Federal & State Regulations | Oversize and overweight movements - Wisconsin

General requirements

Reducible expectations	Permits will not be issued for loads or articles that can reasonably be reduced to meet size and weight limits, or that can be divided into two or more loads which would not exceed statutory size and weight limits.
Permit timing	Single trip permits are valid for 5 days for one-way only; return trips allowed if requested and approved.
Method of application	Permits may be obtained in person, by mail, on-line, or through J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc., Trip Permits, at (800) 231-5266.
Payments accepted	Checks can be made payable to the Registration Fee Trust.
Electronic permits	The permittee must carry a printed copy of the permit in the vehicle to which it applies and must have it available for inspection by any police officer.
Route surveys	Every trip permit must designate the route to be used by the permittee. Other permits will designate the route to be used by the permittee.

Insurance requirements

Liability	In applying for and accepting an oversize or overweight permit, the permittee agrees to pay any claim for any bodily injury or property damage resulting from operations under the permit for which the permittee is legally responsible. Furthermore, the permittee must hold the state, its subdivisions, officers, employees and agents harmless from any claim which may arise from operations over public highways under the permit.
Coverage	For when the permitted load does not exceed 12' in width, 13' 6" in height, or 100' in length and does not exceed statutory gross weight limits by more than 25%: Bodily Injury Liability - each person $150,000, Bodily Injury Liability - each accident $450,000, and Property Damage Liability - each accident $300,000; or $750,000 Combined Single Limit. When permitted load exceeds the previous limits: Bodily Injury Liability - each person $200,000, Bodily Injury Liability - each accident $600,000, and Property Damage Liability - each accident $400,000; or $1,000,000 Combined Single Limit.

Available permits and fees

Overdimension
Permit Period	Conditions	Fee
Single trip	Vehicle is overlength only	$15
Single trip	Overwidth OR Overheight (may include Overlength)	$20
Single trip	Overwidth AND Overheight (may include Overlength)	$25
Overweight
Permit Period	Conditions	Fee
Single trip	90,000 lbs or less	$20
Single trip	90,001 - 100,000 lbs	$35
Single trip	100,001 - 110,000 lbs	$45
Single trip	110,001 - 120,000 lbs	$55
Single trip	120,001 - 130,000 lbs	$65
Single trip	130,001 - 140,000 lbs	$75
Single trip	140,001 - 150,000 lbs	$85
Single trip	Over 150,000 lbs: fee per 10,000 lbs or fraction thereof	$10 per
Single trip	Sealed containerized cargo	$30
Special fees
Permit Period	Conditions	Fee
Any	Route must be reviewed by a regional highway office	$10 per district
Any	A review is necessary of specific highway structures	$10

Multiple trip permits
Permit Duration	Annual	Month
Permit Duration	Annual	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
*Round weight up to the next 10,000 lb increment; for example, if weight is 93,000 lb, round to 100,000 lb to determine fees.
If Oversize only:
Length only	$60.00	$60.00	$60.00	$60.00	$55.00	$50.00	$45.00	$40.00	$35.00	$30.00
Width and/or height and/or length	$90.00	$90.00	$90.00	$82.50	$75.00	$67.50	$60.00	$52.50	$45.00	$37.50
If Overweight OR Overweight and Oversize*
Up to 90,000 lb	200.00	198.33	181.67	165.00	148.33	131.67	115.00	98.33	81.67	65.00
100,000 lb	350.00	335.83	306.67	277.50	248.33	219.17	190.00	160.83	131.67	102.50
110,000 lb	450.00	427.50	390.00	352.50	315.00	277.50	240.00	202.50	165.00	127.50
120,000 lb	550.0	519.17	473.33	427.50	381.67	335.83	290.00	244.17	198.33	152.50
130,000 lb	650.00	610.83	556.67	502.50	448.33	394.17	340.00	285.83	231.67	177.50
140,000 lb	750.00	702.50	640.00	577.50	515.00	452.50	390.00	327.50	265.00	202.50
150,000 lb	850.00	794.17	723.33	652.50	581.67	510.83	440.00	368.17	298.33	227.50
160,000 lb	950.00	885.83	806.67	727.50	648.33	569.17	490.00	410.83	331.67	252.50
170,000 lb	1050.00	977.50	890.00	802.50	715.00	627.50	540.00	452.50	365.00	277.50
180,000 lb	1150.00	1069.17	973.33	877.50	781.67	685.83	590.00	494.17	398.33	302.50

