The Virginia answer
Legal limits
First escort trigger
- Width
- over 12'rev. · read · lowest across road classes
- Height
- over 14'5"rev. · read
- Length
- over 90'rev. · read · lowest across road classes
- Rear overhang
- over 15'rev. · read
- Gross weight
- No trigger published
What the paper costs
- Single-trip base
- $20 · caveat ↓rev. · read
- Transaction / card
- Not yet researched
- How overweight is priced
- Priced by the milerev. · read
- Superload above
- The state publishes none
The short version: a Virginia single-trip permit starts at $20 before bands, overweight and the transaction charge; an escort is first required at over 12' wide; and the load becomes a superload at a gross weight the state does not publish. Everything below carries the Virginia document it came from, that document's own revision date, and the date we read it.
1. Where the load goes next
The jurisdictions this one borders, each chip carrying the fact that decides whether that crossing is the expensive one — so the row is itself a small comparison. A multi-state lane is the actual job, and from here it is one click per state rather than a return to an alphabetical index.
2. Virginia legal limits
Anything over one of these needs a permit. Every value links to the document that sets it.
| Measure | Legal limit |
|---|---|
| Width | 8'6"rev. · read Published as 8 ft 6 in, and elsewhere in the same manual as "102 inches excluding mirror and any warning device installed on a school bus". |
| Height | 13'6"rev. · read "Height: 13 feet 6 inches" — a hauling permit is required above it. |
| Semitrailer length | 53'rev. · read "Length (trailers): 48 feet (53-foot trailers are allowed on interstate system)". The 53 ft interstate figure is used; a trailer over 48 ft travelling entirely off the interstate system needs a permit that this row will not detect. |
| Overall length | None published |
| Kingpin to rear axle | 41'rev. · read §46.2-1112 conditions the 53 ft semitrailer allowance on "a distance of not more than 41 feet between the kingpin of the semitrailer and the rearmost axle or a point midway between the rear tandem axles". A semitrailer over 41 ft of kingpin distance falls back to the 48 ft cap, which the 53 ft row above will not catch on its own. |
| Front overhang | 3'rev. · read "Overhang: 4 feet – rear; 3 feet - front" |
| Rear overhang | 4'rev. · read |
| Gross weight | 80,000 lbrev. · read "No vehicle can travel on Virginia highways with a single axle weight in excess of 20,000 pounds, tandem axle weight in excess of 34,000 pounds, or a gross weight in excess of 80,000 pounds." The lawful gross is often LOWER: "The maximum gross weight is determined by the total number of axles and by measuring the distance between the first axle (steering) and extreme rear axle", and the official axle-spacing chart controls wherever it produces a smaller figure. |
| Single axle | 20,000 lbrev. · read A separate limit of 650 lb per inch of tyre width in contact with the road also applies and is not modelled — tyre width is not collected on a quote. |
| Tandem axle | 34,000 lbrev. · read Tandem defined as more than 40 inches but no more than 96 inches between axle centres. |
3. The Virginia escort ladder
Not one number per dimension — the whole staircase. Each row is a condition the state actually publishes, what it requires when that condition holds, and the clause it comes from. Where a rule requires escorts and the source states no number, the row says that in the source's own words rather than reporting no requirement.
| When | What is required | Source |
|---|---|---|
| front overhang over 10' | 1 certified escort1 in front |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| the road is “interstate” and width over 12' | 1 certified escort1 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| the road is “divided” or “two lane” or “urban” and width over 12' | 2 certified escorts1 in front1 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| the road is “interstate” and width over 14' | 2 certified escorts1 in front1 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| the road is “divided” or “two lane” or “urban” and width over 14' | 3 certified escorts2 in front1 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| height over 14'5" | 1 certified escort1 in frontHeight pole required |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| height over 14'6" | 1 certified escort1 in frontHeight pole required |
"A height pole is generally required for load…undated document · read |
| rear overhang over 15' | 1 certified escort1 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| the road is “interstate” and width over 16' | 3 certified escorts1 in front2 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| the road is “divided” or “two lane” or “urban” and width over 16' | 4 certified escorts2 in front2 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| the road is “divided” or “two lane” or “urban” and overall length over 90' | 1 certified escort1 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| the road is “interstate” and overall length over 120' | 1 certified escort1 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
| overall length over 150' | 2 certified escorts1 in front1 behind |
the complete numbered escort schedule, items …rev. · read |
The first trigger in each dimension
| Measurement | First escort trigger | First police escort trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Width | over 12'rev. · read · varies by road class | None published |
| Height | over 14'5"rev. · read | None published |
| Length | over 90'rev. · read · varies by road class | None published |
| Rear overhang | over 15'rev. · read | None published |
| Gross weight | None published | None published |
The same rules restated in plain sentences21 rules
