How much is an oversize permit in Massachusetts?

It depends on the load type. An irreducible load pays a flat fee per trip or per year, a reducible load pays by each thousand pounds over the federal bridge formula, and a superload pays its own per-trip fee. The amounts come from a MassDOT regulation, and OASIS quotes the total on each application.

What is the single axle weight limit in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts allows more on a single axle than the common national figure, with a lower per-axle limit when axles sit close together, all within the standard gross weight cap and the bridge formula. The statute sets each figure.

Are there height limits in the Boston tunnels?

Yes. The Callahan and Sumner Tunnels cap height below the statewide limit that applies on the Turnpike, the Ted Williams and O'Neill Tunnels and everywhere else. Check the route before a tall load heads into Boston.

Does Massachusetts require escorts for oversize loads?

MassDOT publishes no general escort table. Escort and police detail requirements are set on each permit issued through OASIS, and the only statutory rule covers cranes and booms projecting far past the truck body.

How do you get an oversize or overweight permit in Massachusetts?

Online, through OASIS (Oversize Overweight Permitting and Routing Application), the permit system named on this page with its login link in the permit office section. Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Highway Division, Truck Permit Office (Oversize / Overweight Truck Permits) runs it; the office's phone and hours are in the same section for moves the system cannot price.

Massachusetts Oversize/Overweight Permits: OASIS Login

By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Sep 27, 2026

MassDOT Highway Division issues oversize and overweight permits through its OASIS web system. Legal limits come from M.G.L. c. 90, ss. 19 and 19A: 102 inches wide, 13 feet 6 inches high, 53-foot semitrailers and 80,000 pounds gross. Under 700 CMR 8.00 an irreducible load permit costs $40 per trip or $400 a year, and a superload over 130,000 pounds needing detailed engineering costs $300 per trip. Six holidays are no-move days, with a wider noon-to-noon ban around New Year's Day, Independence Day and Christmas, and the Callahan and Sumner Tunnels in Boston cap height at 12 feet 6 inches.

Massachusetts legal limits (no permit needed at or under these)

Width: 8.5 ftM.G.L. c. 90, s. 19 bars a vehicle more than 102 inches wide, including load, from operating without a special permit. The width excludes load-induced tire bulge, mirrors, turn signal lamps, hand-holds and splash and spray suppressant devices, and other approved safety devices may extend no more than 3 inches per side. The MassDOT limits page states the same 8 feet 6 inches no-permit width.
Height: 13.5 ftNo vehicle may exceed 13 feet 6 inches including load without a special permit (M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19). Route limits are lower in Boston: the Callahan Tunnel and Sumner Tunnel allow 12 feet 6 inches; the Turnpike, Ted Williams Tunnel, O'Neill Tunnel (I-93) and CANA (City Square) Tunnel allow 13 feet 6 inches. A registered vehicle over 10 feet tall (excluding load) must have its height painted or printed in 4-inch characters on the side or front.
Gross weight: 80,000 lbUnder M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19A a two-axle vehicle may weigh up to 46,000 pounds and a vehicle or unit with three or more axles up to 80,000 pounds without a permit, subject to 22,400 pounds per axle (18,000 pounds per axle when axles are spaced less than 6 feet apart) and the bridge formula W = 500(LN/(N-1) + 12N + 36) on any axle group, with two consecutive tandems allowed 34,000 pounds each when the first and last axles are 36 feet or more apart. An idle reduction system adds up to 400 pounds.
Length: Motor vehicle not listed: 33 ft
Length: Truck: 40 ft
Length: House trailer: 40 ft
Length: Motor bus or auto home: 45 ft
Length: Articulated bus: 60 ft
Length: Semitrailer in semitrailer unit: 53 ft
Length: Trailer in tractor trailer unit: 53 ft
Length: Semitrailer or trailer in tandem unit: 28 ft
Length: Traditional automobile or boat transporter: 65 ft
Length: Stinger steered automobile or boat transporter: 75 ft
Length: Driveaway saddlemount combination: 75 ft
Length: Vehicle and trailer combination overall: 60 ft
Length: House trailer and tow vehicle overall: 65 ft
Axle limits lb: single: 22,400
Axle limits lb: axles spaced under 6 ft: 18,000
Axle limits lb: two consecutive tandems each: 34,000
Axle limits lb: two axle vehicle gross: 46,000
Axle limits lb: note: Axle groups beyond these are governed by the bridge formula in M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19A.

