The short version: a Missouri single-trip permit starts at $15 before bands, overweight and the transaction charge; an escort is first required at over 12'6" wide; and the load becomes a superload at over 160,000 lb. Everything below carries the Missouri document it came from, that document's own revision date, and the date we read it.
1. Missouri legal limits
Anything over one of these needs a permit. Every value links to the document that sets it.
| Measure | Legal limit |
|---|---|
| Width | 8'6"rev. 2020-08-28 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Height | 14'rev. 2020-08-28 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Semitrailer length | 53'rev. 2020-08-28 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Overall length | None published |
| Kingpin to rear axle | None published |
| Front overhang | None published |
| Rear overhang | None published |
| Gross weight | 80,000 lbrev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Single axle | 20,000 lbrev. 2023-08-28 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Tandem axle | 34,000 lbrev. 2023-08-28 · read 2026-09-01 |
2. When Missouri requires an escort
| Measurement | First escort trigger | First police escort trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Width | over 12'6"undated document · read 2026-09-01 · varies by road class | over 18'undated document · read 2026-09-01 |
| Height | over 15'6"rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 | over 18'undated document · read 2026-09-01 |
| Length | over 110'undated document · read 2026-09-01 · varies by road class | over 200'undated document · read 2026-09-01 |
| Rear overhang | None published | None published |
| Gross weight | over 160,000 lbundated document · read 2026-09-01 · varies by road class | None published |
Every escort rule on file, in full31 rules
- Over 12 ft 6 in up to 14 ft wide on a divided or multilane undivided highway — one rear escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 12 ft 6 in up to 14 ft wide on a two-lane highway — one front escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 14 ft up to 16 ft wide on a divided highway — one rear escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 14 ft up to 16 ft wide on a two-lane or multilane undivided highway — one front and one rear escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 16 ft up to 18 ft wide — one front and one rear escort on all highways — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 16 ft up to 18 ft wide on a two-lane highway — an additional front escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 18 ft wide — one front and one rear civilian escort plus a law-enforcement escort on all highways — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 18 ft wide on a two-lane highway — an additional front escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 110 ft up to 125 ft long on any highway except a divided one — one rear escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 125 ft up to 200 ft long — one rear escort on all highways — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 150 ft up to 200 ft long on a two-lane highway — an additional front escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 200 ft long — a rear escort and a law-enforcement escort on all highways — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 200 ft long on a two-lane highway — an additional front escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 15 ft 6 in high — a front height-detection escort vehicle on all highways — the seventeen-row special-permit fee schedule; escort positioning at 300 ft; height detection over 15 ft 6 in; codified law-enforcement triggers at 16 ft wide, 150 ft long and 17 ft high; superload thresholds "generally in excess of sixteen feet (16’) wide, sixteen feet (16’) high, one hundred fifty feet (150’) long and/or over one hundred sixty thousand (160,000) pounds" rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01
- Over 16 ft high on a two-lane highway — an additional front escort beyond the height-detection vehicle — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 18 ft high — a height-detection vehicle and a law-enforcement escort on all highways — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 160,000 lb up to 220,000 lb on a two-lane highway, when a dimensional escort provision already applies — one front escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 220,000 lb up to 350,000 lb on a two-lane highway — one front escort, whatever the dimensions — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 350,000 lb — one front and one rear escort on all highways — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 350,000 lb on a two-lane highway — an additional front escort — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 160,000 lb — a front and two rear escorts while bridge crawling in Kansas City and St Louis — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Over 16 ft up to 18 ft wide on a two-lane highway — the codified rule requires a trooper and the 2026 pilot does not — "The threshold for law enforcement escorts for overwidth loads on two-lane highways is currently 16’ and will now apply when the load exceeds 18’ in width."; the same for 150 ft to 200 ft of length and 17 ft to 18 ft of height rev. 2026-01-01 · read 2026-09-01
- Over 150 ft up to 200 ft long — the codified rule requires a trooper and the 2026 pilot does not — "The threshold for law enforcement escorts for overwidth loads on two-lane highways is currently 16’ and will now apply when the load exceeds 18’ in width."; the same for 150 ft to 200 ft of length and 17 ft to 18 ft of height rev. 2026-01-01 · read 2026-09-01