- Over 12 ft wide on a noninterstate route — one front and one rear escort — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 12 ft wide on an interstate route — one rear escort — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 14 ft wide on a noninterstate route — TWO front escorts and one rear escort — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 14 ft wide on an interstate route — one front and one rear escort — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 16 ft wide on a noninterstate route — TWO front escorts and TWO rear escorts — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 16 ft wide on an interstate route — one front escort and TWO rear escorts — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 90 ft long on a noninterstate route — one rear escort — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 120 ft long on an interstate route — one rear escort — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 150 ft long — one front and one rear escort, on all routes — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Front overhang over 10 ft measured from the bumper — one front escort, on all routes — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Rear overhang over 15 ft measured from the bumper — one rear escort, on all routes — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 14 ft 5 in high — one front escort equipped with a height pole, on all routes (Administrative Code) — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 14 ft 6 in high — one front escort with a height pole (DMV FAQ, "generally required") — "A height pole is generally required for loads with a maximum height over 14 feet 6 inches." undated document · read
- Over 14 ft 5 in but not over 14 ft 6 in — the Administrative Code requires a height pole and the DMV FAQ does not — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- An off-centred load draws escorts in Virginia on a measurement a quote does not collect — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 18 ft wide or over 200 ft long — Virginia handles escorts case by case — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B rev. · read
- Over 18 ft wide, 250,000 lb, 200 ft long or 16 ft high — DMV may require a detailed travel plan with written law-enforcement authorisation — "Superload single trip permit requests exceed the maximum weight or size limitations ordinarily allowed on a single trip permit."; the 18 ft / 250,000 lb / 200 ft / 16 ft travel-plan parameters; 10 working days rev. · read
- Virginia publishes no state police escort rate because there is none — each locality crossed authorises and prices its own escort — "Superload single trip permit requests exceed the maximum weight or size limitations ordinarily allowed on a single trip permit."; the 18 ft / 250,000 lb / 200 ft / 16 ft travel-plan parameters; 10 working days rev. · read
- Virginia charges 30 cents per mile and never says how a PART mile is billed — this quote bills the true mileage pro rata — Single Trip $20; Blanket $100/$200; Superload $30 plus a damage fee "based on the gross weight of the vehicle configuration" undated document · read
- A Virginia superload is $30 plus mileage plus an unpublished damage fee, so no superload total can be quoted at all — Single Trip $20; Blanket $100/$200; Superload $30 plus a damage fee "based on the gross weight of the vehicle configuration" undated document · read
- Virginia certifies its escort drivers, and the certification cost is the operator’s rather than a permit fee — Code of Virginia §46.2-2907 reciprocity; the SEVEN-state list — Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington undated document · read
4. Virginia single-trip permit fees
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Single-trip base | $20rev. · read "Single Trip | One move between origin and destination. | $20" |
| Transaction / card | Not yet covered |
| Route analysis review | Not yet covered |
| Route with no bridges | Not yet covered |
5. How Virginia prices overweight
Priced by the mile. Virginia adds "a mileage fee of 30 cents per mile ... if overweight or if the vehicle configuration cannot be licensed in Virginia" on top of the flat $20 single-trip fee. There are no weight bands and no per-axle schedule.
The distance charge, with its rounding
Rounding is not a detail here: the same rate over the same miles can differ by a whole increment depending on which pounds are rounded and in which direction, so the rule is printed with the source's own words rather than applied silently.
| Gross weight | Axles | Rate and rounding | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80,001 lb and up | any | $0.30 per mile |
legal size and weight limits; the ordinary si…rev. · read |
6. Virginia seasonal posting windows
A permit priced against an unposted-road assumption in March is simply wrong, and wrong in the expensive direction. This is the window we watch, the basis for that window in the state's own orders or statute, and the authority that posts it.
Seasonal posting
- Programme
- No seasonal weight-restriction programme on the state systemNo spring thaw weight programme on the state system.
- Issuing authority
- VDOTVirginia Department of Transportation
The live Virginia restriction picture, with the date we last read the bulletin →
7. Virginia's superload threshold
Above one of these, the state stops issuing over the counter and prices the move after an engineering review.
| Trigger | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Gross weight | None published |
| Width | over 15'rev. · read The ordinary single-trip ceiling is "Width: 15ft."; a request above it is processed as a superload, which is issued case by case only after a review or VDOT engineering analysis, should be submitted at least 10 working days ahead, and carries an unpublished damage fee. |
| Height | over 15'rev. · read Ordinary single-trip ceiling "Height: 15ft." |
| Length | over 150'rev. · read Ordinary single-trip ceiling "Length: 150ft." |
| Short axle spacing | Not yet covered |
8. Route survey and bridge review
The dimensions at which Virginia triggers a physical route inspection or an engineering review, and what the agency charges to review it.
| Measurement | Inspection / review trigger |
|---|---|
| Width | Not yet covered |
| Height | Not yet covered |
| Length | Not yet covered |
9. Police escorts
No schedule exists, and that is structural rather than a gap. Virginia does not have a state police escort rate. 24VAC20-82-60.B.9 requires written authorisation from LOCAL law-enforcement personnel for each locality on the route, negotiated and priced separately with every one of them. There is no published schedule to quote.
This is a positive finding: we searched and there is nothing to quote. It is not the same as "no police escort is ever required here".
10. When you can move it
Holiday, curfew and night-travel windows are not yet encoded for Virginia. The seasonal picture — which is a different question — is in section 6 above.
