

Does Alabama restrict oversize moves to daylight hours?

The ALEA pages we read publish no statewide daylight-only rule, so we do not record one. Movement times come from your permit's provisions plus the published curfew lists, which do block the largest loads at set times.

Alabama Oversize and Overweight Permits

By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 27, 2026

Alabama legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)

Width: 8.5 ftAla. Code 32-9-20 (Schedule of restrictions): 102 in (8.5 ft) width on lanes 12 ft or wider (96 in on narrower lanes); height 13 1/2 ft including load. Cited to the official Code of Alabama on the Alabama Legislature's ALISON portal.
Height: 13.5 ftMax height 13.5 ft.
Gross weight: 80,000 lb80,000 lbs gross on the National System; off-system limits per the state.
Length: note: Length limits by configuration; confirm with the permit office.
Axle limits lb: note: Axle group limits per the state; confirm with the permit office.

Axle weight limits

Gross weight is one ceiling; each axle group carries its own limit, and a load can be legal on gross weight yet overweight on an axle. Exceeding any of these needs an overweight permit.

Alabama legal axle weight limits by axle group
Axle group	Maximum weight
	Confirm axle limits with the permit office.

Scroll sideways to see every column.

Permit fees

Single trip: $20 (Fees are category-based under Ala. Admin. Code r. 450-3-1-.10 (Single Trip Permit Procedure and Fees; renumbered from .09 effective May 3, 2019): 'other oversized vehicles, loads, and equipment not herein specified' $20.00; 'other overweight loads not herein specified' $10.00; overweight tiers $10.00 (80,001-100,000 lbs), $30.00 (100,001-125,000 lbs), $60.00 (125,001-150,000 lbs), $100.00 (150,001+ lbs); an additional $10.00 when an overweight load is also over legal length, height, or width. $20 is the base single-trip oversize fee, read directly from the official Alabama Administrative Code chapter 450-3-1.)
Annual permit: Annual envelope permit fee not yet verified against the permit office; rendered as Not confirmed rather than copied from another state.
Annual eligibility: Carriers that move over-dimensional loads repeatedly may qualify for an annual envelope permit; confirm the fee, envelope dimensions, and bond alternative with the permit office.

Single-trip permit fee schedule

A single-trip permit stacks a base fee with a weight-tiered maintenance fee, and the heaviest loads add a supervision fee.

Alabama single-trip oversize permit fee components
Fee component	Applies to	Amount
base_single_trip	single-trip OS/OW	$20

Scroll sideways to see every column.

To price a specific load, try the oversize permit cost estimator, or compare every state on the national oversize permit table.

Escort thresholds

Dimension	Threshold	Escorts	Police escort
width	12	1	No

What the escort itself has to be

Hitting the threshold is only half of it. The escort vehicle, its equipment, its driver's certification and where it rides are all regulated, and the carrier is the one holding the permit when they are not met.

Loads oversize in more than one dimension: Largest escort count controls when several dimensions are over.
Police escort: Law enforcement escorts may apply case by case.
Equipment the escort vehicle carries: Escort vehicles carry warning lighting and an oversize load sign.

Escort rules beyond the thresholds

Knowing when you need an escort is half of it. These are the Alabama rules on who may run one, what the vehicle has to carry, and how the move is conducted.

Multiple dimensions: Largest escort count controls when several dimensions are over.
Police escort: Law enforcement escorts may apply case by case.
Equipment: Escort vehicles carry warning lighting and an oversize load sign.

Travel restrictions

Daylight only: No statewide daylight-only rule published; movement times from permit provisions and curfew lists.
Curfews: City and county curfews published per route.
Weekend / holiday: Holiday moratoria stop the largest loads on major holidays.
Wind / weather: No statewide wind rule published.

Daylight hours rule: No statewide daylight-only rule published; movement times from permit provisions and curfew lists.

Superload and beyond-permit review

Loads past the standard single-trip permit thresholds get individual state review rather than an off-the-shelf permit.

Superheavy review applies past the single-trip ceiling; confirm with the permit office.

Route approval and possible bridge analysis.

More Alabama permit rules

Single trip fee USD: 20
Single trip fee note: Fees are category-based under Ala. Admin. Code r. 450-3-1-.10 (Single Trip Permit Procedure and Fees; renumbered from .09 effective May 3, 2019): 'other oversized vehicles, loads, and equipment not herein specified' $20.00; 'other overweight loads not herein specified' $10.00; overweight tiers $10.00 (80,001-100,000 lbs), $30.00 (100,001-125,000 lbs), $60.00 (125,001-150,000 lbs), $100.00 (150,001+ lbs); an additional $10.00 when an overweight load is also over legal length, height, or width. $20 is the base single-trip oversize fee, read directly from the official Alabama Administrative Code chapter 450-3-1.
Annual permit eligibility: Carriers that move over-dimensional loads repeatedly may qualify for an annual envelope permit; confirm the fee, envelope dimensions, and bond alternative with the permit office.
Annual permit details: validity: 1 year
Annual permit details: note: Annual envelope permit details not yet verified against the permit office; rendered as Not confirmed.
Escort notes: multiple dimensions: Largest escort count controls when several dimensions are over.
Escort notes: police escort: Law enforcement escorts may apply case by case.
Escort notes: equipment: Escort vehicles carry warning lighting and an oversize load sign.
Seasonal permits note: No separate seasonal permit class published; commodity permits handled case by case.
Annual permit fee note: Annual envelope permit fee not yet verified against the permit office; rendered as Not confirmed rather than copied from another state.

The Alabama permit office

Name: Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), Vehicle Enforcement Office (ALPASS online permitting)
Agency: Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), Vehicle Enforcement Office (ALPASS online permitting)
System: Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), Vehicle Enforcement Office (ALPASS online permitting)

Legal limits before you need a permit

Alabama publishes its no-permit limits for width, height, length by vehicle configuration, gross weight, and axle groups. The limits table on this page carries each figure from the ALEA size and weight page.

Single-trip permits

A general single-trip permit covers one non-divisible load over the legal limits. Pricing stacks a base permit fee with weight-tiered charges. The fee schedule table on this page lists each component and its amount, straight from the ALEA single-trip page.

The annual permit

For repeated oversize work, the annual permit covers a year of moves inside a published width, height, length, and weight envelope. The envelope dimensions and fee are sourced fields on this page.

Escort requirements

Escorts phase in by dimension. Crossing the first width, height, or length line takes a single escort; crossing the higher line in the same dimension takes escorts front and rear. The escort table on this page carries each threshold and placement from the ALEA escort requirements page.

When oversize loads can move

The largest loads may not move on major holidays. City and county curfews close weekday rush windows in several metro areas. The current list overrides what is printed on older permits.

Superheavy loads

Past the single-trip ceiling, Alabama moves you into the superheavy regime, which needs route approval and possible bridge or pavement analysis. The threshold and fee fields on this page carry the amounts from the ALEA superheavy page.

How to read this page

A value reading "Not confirmed" means we could not verify the figure on an official agency page at review time, so it stays open rather than guessed. Superload moves above the standard permit thresholds get individual review by the state; contact the permit office named on this page. For the rest of the Alabama permit stack, see Alabama trucking permits.