Axle weight limits

Gross weight is one ceiling; each axle group carries its own limit, and a load can be legal on gross weight yet overweight on an axle. Exceeding any of these needs an overweight permit.

Massachusetts legal axle weight limits by axle group
Axle group	Maximum weight
Single axle	22,400 lb
Axles spaced less than 6 feet apart (each axle)	18,000 lb
Tandem axle (two consecutive tandems, 36 feet or more first to last axle)	34,000 lb
Two-axle vehicle, gross	46,000 lb

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Permit fees

Single trip: $40 (700 CMR 8.05(4), Table 1: an irreducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight is $40 per trip or $400 annually; a super load over 130,000 pounds requiring detailed engineering calculations is $300 per single trip; a reducible load permit is $50 for every 1,000 pounds over the federal bridge formula. The regulation (dated 1/31/14) is the fee source; OASIS quotes the fee on each application, and the MassDOT pages publish no other schedule.)
Annual permit: $400
Annual eligibility: 700 CMR 8.05(4) sets $400 a year for an irreducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight. Reducible load permits (such as triaxle and construction haulers) are also issued annually under 700 CMR 8.05(1), on MassDOT's Application for Reducible Annual Permit, up to 73,000 pounds on three axles (triaxles up to 77,000 pounds by axle spread), 87,000 pounds on four axles and 99,000 pounds on five or more, only on the designated state highways and through routes in Attachment A, and never above the vehicle's registered weight or GVWR. Adding I-90 (the Mass Pike) to a reducible permit costs 25 percent of the total state roadway permit fee.

Single-trip permit fee schedule

Check the applies-to column and source for each fee component. A partial schedule does not establish the total charge.

Massachusetts single-trip oversize permit fee components
Fee component	Applies to	Amount
Irreducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight	Per trip	$40
Super load, weight over 130,000 pounds, detailed engineering calculations required	Single trip	$300
Reducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight	Per 1,000 pounds over the federal bridge formula	$50

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To price a specific load, try the oversize permit cost estimator, or compare every state on the national oversize permit table.

To see how these fees combine on real loads, walk through Massachusetts oversize permit cost worked examples.

Escort thresholds

Dimension	Threshold	Escorts	Where the escorts ride	Police escort
rear overhang	crane or boom extending more than 15 ft beyond the bed or body	1	Another vehicle follows immediately behind the projecting end of the crane or boom	Not confirmed

What the escort itself has to be

Hitting the threshold is only half of it. The escort vehicle, its equipment, its driver's certification and where it rides are all regulated, and the carrier is the one holding the permit when they are not met.

Published thresholds: MassDOT publishes no width, height or length escort table on its Commercial Truck Permits pages, in 700 CMR 8.00 or on the public OASIS page; escort and police detail conditions are set on each permit issued through OASIS. The one statutory escort rule found is the crane or boom rule in M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19 recorded above.
Flagging: A crane or boom extending more than 4 feet beyond the bed must show a red light or red flag at its rear end.

Escort rules beyond the thresholds

Knowing when you need an escort is half of it. These are the Massachusetts rules on who may run one, what the vehicle has to carry, and how the move is conducted.

Published thresholds: MassDOT publishes no width, height or length escort table on its Commercial Truck Permits pages, in 700 CMR 8.00 or on the public OASIS page; escort and police detail conditions are set on each permit issued through OASIS. The one statutory escort rule found is the crane or boom rule in M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19 recorded above.
Flagging: A crane or boom extending more than 4 feet beyond the bed must show a red light or red flag at its rear end.

Conditions attached to every permit

The standing conditions Massachusetts writes into the permit itself, which apply whether or not they are printed on your copy.

Summary: Permits issue only for registered vehicles registered for the full gross weight of vehicle and load, on the understanding that the vehicle is insured and meets RMV, DPU and FMCSA requirements; bridge postings must be obeyed; vehicles carrying dangerous articles through Boston must follow 700 CMR 7.00; the permittee is liable for roadway and bridge damage; a denial may be appealed in writing to the Chief Engineer within five working days. Under M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19A a vehicle up to 105 percent of its permit weight is not treated as in violation.