Why those windows are absent rather than estimated
They are not guessed at here. What we do publish is the seasonal weight-restriction picture, with the date we last read each state's own bulletin — a curfew invented from a plausible pattern is worth less than an honest gap, because a reader cannot tell the two apart on the page.
11. Permit office
The agency behind each figure above is linked from that figure. We publish no per-state permit-office phone number.
Why there is no phone number here
We are not publishing per-state permit-office phone numbers yet, and the reason is worth stating: the two seed lists available for them are both demonstrably stale — the federal one gives two different states the same phone number — and a wrong number on a page like this costs somebody a morning. The agency behind each figure above is linked from that figure, which is the part we can stand behind today.
12. What this does not include
Named rather than gestured at, because each of these can exceed the permit itself. Every item is listed; open one for why it is excluded.
Line haul, fuel and driver time
This is a permit fee, not a freight rate.
Civilian pilot car rates
We hold no rate data, and the two commercial sites that publish market rates disagree by nearly a factor of two on the same service.
Route-survey engineering
The agency's review fee is shown where the state publishes one; the engineer's own fee is a private cost with no schedule.
Bonds and escrow
Set per move by the agency, and in at least one state the escort is billed at actual cost against it.
Utility coordination and line lifts
Arranged with each utility, priced by each utility.
Second-issuer permits
A toll, bridge or city authority inside the same state issues its own permit, and a state total that omits it is missing a whole permit.
Need a pilot car for this lane? Browse the pilot car & escort directory.
13. Every source behind this page (14)
Every document behind Virginia14 sources
- 24 Va. Admin. Code §20-82-130 — Escort vehicle requirements — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — the complete numbered escort schedule, items 1–15, and paragraph B
rev. · read - 24 Va. Admin. Code §20-82-60 — Superload single trip permits — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — "Superload single trip permit requests exceed the maximum weight or size limitations ordinarily allowed on a single trip permit."; the 18 ft / 250,000 lb / 200 ft / 16 ft travel-plan parameters; 10 working days
rev. · read - Code of Virginia §46.2-1105 — Width of vehicles — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — "shall not exceed a total outside width of 102 inches"; subsection B on travel-trailer and motor-home appurtenances
rev. · read - Code of Virginia §46.2-1110 — Height of vehicles — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — "No loaded or unloaded vehicle shall exceed a height of 13 feet, six inches."
rev. · read - Code of Virginia §46.2-1112 — Length of vehicles, generally — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — 65 ft combination; the interstate/designated-highway exemption from any overall length restriction; the 48 ft semitrailer, the 41 ft kingpin condition and the 53 ft allowance; 28½ ft per trailer in a twin
rev. · read - Code of Virginia §46.2-1120 — Extension of loads beyond front of vehicles — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — "no vehicle shall carry any load extending more than three feet beyond the front of such vehicle"; subsection C, self-propelled pole carriers to 10 ft
rev. · read - Code of Virginia §46.2-1121 — Warning devices on projecting loads — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — "more than four feet beyond the rear of the vehicle shall have the extremities of the load marked with a red or orange fluorescent warning flag"
rev. · read - Code of Virginia §46.2-1124 — Maximum single axle weight (last amended 1989) — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — "shall not exceed 20,000 pounds, nor shall it exceed 650 pounds per inch, width of tire"
rev. · read - Code of Virginia §46.2-1125 — Maximum tandem axle weight (last amended 1989) — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — "The tandem axle weight of any vehicle or combination shall not exceed 34,000 pounds"; the 40–96 inch spacing definition
rev. · read - Code of Virginia §46.2-1127 — Weight limits on interstate highways (last amended 1989) — Virginia Law Portal, Commonwealth of Virginia — "a gross weight, regardless of axle spacing, in excess of 80,000 pounds, unless otherwise permitted by the proper authority"
rev. · read - Virginia DMV — Escort Vehicle Driver training and certification (undated) — Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles — Code of Virginia §46.2-2907 reciprocity; the SEVEN-state list — Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington
undated document · read - Virginia DMV — Escort vehicle FAQ (undated) — Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles — "A height pole is generally required for loads with a maximum height over 14 feet 6 inches."
undated document · read - Virginia DMV — Hauling Permit Manual, DMV109 (PDF, 07/2024) — Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles — legal size and weight limits; the ordinary single-trip ceilings (15 ft / 15 ft / 150 ft / 24,000 lb / 44,000 lb); the $20 single-trip fee and 30-cent mileage note
rev. · read - Virginia DMV — Hauling Permits fee table (undated) — Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles — Single Trip $20; Blanket $100/$200; Superload $30 plus a damage fee "based on the gross weight of the vehicle configuration"
undated document · read
Questions
How much is an oversize permit in Virginia?
The single-trip base is $20, before the dimension bands, the overweight component and the transaction charge. The base alone is rarely what is paid.
When does Virginia require a pilot car?
The first width trigger is over 12', and it varies by road class — the figure shown is the lowest across classes.
What is a superload in Virginia?
Virginia publishes no gross-weight superload threshold in the documents on file — see the superload section, which shows the dimensional triggers it does publish.