- Over 17 ft up to 18 ft high — the codified rule requires a trooper and the 2026 pilot does not — "The threshold for law enforcement escorts for overwidth loads on two-lane highways is currently 16’ and will now apply when the load exceeds 18’ in width."; the same for 150 ft to 200 ft of length and 17 ft to 18 ft of height rev. 2026-01-01 · read 2026-09-01
- The overweight fee is charged per 10,000 lb, and Missouri does not say how a part increment is charged — the seventeen-row special-permit fee schedule; escort positioning at 300 ft; height detection over 15 ft 6 in; codified law-enforcement triggers at 16 ft wide, 150 ft long and 17 ft high; superload thresholds "generally in excess of sixteen feet (16’) wide, sixteen feet (16’) high, one hundred fifty feet (150’) long and/or over one hundred sixty thousand (160,000) pounds" rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01
- A move that is both a dimensional and a weight superload — Missouri does not say whether the two fees stack — the seventeen-row special-permit fee schedule; escort positioning at 300 ft; height detection over 15 ft 6 in; codified law-enforcement triggers at 16 ft wide, 150 ft long and 17 ft high; superload thresholds "generally in excess of sixteen feet (16’) wide, sixteen feet (16’) high, one hundred fifty feet (150’) long and/or over one hundred sixty thousand (160,000) pounds" rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01
- Missouri’s own documents define a superload two different ways — a superload also "Exceeds ... The maximum allowable weight on an axle; and/or • Is not arranged in a routine configuration"; survey contents including utility letters over 17 ft undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Between 13 ft 6 in and 14 ft high — Missouri’s legal height depends on which highway the move uses — width 102 in; height 14 ft on the interstate system and designated routes, 13 1/2 ft on all other highways; single vehicle 45 ft; truck-tractor/semitrailer 60 ft with a 53 ft semitrailer on the interstate; other combinations 65 ft / 55 ft rev. 2020-08-28 · read 2026-09-01
- Route survey — the rule allows modelling software and the undated Q&A says to drive the route — a superload also "Exceeds ... The maximum allowable weight on an axle; and/or • Is not arranged in a routine configuration"; survey contents including utility letters over 17 ft undated document · read 2026-09-01
- Missouri publishes no overhang escort threshold and no pilot-car certification — the seventeen-row special-permit fee schedule; escort positioning at 300 ft; height detection over 15 ft 6 in; codified law-enforcement triggers at 16 ft wide, 150 ft long and 17 ft high; superload thresholds "generally in excess of sixteen feet (16’) wide, sixteen feet (16’) high, one hundred fifty feet (150’) long and/or over one hundred sixty thousand (160,000) pounds" rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01
- Missouri’s rule carries two effective dates a day apart, and the card fee is applied in a different order from ours — "These fees equate to 2% of the transaction total, plus + 25 cents per transaction."; eCheck "Transaction fee: 50 cents" undated document · read 2026-09-01
3. Missouri single-trip permit fees
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Single-trip base | $15rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Transaction / card | $0.25 + 2% of the totalundated document · read 2026-09-01 |
| Route analysis review | $425rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Route with no bridges | Not yet covered |
4. How Missouri prices overweight
7 CSR 10-25 charges "twenty dollars ($20) per each ten thousand (10,000) pounds in excess of legal gross weight" on top of the $15 base — a weight-increment formula, not a per-mile or per-axle rate. Distance enters Missouri's schedule only in the bridge and roadway analysis fee above 160,000 lb ($425 for 0–50 miles, $625 for 51–200, $925 over 200), and 160,000 lb is also where the permit stops being routine.
5. Missouri's superload threshold
Above one of these, the state stops issuing over the counter and prices the move after an engineering review.
| Trigger | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Gross weight | over 160,000 lbrev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Width | over 16'rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Height | over 16'rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Length | over 150'rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 |
| Short axle spacing | Not yet covered |
6. Route survey and bridge review
The dimensions at which Missouri triggers a physical route inspection or an engineering review, and what the agency charges to review it.
7. Police escorts
Charges exist and no schedule is published. MoDOT requires a law-enforcement escort over 18 ft wide, over 200 ft long and over 18 ft high, and publishes no hourly, mileage or fixed rate. 7 CSR 10-25 says only that permitting authority may be revoked if escorting agencies are not reimbursed.
This is a positive finding: we searched and there is nothing to quote. It is not the same as "no police escort is ever required here".
8. When you can move it
Holiday, curfew and night-travel windows are not yet encoded for Missouri.
Missouri spring thaw restrictions →
Why those windows are absent rather than estimated
They are not guessed at here. What we do publish is the seasonal weight-restriction picture, with the date we last read each state's own bulletin — a curfew invented from a plausible pattern is worth less than an honest gap, because a reader cannot tell the two apart on the page.
