Vermont Oversize and Overweight Permits

When Vermont requires a permit and how to get one

The DMV Commissioner issues permits for State highways and class 1 town highways (23 V.S.A. 1400(a)), and for oversize-only moves within blanket-permit dimensions on class 2–4 town highways (1400(c)). Overweight moves on class 2–4 town highways, and oversize moves there beyond blanket dimensions, need the municipality's permit (1400a; DMV Rule 14-050-019), and out-of-state vehicles get overweight permits only if their home jurisdiction reciprocates (1400(e)).

CVO-110, DMV's permit rules booklet dated 07/2022, still says applications come mainly by fax or permit service, but DMV now sends carriers to VT Haul Pass, which also handles after-hours emergency moves and shows road and bridge restrictions while it routes. DMV screens weight requests up to 150,000 lb itself when no dual-wheel axle carries more than 20,000 lb and no single-wheel steering axle more than 12,000 lb; heavier configurations are denied or sent to engineering review (DMV Single Trip Permit page).

Fees

Loads of 150,000 lb or more, loads 15 ft or more wide or high, and vehicles 100 ft or longer must also file a special insurance certificate for $250,000 per person, $500,000 for two or more people and $250,000 in property damage (1402(a), (b)(1)). The inspection fee applies when AOT considers a load excessive enough to need one.

Travel times, curfews and holidays

Over-width, over-length and over-height loads travel in a window starting 30 minutes before sunrise and ending 30 minutes after sunset, unless their permit sets other hours, and DMV publishes no night envelope; overweight-only vehicles that keep up with traffic are not limited to daylight (DMV Rule 14-050-019; CVO-110).

• Weekends: on State highways DMV issues no permit for any Saturday or Sunday to a load over 108,000 lb, over 12 ft wide or over 100 ft long. The text does not bar smaller oversize loads from weekend travel, so their permit sets the days.
• Speed: 45 mph at most on State highways for loads over 90,000 lb, over 10 ft wide, over 13 ft 6 in high or over 75 ft long, and 60 mph on the Interstate.
• Weather: loads 12 ft or more wide or 80 ft or more long may not move in ice, sleet, freezing rain, slush or sticking snow, or when the load cannot be seen from 1/4 mile, and a load that needed an engineering review may not travel in inclement weather at all.
• Busy highways: no fixed rush-hour curfew is published, but the permit may limit hours or days on heavily traveled roads.
• Parking: an oversize load parked away from its origin or destination shows the name and phone number of someone who can move or secure it at any hour.

What catches carriers in Vermont

Crossing into a neighboring state

• West into New York: every escort on a New York permit must hold New York certification whatever its home state, so an escort that ran the Vermont leg needs that certification to keep going, and NYSDOT's $40 Type 1 trip covers state highways only; see our New York oversize permit guide.
• East into New Hampshire: NHDOT's size-only permit costs $6, permits are invalid on weekends outside its 2026 Saturday-morning program, and loads over 14 ft wide need two State Police escorts, as our New Hampshire oversize permit rules explain.
• South into Massachusetts: a MassDOT OASIS trip costs a flat $40, and on the Turnpike two pilot cars run front and rear from just over 13 ft 6 in wide; the Massachusetts overweight and oversize permits page covers the tunnels and holidays, and the oversize load checker runs a load against the Massachusetts and New York triggers.