North Carolina oversize permit office
NCDOT Oversize/Overweight Permit Unit. Call 1-888-574-6683 (Single Trip: option 1; Superload: option 2; Annual: option 3), Normal call-in hours (7:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday through Friday) Eastern time.
From North Carolina's own pages, checked 2026-10-24. Fees and rules change: the state's page is the last word.
- How to get one
- Apply online in PIMS any time with a PIMS logon account, or call the Permit Unit during call-in hours.
- Single trip fee
- A fee of twelve dollars ($12.00) for each dimension over lawful dimensions, including height, length, width, and weight up to 132,000 pounds; overweight vehicles also pay three dollars ($3.00) per 1,000 pounds over 132,000 pounds.Source
- Legal without a permit
- Width 8'6" · Height 14' · Length 40' single vehicle or 60' combination (a truck tractor with a 53-foot semi-trailer has no overall length limit on all roads) · Weight Gross weight is determined by the extreme axle measurement (federal bridge law); single axle 20,000 pounds, tandem axle 38,000 poundsSource 1Source 2
- Superloads
- It is a superload when gross weight is over 132,000 pounds, the steer axle is over 20,000 pounds, or width is over 15 feet; apply in writing at least 10 working days ahead.Source
- How fast
- Single trip permits are usually done the same working day; applications after 3:00 pm go the next working day, and loads over 14 feet high take two working days.Source
When you can move
- Daylight
- Oversize loads move from sunrise to sunset only, unless the permit says otherwise.Source
- At night
- No movement between sunset and sunrise unless the permit allows it; round-the-clock travel is only for loads with no oversize dimension and 112,000 lb or less.
- Weekends
- No general weekend ban: general loads may move Monday through Sunday, sunrise to sunset. 16 ft wide mobile/modular homes move only 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Holidays
- Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day. No oversize moves from noon on the weekday before the holiday until noon on the weekday after; if the holiday is on a weekend, from noon Friday to noon Monday. Next datesSource
- Rush-hour curfews
- 1 in North Carolina, such as Within 10 miles of the city limits of Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill (loads wider than 12 ft): 7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. All of them