Kentucky Oversize Load Permits, Regulations & Axle Rules

Kentucky is one of the few states that allows permitted oversize and overweight loads to run around the clock. Movement is allowed 24 hours a day, seven days a week unless the permit itself says otherwise. That default is notably permissive, but it comes with carve-outs that matter in practice.

There are no holiday travel blackouts for general OW/OD permits in Kentucky. There are also no state-imposed weekend restrictions for most commodity types.

Rush-hour curfews apply statewide for five specific counties and one bridge. All permitted loads, regardless of commodity or dimension, are barred from moving between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM and again between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM, Monday through Friday, in Boone, Campbell, Fayette, Jefferson (Louisville), and Kenton counties, and on the Owensboro Kentucky 2155 bridge. One narrow exception exists: a load that originates within Fayette County is exempt from those curfew windows on I-64 and I-75 within Fayette County and on connecting routes within 3 miles of those interstates. Emergency situations can also unlock restricted hours, but only with documented proof submitted to the Division of Motor Carriers before movement.

Weather stops permitted loads wider than 12 feet. Any load in that category cannot move when the National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory, or when adverse weather or road conditions would make the move dangerous. There is no published minimum visibility distance in the source material; the standard is whether conditions "would cause these moves to be dangerous." No continuous 24-hour movement protocol is established for any load type.

Kentucky gives several commodity classes their own regulatory track, and the differences are substantive enough to affect how a move is structured.

Farm equipment gets the most expansive exemption in the state. Moving a piece of farm equipment, whether self-propelled or trailered, between farms, from a farm to a repair shop or dealer, or from a repair shop back to a farm requires no OW/OD permit, even if the equipment is oversize or overweight. The no-permit exemption does not eliminate safety requirements: escort vehicles, signs, flags, and lights still apply, and the thresholds for farm equipment escorts differ from general loads (discussed in the Police Escort section). When a permit is required (dealer-to-dealer moves, or any movement on a toll road, parkway, or interstate), overweight farm equipment permits demand a minimum five-axle combination and a declared gross vehicle weight of at least 80,000 lbs. Self-propelled farm equipment is categorically prohibited on toll roads, parkways, and interstates regardless of permit status.

Metal commodities (not scrap metal) hauled to or from a Kentucky manufacturing or storage facility may travel at up to 120,000 lbs on a route-specific permit. The annual permit runs $1,250; a single-trip permit costs $100.

Livestock feed can move as a divisible load under an Annual Feed Certificate, which allows up to 88,000 lbs on route-specific non-interstate highways for $150 per year.

Vehicles or boats transported by auto/boat haulers get overhang relief that steps out of the standard 65-foot combination limit. A non-stinger-steered motor vehicle or boat transporter may carry up to 3 feet of front overhang and 4 feet of rear overhang, and those overhangs are excluded from the 65-foot combination length measurement on non-designated highways. A stinger-steered version gets a wider allowance, 4 feet front and 6 feet rear, excluded from an 80-foot overall length limit.

Sealed, containerized, ocean-going cargo units that are part of international trade and are non-divisible may move on a single-trip permit for $60 or an annual permit for $250 per vehicle.

Utility poles or pipes on a single-unit motor vehicle are held to the standard 45-foot single-unit length limit with no additional relief.

Kentucky has no commodity-specific seasonal or routing windows beyond those described, and no commodity is exempt from the rush-hour curfews in the five named counties.

Kentucky does not use the term "superload" in any statute or regulation. There is no single dimension or weight threshold that pushes a load into a named top tier. Instead, the state uses a set of escalating review and restriction triggers that collectively function as superload-equivalent treatment, and each dimension has its own break point.

Width exceeding 16 feet is the clearest hard limit. Annual permits cannot be issued for any load wider than 16 feet; those moves are single-trip only, every time. On any road type, a load wider than 16 feet requires four escorts: two in front and two in the rear.

Height exceeding 15'6" triggers a formal route survey submission. The applicant must file the Overweight or Overdimensional Proposed Route Survey (TC Form 95-625) in addition to the standard TC Form 95-10 with the Division of Motor Carriers. No annual permit can be issued for any load taller than 13'6", so all overheight single-trip moves are already bespoke. The maximum height the cabinet will permit on a single-trip basis is determined route-by-route based on actual underpass and bridge clearances along the designated path; there is no published universal cap.

Length exceeding 120 feet requires three escorts (one front, two rear) and mandates a pivot or steerable dolly as part of the configuration on all road types.

