Georgia Oversize Load Permits, Regulations & Axle Rules

Georgia's daylight window is tighter than most: permitted loads run from 30 minutes after sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset, Monday through Saturday. There's no Sunday travel for oversize loads; the weekly window closes at the end of Saturday and doesn't reopen until Monday morning. Holidays are off-limits too, though Georgia doesn't enumerate them in the administrative code by name. The Oversized Permit Unit posts the specific blackout dates each year; standard federal holidays, New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, have historically been included, but confirm the current posted list before planning a holiday-adjacent move.

The one meaningful exception to the daylight-and-weekday rule is for loads that are overweight in gross vehicle weight only, with every dimension within legal limits: those loads may travel continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, provided gross weight stays at or below 125,000 lbs. That exception still yields to holiday blackouts and weather stops.

Atlanta creates a separate layer. No permitted vehicle may operate within the area enclosed by I-285 between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM or between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday. The only way in during those windows is if the load is making a pickup or delivery inside the perimeter, and proof is required. There's no parking on Interstate or limited-access right-of-way while waiting for the blackout to clear.

Weather adds two independent stops. All permitted loads halt in fog, snow, or icy conditions. Loads over 12 feet wide face additional stops: they may not move when visibility drops below 600 feet or when ground wind exceeds 25 mph. Mega Loads, the heaviest tier, are specifically anticipated to move between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM, though carriers may propose an alternate window for GDOT review.

Georgia gives distinct treatment to several commodity types, mostly agricultural, with the road-type tier affecting what applies where.

Agricultural and forestry equipment, whether self-propelled or hauled, is exempt from width and length limits without a permit when operated during daylight hours on non-Interstate roads by dealers or by the owner within 40 miles of the property. This exemption does not cover trucks hauling forest products; it covers the equipment itself. Port facility equipment operating within 10 miles of a Georgia Ports Authority facility on non-Interstate roads gets a parallel exemption, provided an escort vehicle with amber flashing lights is present.

Cotton, tobacco, concrete pipe, and plywood loads up to 9 feet wide on non-Interstate routes are exempt from the usual non-divisible load restriction. Round bales of hay move up to 11 feet wide on non-Interstate routes under the same provision. Neither exemption is valid on the Interstate system.

Containerized freight carried under international bill of lading gets elevated weight allowances: a 40-foot box container may run at up to 100,000 lbs GVW on a five-axle tractor-trailer combination, and a 20-foot box container at up to 80,000 lbs with tandem axle weight capped at 44,000 lbs.

Off-the-road equipment has a hard stop: no permit is issued if any single axle exceeds 25,000 lbs. Equipment in the 20,340-to-25,000-lb single-axle range can be permitted but is routed directly by the Oversize Permit Unit and restricted to within 10 miles of the origin point.

Georgia attaches no seasonal windows to most of these categories beyond the general daylight and holiday rules.

Georgia uses a formal three-tier hierarchy, Superload, Superload Plus, and Mega Load, with each tier defined by a specific weight range or gross weight floor, plus dimensional triggers at the Superload level.

Superload is the base tier and has two ways to qualify. A load is a Superload if it exceeds 16 feet in width or 16 feet in height. It's also a Superload if its gross vehicle weight exceeds 150,000 lbs but does not exceed 180,000 lbs. These are separate triggers: a load that is, say, 16'3" wide qualifies regardless of weight, and a load at 165,000 lbs gross qualifies regardless of dimensions. When only dimensions push the load into Superload, axle weights and spacings aren't required for the application. Once GVW exceeds 150,000 lbs, axle weights and spacings become required input for bridge analysis. The single-trip permit fee is $125.

Superload Plus is triggered entirely by weight: any gross vehicle weight over 180,000 lbs lands here. A full bridge analysis is required, which means complete axle weights and spacings must be specified on the permit and must be accurate. Axle weights may not exceed what the permit specifies, and axle spacings must be equal to or longer than what's stated; shorter actual spacings void the permit. If the permit is voided for that reason, the carrier faces an overweight citation assessed at 125% of the excess above 150,000 lbs GVW. The permit fee is $500.