Travel restrictions

Daylight only: MassDOT publishes no statewide daylight-only rule; its stated window is travel on State Highways from 12:01 a.m. Monday to noon Saturday, and Sunday from 12:01 a.m. to noon.
Curfews: Not confirmed
Weekend / holiday: No permit movements on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day, and none between noon the day before and noon the day after New Year's Day, Independence Day and Christmas.
Wind / weather: No wind restriction is published on the checked MassDOT sources.
Weekly window: Travel is allowed on State Highways from Monday morning at 12:01 a.m. to noon on Saturday, and Sunday morning from 12:01 a.m. to noon.
Tunnels and tandems: Tandem trailers generally run only on I-90 between the New York line and the I-95 interchange in Weston, with four permit parking and breakdown lots (Chicopee, Millbury and two in Weston), and are never allowed in the Sumner, Callahan or Ted Williams Tunnels.
Hazmat boston: All hazardous cargo and cargo tankers are prohibited from the Boston tunnels, and through routing of hazardous cargo is restricted from downtown Boston from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a prescribed nighttime surface route.
Winter: Reducible load permit vehicles may not move on large areas of hard packed snow or ice or during a snowstorm, and must carry skid chains November 1 through May 1.

Daylight hours rule: MassDOT publishes no statewide daylight-only rule; its stated window is travel on State Highways from 12:01 a.m. Monday to noon Saturday, and Sunday from 12:01 a.m. to noon.
Weekly window: Travel is allowed on State Highways from Monday morning at 12:01 a.m. to noon on Saturday, and Sunday morning from 12:01 a.m. to noon.
Tunnels and tandems: Tandem trailers generally run only on I-90 between the New York line and the I-95 interchange in Weston, with four permit parking and breakdown lots (Chicopee, Millbury and two in Weston), and are never allowed in the Sumner, Callahan or Ted Williams Tunnels.
hazmat boston: All hazardous cargo and cargo tankers are prohibited from the Boston tunnels, and through routing of hazardous cargo is restricted from downtown Boston from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a prescribed nighttime surface route.
Winter: Reducible load permit vehicles may not move on large areas of hard packed snow or ice or during a snowstorm, and must carry skid chains November 1 through May 1.

Superload and beyond-permit review

Loads past the standard single-trip permit thresholds get individual state review rather than an off-the-shelf permit.

700 CMR 8.05(4) Table 1 prices a super load at weight over 130,000 pounds with detailed engineering calculations required, $300 per single trip.

Gross weight lb: 130,000
Regulation: 700 CMR 8.05(4)

More Massachusetts permit rules

Single trip fee: $40
Single trip fee note: 700 CMR 8.05(4), Table 1: an irreducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight is $40 per trip or $400 annually; a super load over 130,000 pounds requiring detailed engineering calculations is $300 per single trip; a reducible load permit is $50 for every 1,000 pounds over the federal bridge formula. The regulation (dated 1/31/14) is the fee source; OASIS quotes the fee on each application, and the MassDOT pages publish no other schedule.
Annual permit eligibility: 700 CMR 8.05(4) sets $400 a year for an irreducible load permit exceeding any legal limit for size and weight. Reducible load permits (such as triaxle and construction haulers) are also issued annually under 700 CMR 8.05(1), on MassDOT's Application for Reducible Annual Permit, up to 73,000 pounds on three axles (triaxles up to 77,000 pounds by axle spread), 87,000 pounds on four axles and 99,000 pounds on five or more, only on the designated state highways and through routes in Attachment A, and never above the vehicle's registered weight or GVWR. Adding I-90 (the Mass Pike) to a reducible permit costs 25 percent of the total state roadway permit fee.
Annual permit details: irreducible annual: annual fee: $400
Annual permit details: irreducible annual: covers: Irreducible load exceeding any legal limit for size and weight
Annual permit details: reducible annual: covers: Overweight reducible loads on designated state highways and through routes
Annual permit details: reducible annual: weight GVW lb by axles: three axles: 73,000
Annual permit details: reducible annual: weight GVW lb by axles: triaxle max by spread: 77,000
Annual permit details: reducible annual: weight GVW lb by axles: four axles: 87,000
Annual permit details: reducible annual: weight GVW lb by axles: five or more axles: 99,000
Annual permit details: reducible annual: fee: $50 per 1,000 pounds over the federal bridge formula; I-90 added at 25 percent of the total state roadway permit
Annual permit details: reducible annual: conditions: Skid chains carried November 1 through May 1; no movement on large areas of hard packed snow or ice or during a snowstorm; the list of designated ways must be carried with the permit; the permit is revoked for at least 90 days after a second overweight conviction within 12 months.
Escort notes: published thresholds: MassDOT publishes no width, height or length escort table on its Commercial Truck Permits pages, in 700 CMR 8.00 or on the public OASIS page; escort and police detail conditions are set on each permit issued through OASIS. The one statutory escort rule found is the crane or boom rule in M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19 recorded above.
Escort notes: flagging: A crane or boom extending more than 4 feet beyond the bed must show a red light or red flag at its rear end.
Permit conditions: summary: Permits issue only for registered vehicles registered for the full gross weight of vehicle and load, on the understanding that the vehicle is insured and meets RMV, DPU and FMCSA requirements; bridge postings must be obeyed; vehicles carrying dangerous articles through Boston must follow 700 CMR 7.00; the permittee is liable for roadway and bridge damage; a denial may be appealed in writing to the Chief Engineer within five working days. Under M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19A a vehicle up to 105 percent of its permit weight is not treated as in violation.
Statute: M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19
Statute note: Dimensions come from M.G.L. c. 90, s. 19 and axle and gross weights from s. 19A; MassDOT's permit program and fees are in 700 CMR 8.00, adopted under M.G.L. c. 85, ss. 30 and 30A and c. 90, ss. 19 and 19A.