To calculate fees:

Choose the effective and expiration dates for the permit.
Count the number of months in the permit from the beginning to ending day; when figuring months, do not use calendar months. The month begins on the effective date of the permit. For example, if the permit is to become effective May 23, then May 23 to June 22 is counted as exactly one month.
If the number of months for the permit is not exact, round up to the next whole number of months.

Permit limitations

Permit limitations
Width	The overall width depends on type of load
Height	The overall height depends on type of load
Length	The following maximum lengths are allowed under annual permits: • Single vehicle: 50' • Mobile crane: 60' • Vehicle combinations: 100'
Weight	Limitations
Steer axle	20,000 lbs
Other axles	35,000 lbs
Other	Additional weight restrictions may be imposed by the route. If the spacing between adjacent axles is less than 42" the axle can carry no more than a single axle
Manufactured Housing Permits
Configuration	Limitation
Single trip	Maximums are as follows: • Maximum mobile home or modular building section length: 80' • Maximum overall length: 110' • No overweight allowed
Multiple trip	• Single vehicle length: 80' • Vehicle combination length: 100' • Width: 15' at the box; 16' at the roof • Height: 15' • Legal weight
Non-divisible oversize/overweight	• Single vehicle length: 50' • Vehicle combination length: 100' • Width: 14' • Height: 16'
Crane	• Single vehicle length: 60' • Vehicle combination length: 75' • Width: 14' • Height: 16'
Equipment, machinery, materials, and self-propelled vehicle	• Length: 100' • Width: 14' • Height: 16' • Weight: 170,000 lbs
Raw forest products	Raw forest products means logs, pilings, posts, poles, cordwood products, wood chips, sawdust, pulpwood, fuel wood, intermediary lumber, and Christmas trees not altered by a manufacturing process • Weight: 98,000 lbs • Vehicle: Combination must have a minimum of 6-axles • Axle: No axle can exceed 20,000 lbs • Permit is not valid on any interstate highway except for the Interstate 39 corridor and the Interstate 41 corridor
Fruits, vegetables/raw forest:	• Weight: 90,000 lbs • Dimensions: legal
Hay and straw	Width: 15'
Potato seed	• Weight: 90,000 lbs • Specified routes apply
Michigan border	Allows Michigan rigs and configurations, transporting miscellaneous commodities, to operate in Wisconsin within 11 air-miles of the Wisconsin-Michigan border, if the vehicle or combination does not violate length or weight limitations under Michigan law.
Building mover	For a building that is raised and supported from an existing foundation to be moved and placed on a permanent foundation at a new location where the building is to be delivered; a building does not include a modular housing unit or manufactured building or home. • Height: 15' • Width: 15' • Overall length: 100'
Garbage, refuse, and metallic or non-metallic scrap	The department may issue permits to allow the transportation of divisible loads of garbage, refuse, recyclable scrap and municipal sewage residue. • Single vehicle length 50’ • Vehicle combination length 75’ • Width and height: legal • Allowed weights vary by highway class and number of axles
Grain, coal, and iron ore	A multiple trip permit, grain means corn, wheat, soybeans, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, sorghum, flaxseed, milo, sunflower seed, and mixed grain as defined in the federal grain standards act. The term does not include canning crops for processing or grain used or intended for use solely for sowing purposes: • Valid on all Wisconsin state trunk highways within five miles of the Minnesota border • Weights: 110% of legal up to 88,000 GVW
Sealed container	For a load or vehicle being transported in international trade, that has been sealed with a tamper-evident seal affixed at the time of initial loading.: • Weight: 90,000 lbs • Dimensions: legal
Non-divisible Oversize/Overweight maximums
Configuration	Limitation
Single Axle	20,000 lbs
Single Axle (4 tires)	30,000 lbs
2-axle tandem (4 or 8 tires)	55,000 lbs
2-axle tandem (16 tires)	60,000 lbs
3-axles	70,000 lbs
4-axles	80,000 lbs

