Florida oversize permit requirements

Florida is a peninsula, and the permit rules read like it. There is no through traffic to speak of — a load entering Florida is going to Florida — so the state is less concerned with keeping corridors moving than with keeping its own tourist and commuter traffic clear of oversize equipment. The result is a set of rules built around the weekend rather than around the working week.

The permit itself is generous. Ten days, where Alabama gives five and Texas three to five, which takes most of the schedule pressure off a Florida move. Travel hours are the familiar daylight window, but the interesting provisions sit above it: a load no wider than ten feet, of legal length and no taller than fourteen feet six inches, may run weekdays and weekends alike. Between ten and fourteen feet wide, weekend movement is allowed but stops at noon on Saturday and Sunday. Overweight-only loads typically move around the clock.

Florida is unusually strict about holidays and unusually specific about which ones. The six main federal holidays are closed to oversize movement, and so is Martin Luther King Day, which most states do not list. The closures extend to the days either side of New Year, Thanksgiving and Christmas. That applies to loads over ten feet wide, over fourteen feet six inches high, or over legal length — a modest load is left alone.

The figures worth checking twice are the axle weights, because Florida sits above the numbers most carriers carry in their heads. Twenty-two thousand pounds on a single axle, forty-four on a tandem, sixty-six on a tridem — each meaningfully higher than the federal norms the rest of the south-east works to. A combination that would be overweight in Georgia can be legal in Florida on the same axles, which is worth knowing before paying for a permit that was never needed. Above legal, the routine ceiling runs to a hundred and sixty thousand pounds on eight axles, and past fifteen feet of height a route survey is required rather than optional.

Legal dimensions

At or under these figures, no oversize permit is required in Florida.

Width

8′6″

Height

13′6″

Gross weight

80,000 lb

Overhang

3′ front, 3′ rear

Single axle

22,000 lb

Tandem

44,000 lb

Tridem

66,000 lb

Routine permit limits

Above legal dimensions and up to these figures, Florida issues a permit as routine business. Beyond them the load becomes a superload, reviewed case by case.

Length

150′

Width

15′

Height

15′ — above this a route survey is required

5 axles

112,000 lb

6 axles

122,000 lb

7 axles

142,000 lb

8 axles

160,000 lb

Escort requirements

A load reaching any of these figures needs an escort in Florida — the figure is the first size that requires one, so a load measuring exactly this much already needs it.

Width

12′1″

Height

14′6″

Length

95′1″

When the load may move

Worth knowing

• Florida allows higher legal axle weights than its neighbours — 22,000 lb single and 44,000 lb tandem — so a load that is overweight in Georgia may be legal here.
• Martin Luther King Day is a restricted travel day in Florida, which is unusual.
• A route survey is required above 15′ of height.
• The trailer itself is limited to 48′, separately from the combination.

Crossing more than Florida?

A permit is per state. If the route leaves Florida, these are the states it most likely enters.

• Alabama →
• Georgia →

Compiled from published state DOT sources. Regulations change — confirm the current rules before dispatch. Last reviewed 2026-07-30.