Mega Load applies to any load with gross vehicle weight of 300,000 lbs or more. Before GDOT will permit a highway move at this tier, the applicant must demonstrate that rail and waterway alternatives have been exhausted. The analysis must be performed by a GDOT pre-qualified consultant firm in bridge inspection services (Area Class 4.05). All submittals must reach GDOT at least 30 business days (6 weeks) before the move date; this is a firm advance-notice requirement, not an aspirational guideline. Documentation requirements include a route survey (detailed below), a traffic control and movement plan developed to GDOT standards, bridge load ratings covering both superstructure and substructure, profile surveys at culverts, and pre- and post-inspection reports for borderline structures. A $500,000 performance bond is required. Loads over 500,000 lbs also require insurance bonding. The move window is anticipated between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM, with the carrier able to propose an alternate timeline for GDOT review. A minimum of two Georgia State Patrol officers with blue lights is required throughout the movement, plus any additional escorts the traffic control plan calls for. Post-inspection must be completed within 3 days of move completion, and a post-movement profile survey is due within 14 days.

There is no length trigger for any of Georgia's three heavy-permit tiers. Overlength loads do not enter Superload classification; they encounter length-based escort requirements that operate independently (see Route Survey Process and Police Escort Process).

Georgia's route survey requirements are organized by load tier, not by a single dimensional threshold. The obligations at each level are distinct.

For Superload and Superload Plus (gross weight over 150,000 lbs), the specific requirement is accurate axle weights and spacings submitted with the permit application for bridge analysis. GDOT uses that data to evaluate the structures along the proposed route before approving the move. The analysis is a precondition of the permit, not an after-the-fact check.

For Mega Loads (300,000 lbs or more), the carrier or a GDOT pre-qualified consultant must conduct a full field survey of the proposed route. The survey must document roadway widths and lane counts, relief points where traffic can bypass the load, all turns and obstructions along the route, estimated travel time and average speed, and any other physical constraints. On the structure side, it requires bridge load ratings for superstructure and substructure on every bridge along the route, profile surveys at each culvert crossing, and pre-inspection and post-inspection reports for all structures with an operating rating below 1.20. Structures rated at 50 tons (HS20 operating rating) and above are generally estimated adequate for certain Mega Load movement, but GDOT reserves the right to require analysis on any structure regardless. All of this documentation must be submitted at least 30 business days before the move.

A narrower but important bridge-clearance obligation applies to loads over 14'8" wide: movement is not permitted on any route that includes a bridge with less than 28 feet of lateral clearance, unless a vehicle front escort is accompanying the load.

For overheight loads, the NJUNS system serves as a pre-permit utility notification check. Any load 18 feet or taller must obtain a NJUNS trip approval ticket before GDOT will issue the permit. For loads at 15'6" or taller, a front escort with a height sensor (height pole) is required at all times on the road, unless the carrier already holds a valid NJUNS trip approval ticket covering the move. The height sensor is the physical proxy for utility-line pre-inspection; NJUNS clearance substitutes for it.

Georgia does not publish a general physical route survey requirement for standard oversize or overweight loads below the Superload weight threshold. Single-trip permits are valid for 10 allowable travel days from issuance. The permitted route is fixed: the load must follow the route stated on the permit and may not deviate.

Georgia State Patrol (GSP), operating under the Georgia Department of Public Safety, is the law enforcement agency responsible for OSOW enforcement and escort in the state.

For most of the permitted oversize range, Georgia does not mandate law enforcement. Civilian escort vehicles, automobiles or pickup trucks equipped with a revolving or flashing amber warning light, handle the codified escort requirements up through 16 feet wide. At that threshold, the Department's stance shifts from codified rules to discretion: for loads wider than 16 feet, GDOT determines escort requirements case by case and may require a police escort with operating blue lights identifying its jurisdiction. This is a to-be-determined situation in the regulatory sense; GDOT will review each application and may or may not attach a GSP escort, depending on the load and route. There is no fixed width number above 16 feet that automatically mandates police.

The one firm police trigger in Georgia is for Mega Loads. Any load at or above 300,000 lbs gross requires a minimum of two police escorts with blue lights operating at all times throughout the movement, plus any additional officers the traffic control plan specifies. Unlike the width discretion, this is a codified minimum that's not negotiable.

A police escort vehicle must be a marked automobile bearing its law enforcement jurisdiction's markings and equipped with a flashing or revolving blue light meeting state equipment code. The carrier bears responsibility for providing two-way communication in good working order so that the driver of the permitted load, the civilian escorts, and the police escorts maintain constant contact throughout the move.

Georgia does not route escort coordination through a central permit-office scheduling system the way some states do. The Mega Load review process, with its 30-business-day lead time, traffic control plan, and direct GDOT consultant oversight, is the practical mechanism through which GSP involvement gets confirmed for those moves. For loads where police escort may be required at the department's discretion (width over 16 feet), the escort requirement would be specified on the permit itself, and carriers should expect to arrange GSP availability once the permit terms are known.