Signs

General sign requirement	(2) signs must be displayed on vehicles and/or loads with width greater than 10' and for overlength movements (one front and one rear).
Escort sign requirement	A vehicle escorting an oversize vehicle must have a warning sign mounted above the roof of the escort vehicle and above any equipment mounted on the vehicle which would obscure an approaching driver's clear view of the sign.
	Type	Size	Lettering	Background
General signs	OVERSIZE LOAD	7' x 18"	Black, 10" with 1.4" brushstroke	Yellow
Escort signs	OVERSIZE LOAD	5' x 12"	Black, 10" with 1.5" brushstroke	Yellow

Lights

General light requirements	When operating during darkness, lamps are required. Warning lights are required when transporting a mobile home or modular building section over 8' wide.
Escort light requirements	All escort vehicles accompanying the movement of overdimension loads are required to have and use warning lights.
	Type	Placement
General light type and placement	Red and amber When required by a permit, warning lamps must be used as follows: • All amber flashing or revolving warning lamps must have a reflector at least 6" in diameter and must be bright enough to be clearly visible and attention-attracting at a distance of 500' under all conditions when the load is on the highway, except when visibility is obstructed by a hillcrest, a curve, or an object such as another vehicle; • All warning lamps shall flash at a rate of 30 to 90 times per minute; and • Strobe lamps may be used instead of flashing or revolving lamps.	At times of darkness, the following lights are required: • At the outermost extremity of the foremost edge of the projecting load, an amber lamp visible from the front and side; • At the outermost extremity of the rearmost edge of the projecting load, a red lamp visible from the rear and side; • Any portion of an overwidth load extending beyond the width of the foremost or rearmost edge of the vehicle of load shall be marked with an amber lamp visible from the front, both sides, and rear; and • If the overwidth portion of a load measures 3' or less from the front to rear, that portion shall be marked with a amber lamp visible from the front, both sides and rear, except that if the overwidth projection is located at or near the rear it shall be marked by a red lamp visible from the front, both sides, and rear. • Additional requirement for vehicles with loads that extends more than 4' beyond the rear of the vehicle: • On each side of the projecting load, 1 red lamp visible from the side, located so as to indicate maximum overhang; and • On the rear of the projecting load, 2 red lamps, visible from the rear, one at each side; and 2 red reflectors visible from the rear, 1 at each side, located so as to indicate maximum width.
Escort light type and placement	(2) amber warning lamps	Mounted on or above the vehicle roof pulsing or rotating between 30 and 120 times per minute. Each such warning lamp must have sufficient intensity to be clearly visible and attention-attracting at a distance of 500' under all conditions when the oversize or overweight vehicle or load is on the highway.

Flags

	Type	Size	Placement
General Flags	Solid red or orange	18" square	Flags need to be securely fastened by at least one corner or securely mounted on a staff and be fastened at each front corner of the towing unit, at each front corner of the load, and at each rear corner of the load. The flags need to be mounted at a height of not less than 2' and no more than 6' above the roadway. In addition, a flag needs to be placed at the widest point of the load if more than 4" wider than the width of load or vehicle at the front or rear.
Escort Flags	NS	NS	NS

Escort vehicle markings

Size	Placement	Content
NS	NS	NS

Escort/Flagperson requirements

Escort requirements are as follows:

Escort Type Required by Permit	Conditions
Single escort vehicle and movement is on a two-way undivided roadway	The escort vehicle must precede the vehicle or load being moved under a permit by a distance of at least 300 feet and sufficient to give advance warning to vehicles coming from the opposite direction. If the road narrows because of a bridge or for any other reason, or at a sharp turn or other point of special hazard because of the weight, width, or length of the vehicle or load, the driver of the escort vehicle must slow down or stop, as necessary, to give adequate warning to oncoming traffic, utilizing hand flagging methods as necessary with a clean, bright red or orange flag at least 18 inches square.
Single escort vehicle and movement is on one-way roadways, including divided highways with one or more lanes of travel in the same direction	The escort vehicle must follow the vehicle or load being transported under permit at a distance of 300 to 500 feet with its required warning lamps and sign visible from the rear.
More than one escort vehicle	One escort must precede the permitted vehicle and one escort must follow the permitted vehicle regardless of the type of highway.