Heavy loads with trunnion axle groups do not trigger superload treatment by gross weight alone, but the maximum permitted weights for those axle groups are not tabled; they are determined by a route and bridge analysis performed by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's Bridge Preservation Branch, case by case.

Lead time is not published for any of these enhanced-review loads. Practically, the manual review involved in height-triggered route surveys and trunnion bridge analyses means applications should be filed well in advance of the move date. Carriers should also note that any route deviation from a Division-approved route requires prior written approval; an error here can void the permit mid-trip.

Kentucky's route survey obligation is tied to height. Once a load exceeds 15'6" in height, the applicant must submit a completed Overweight or Overdimensional Proposed Route Survey (TC Form 95-625) alongside the standard permit application. That form must be on file and accepted by the Division of Motor Carriers before the permit issues.

The survey documents the route's overhead environment: underpass heights, bridge clearances, and the feasibility of safe passage for the proposed load. The Division uses this submission to set the maximum permitted height for the specific trip, because Kentucky does not publish a universal overheight permit ceiling; the cabinet determines clearance limits based on the actual structures on the proposed route.

For heavy loads with trunnion axle groups, the route review takes a different form. The Bridge Preservation Branch performs a route and bridge analysis to determine the maximum gross weights the structures on the route can accommodate. That analysis is effectively the structural survey for those loads.

Beyond specific height and trunnion triggers, every Kentucky permit application carries an inherent route evaluation. The cabinet will deny or restrict a permit for any route where the load would damage property or endanger public safety, taking into account bridge and structure strength, traffic congestion, horizontal and vertical clearances, alternate routes, urban or residential areas, and proximity of schools.

There is also a standing carrier obligation that covers all permitted loads, regardless of height. When accepting an OW/OD permit, the permittee acknowledges that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet makes no guarantee of safe passage. The permit holder is classified as a "bare licensee" and must personally measure all lateral and vertical clearances at every highway structure along the permitted route before the load passes through. That self-survey obligation applies to every move; the height-triggered TC Form 95-625 is an additional formal requirement layered on top of it, not a substitute for it.

Kentucky State Police (KSP) is the law-enforcement agency of record for oversize and overweight escort, but there is no codified width, height, length, or weight figure that mandates a sworn officer accompany a permitted load. The requirement is entirely discretionary: the Division of Motor Carriers may attach a law-enforcement escort as a special condition on any permit where safety considerations warrant it. This discretionary authority is granted by regulation and applied case by case during the permitting review.

Because the law-enforcement trigger is discretionary, carriers cannot predict whether KSP will be required based on dimensions alone. The permit office makes that determination, and the escort is arranged through the permitting process rather than through a separate agency scheduling system.

Civilian pilot/escort vehicles handle the codified escort thresholds, which are among the more detailed in the region. On multi-lane (four-lane) roads, a single rear escort is required once width exceeds 12 feet, a front-and-rear pair steps in above 14 feet, and four escorts (two front, two rear) are required above 16 feet. On two-lane roads, the rear escort is joined by a lead escort immediately at the 12-foot threshold, and four escorts are required above 16 feet. Height triggers a different response: loads taller than 14'11" require a front escort carrying a height pole (formally defined as a vertical clearance measuring device) on all road types. Length escorting steps up by road type as well: on two-lane roads, a single front escort is required above 75 feet overall, a front-and-rear pair above 85 feet, and three escorts (one front, two rear, with a pivot or steerable dolly) above 120 feet; on multi-lane roads the sequence begins at 110 feet for a rear escort and joins the three-escort requirement above 120 feet. Any load with rear overhang exceeding 10 feet needs a rear escort on all road types, regardless of overall length.

All escort vehicles must maintain radio contact with the load, carry amber strobe or flashing lights, and keep headlamps lit during transit. Escort vehicles position at approximately 300 feet from the load on open highways, adjusting closer or farther as safety or road conditions require. Loads wider than 12 feet must also display an "OVERSIZE LOAD" sign on the lead escort vehicle facing oncoming traffic.

Slow-moving loads carry their own escort obligation. On two-lane roads, any load that cannot maintain the posted speed limit adds a rear escort. On multi-lane roads, a load wider than 12 feet that cannot sustain 45 mph adds a rear escort as well. The Division of Motor Carriers retains authority to require additional escorts beyond the codified thresholds as a special permit condition whenever safety considerations call for it.