Seasonal permits
Name	Detail
Reducible Annual Permit	Annual overweight permit for reducible loads (triaxles, construction and similar haulers) on designated state highways; application form on OASIS.

The Massachusetts permit office

Apply or log in (OASIS (Oversize Overweight Permitting and Routing Application)): oasis.massdot.state.ma.us
Agency: MassDOT Highway Division, Truck Permit Office (Oversize / Overweight Truck Permits)
Address: MassDOT Truck Permit Office, 668 South Avenue, Weston, MA 02493 (westbound on the Mass Pike, next to the State Police barracks)
Phone: (857) 368-3690
Hours: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Email: MassDOTtruckpermits@dot.state.ma.us
Note: The MassDOT permit pages also list MARMVIRP@dot.state.ma.us, labeled Trip and Fuel Permits; that address belongs to the RMV IRP unit, which sells trip and fuel permits, not oversize permits.

Legal limits before you need a permit

Massachusetts publishes its no-permit width, height, length and weight limits in statute. Width and height follow the national pattern. Length depends on the configuration: a semitrailer or a trailer in a tractor-trailer unit has its own cap and no overall limit applies to the combination, while tandem trailers each have a shorter cap.

Weight is where Massachusetts stands out. The single-axle limit is higher than the common national figure, axles spaced closely together get a lower per-axle limit, and every axle group answers to the bridge formula. A small tolerance over the permit weight is not treated as a violation. The limits and axle rows each carry their statute.

How the permit fees work

The fees come from a MassDOT regulation, not a web page, and they split three ways. An irreducible load pays a flat fee per trip or a flat annual fee. A reducible load pays a set amount for every thousand pounds over the federal bridge formula. A superload past the regulation's weight line, the kind that needs detailed engineering calculations, pays its own per-trip fee.

OASIS quotes the fee on each application, and the MassDOT pages publish no other schedule. The fee schedule below carries each line from the regulation's own table.

The Reducible Annual Permit

Triaxle and construction haulers usually run on the Reducible Annual Permit. It raises the gross weight by axle count, runs only on the designated state highways and through routes listed with it, and never above the truck's registered weight or rating. Adding the Mass Pike costs a share of the state roadway fee.

The conditions are strict. Skid chains ride along through the winter season, the truck may not move on packed snow or ice or in a snowstorm, the list of designated ways travels with the permit, and a second overweight conviction inside a year revokes it for a set period.

Escorts

MassDOT publishes no width, height or length escort table on its permit pages, in its permit regulation or on the public OASIS page. Escort and police detail conditions are written onto each permit OASIS issues, so read the permit itself. The one statutory escort rule is for cranes and booms that project well past the truck body: another vehicle must follow right behind the projecting end, and a shorter projection needs a red flag or light.

When and where oversize loads can move

State highways are open to permit loads from early Monday to Saturday noon, and Sunday morning until noon. Six holidays are no-move days, and New Year's Day, Independence Day and Christmas carry a noon-to-noon blackout around them.

Boston adds route limits. The Callahan and Sumner Tunnels cap height below the statewide limit, tandem trailers are barred from the Boston tunnels, and hazardous cargo and cargo tankers are barred from the tunnels and restricted from downtown by day. MassDOT publishes no statewide daylight-only rule and no wind rule, so this page records neither.

How to read this page

A value reading "Not confirmed" means we could not verify the figure on an official agency page at review time, so it stays open rather than guessed. Superload moves above the standard permit thresholds get individual review by the state; contact the permit office named on this page. For the rest of the Massachusetts permit stack, see Massachusetts trucking permits.