Escorts are required on certain highways; visit https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/documents/14762/escort-grid.pdf for more information.

Escort car/Company requirements

An escort vehicle must be checked by the escort operator before each escort assignment to make sure that it is in safe operating condition. A person may operate an escort vehicle unless the person is at least 18 years of age and has in his/her immediate possession an operator’s license issued to the escort vehicle operator and valid in Wisconsin.

Before movement of the oversize or overweight vehicle or load begins, the escort operator must read the permit which authorizes the movement and any and all conditions for operation under the permit, including but not limited to, specific routes, the speed of movement, or the times of day during which the movement is permitted or restricted.

The escort operator must observe all conditions imposed on operation under the permit.

An escort vehicle must be a Type 1 automobile or a single-unit motor truck of not more than 16,000 pounds actual gross vehicle weight, gross vehicle weight rating, or registered weight. The escort vehicle must afford its driver a clear and unobstructed view to the front, rear, right, and left. Unobstructed view to the rear may be provided by outside mirrors on both sides of the vehicle.

Escort car signs, flags, and lights

The escort vehicle headlamps must be lighted in the low beam position and the warning lamps must be lighted when accompanying the movement of a vehicle operated under permit.

The escort vehicle’s amber warning lamps may not be operated when the vehicle is not engaged as an escort.

A vehicle escorting an oversize vehicle must display an OVERSIZE LOAD sign mounted above the roof of the escort vehicle and above any equipment mounted on the vehicle which would obscure an approaching driver’s clear view of the sign. The lettering on the sign must be 10 inches high in black on a solid yellow or amber background and may not have a stroke width of less than 1.5 inches. The visible surface of the sign must be at least five feet wide and 12 inches high. The sign must be visible to traffic approaching from the front of an escort vehicle preceding a load. In the case of an escort vehicle operating to the rear of the load being transported, the sign must be visible to traffic approaching from the rear.

No sign message may be displayed to traffic when the escort vehicle is not escorting an oversize load.

An escort vehicle must be equipped with at least two amber warning lamps mounted on or above the vehicle roof. A warning lamp includes a single or multiple pulse strobe light. Each such warning lamp must flash, pulse, or rotate between 30 and 120 times per minute. The multiple flash effect must be counted as a single flash. Each such warning lamp must have sufficient intensity to be clearly visible and attention-attracting at a distance of 500 feet, under all conditions when the oversize or overweight vehicle or load is on the highway, except when visibility of the lamp is temporarily obstructed by a hill crest, a curve or an object such as another vehicle.

The amber warning lamps must be mounted at the same level, separated laterally as much as possible, visible all around, or 360 degrees, and must flash, pulse, or rotate.

Travel restrictions

Daytime	Unless otherwise provided for, specified types of vehicles or loads or in a specific permit, permits are not valid during the hours of darkness.
Weekend	Unless otherwise provided for, specified types of vehicles or loads or in a specific permit, permits are not valid from noon Saturday until sunrise on Monday.
Holidays	If a holiday, January 1, July 4, or December 25 falls on Sunday, the following Monday is the holiday for the purpose of this definition. If a holiday falls on Saturday, the previous Friday is the holiday for the purpose of this definition Unless otherwise provided for, specified types of vehicles or loads or in a specific permit, permits are not valid from noon the day before a holiday until sunrise the day after a holiday. In addition permits are not valid Saturday mornings from May 15-September 15. "Holiday" means: • New Years Day • Memorial Day • Independence Day • Labor Day • Thanksgiving • Christmas
Visibility	Permits are not be valid during periods when adverse weather or road conditions, such as fog, smoke, heavy rain, snow or ice, or the velocity of the wind, impair the safety of a movement under a permit, nor at any other times when there is not sufficient natural light to render clearly visible any person or vehicle upon a highway at a distance of 500'.

['Size and Weight Limits']

['Oversize and Overweight Movements']

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Oversize and overweight movements - Wisconsin