9. Permit office
The agency behind each figure above is linked from that figure. We publish no per-state permit-office phone number.
Why there is no phone number here
We are not publishing per-state permit-office phone numbers yet, and the reason is worth stating: the two seed lists available for them are both demonstrably stale — the federal one gives two different states the same phone number — and a wrong number on a page like this costs somebody a morning. The agency behind each figure above is linked from that figure, which is the part we can stand behind today.
11. What this does not include
Named rather than gestured at, because each of these can exceed the permit itself. Every item is listed; open one for why it is excluded.
Line haul, fuel and driver time
This is a permit fee, not a freight rate.
Civilian pilot car rates
We hold no rate data, and the two commercial sites that publish market rates disagree by nearly a factor of two on the same service.
Route-survey engineering
The agency's review fee is shown where the state publishes one; the engineer's own fee is a private cost with no schedule.
Bonds and escrow
Set per move by the agency, and in at least one state the escort is billed at actual cost against it.
Utility coordination and line lifts
Arranged with each utility, priced by each utility.
Second-issuer permits
A toll, bridge or city authority inside the same state issues its own permit, and a state total that omits it is missing a whole permit.
Need a pilot car for this lane? Browse the pilot car & escort directory.
12. Every source behind this page (8)
Every document behind Missouri8 sources
- 7 CSR 10-25 — MoDOT oversize/overweight permit rule — Missouri Department of Transportation — the seventeen-row special-permit fee schedule; escort positioning at 300 ft; height detection over 15 ft 6 in; codified law-enforcement triggers at 16 ft wide, 150 ft long and 17 ft high; superload thresholds "generally in excess of sixteen feet (16’) wide, sixteen feet (16’) high, one hundred fifty feet (150’) long and/or over one hundred sixty thousand (160,000) pounds"
rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 - MoDOT — Escort requirements table (2026, undated) — Missouri Department of Transportation — width, length, height and weight escort thresholds by divided, multilane undivided and two-lane highway; the Kansas City and St Louis bridge-crawl requirement
undated document · read 2026-09-01 - MoDOT — Important notices to motor carriers (2026 escort pilot) — Missouri Department of Transportation — "The threshold for law enforcement escorts for overwidth loads on two-lane highways is currently 16’ and will now apply when the load exceeds 18’ in width."; the same for 150 ft to 200 ft of length and 17 ft to 18 ft of height
rev. 2026-01-01 · read 2026-09-01 - MoDOT — Legal limits summary — Missouri Department of Transportation — "Legal Gross Weight is 80,000 lbs. unless specialized equipment."
rev. 2025-03-30 · read 2026-09-01 - MoDOT — Route surveys for superload moves in Missouri (undated Q&A) — Missouri Department of Transportation — a superload also "Exceeds ... The maximum allowable weight on an axle; and/or • Is not arranged in a routine configuration"; survey contents including utility letters over 17 ft
undated document · read 2026-09-01 - MoDOT Motor Carrier Services — payment fees — Missouri Department of Transportation — "These fees equate to 2% of the transaction total, plus + 25 cents per transaction."; eCheck "Transaction fee: 50 cents"
undated document · read 2026-09-01 - RSMo §304.170 — Width, height and length limits — Missouri Revisor of Statutes — width 102 in; height 14 ft on the interstate system and designated routes, 13 1/2 ft on all other highways; single vehicle 45 ft; truck-tractor/semitrailer 60 ft with a 53 ft semitrailer on the interstate; other combinations 65 ft / 55 ft
rev. 2020-08-28 · read 2026-09-01 - RSMo §304.180 — Axle and gross weight limits — Missouri Revisor of Statutes — single axle 20,000 lb; tandem axle 34,000 lb, a tandem being axles more than 40 in and not more than 96 in apart; a general-freight steering axle limited to the manufacturer's rating and never over 12,000 lb
rev. 2023-08-28 · read 2026-09-01
Questions
How much is an oversize permit in Missouri?
The single-trip base is $15, before the dimension bands, the overweight component and the transaction charge. The base alone is rarely what is paid.
When does Missouri require a pilot car?
The first width trigger is over 12'6", and it varies by road class — the figure shown is the lowest across classes.
What is a superload in Missouri?
Missouri's published gross-weight superload line is over 160,000 lb. It is not 80,000 lb; that is the federal legal gross limit, not a superload threshold.