Legal limits, escort triggers, permit fees, the superload line and the police escort position for New York — every figure carrying the state document behind it.
10 source documents on fileoldest revision 1995-09-01last retrieved 2026-09-0110 escort rules in effect2 source conflictsFree · no account needed
The short version: a New York single-trip permit starts at a figure the documents on file do not resolve before bands, overweight and the transaction charge; an escort is first required at over 12' wide; and the load becomes a superload at 200,000 lb or more. Everything below carries the New York document it came from, that document's own revision date, and the date we read it.
Legal limits
1. New York legal limits
Anything over one of these needs a permit. Every value links to the document that sets it.
New York has more than one permit issuer. A state total can be complete and still be missing a whole permit.
New York State Thruway Authority — A nondivisible oversize/overweight load travelling on the Thruway (I-87, I-90 Mainline, I-190) needs a Thruway permit in addition to the NYSDOT permit — the reciprocity that honours a NYSDOT permit on the Thruway applies to Divisible Load Permits only. Note also that TAP-623 caps width on the Thruway Mainline and the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge at 12 ft 6 in, so a wider load cannot use those roads at all and must route on NYSDOT highways.. We do not hold this authority's fee schedule, so the leg goes to review rather than being quoted short. NYS Thruway Authority TAP-623 — Oversize/Overweight Permit Information (PDF)
New York State Bridge Authority — A load crossing a Bridge Authority facility needs that authority's own permit.. We do not hold this authority's fee schedule, so the leg goes to review rather than being quoted short. NYS Certified Vehicle Escort Manual (PDF)
New York City (NYC DOT) — A movement on any state or other highway inside New York City. VTL §385 says a NYSDOT special hauling permit "shall not be valid" there, so a load entering the five boroughs needs New York City's own permit under its own rules and fees.. We do not hold this authority's fee schedule, so the leg goes to review rather than being quoted short. NY Vehicle & Traffic Law §385 (NYSDOT reprint)
17 NYCRR §154-1.2(b)(1) defines a trip permit as authorising "an oversize and/or overweight vehicle" — one permit, one fee. NYSDOT publishes no weight bands and no per-mile component for a nondivisible trip permit.
The regular rate is $101.89 per hour and applies to hours beyond the three-hour overtime minimum. Which hours fall where is set by the assignment.
Mileage at $0.725 per mile runs from the moment a trooper leaves the STATION, so it is not the load's in-state mileage and cannot be computed from this lane.
New York publishes no required NUMBER of police vehicles, so the floor below is for a single officer and the real assignment may be larger.
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.
Who issues it
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.
Source conflicts
10. Where the sources disagree
Two official documents, both in effect, giving different answers. Neither has been adopted.
$40NYSDOT — Special Hauling Permit Fees — trip permit table — every type $40 with a $10 amendment fee; page carries no revision date undated document · read 2026-09-01
Both are in effect and neither has been adopted.
superload length threshold
160' or moreNYSDOT PERM 12S — Superload Permit Requirements (PDF) — superload definition with INCLUSIVE length boundary; bond schedule; police escorts for all superloads. Month-only date, recorded as the 1st. rev. 2014-02-01 · read 2026-09-01
over 160'NYSDOT — Superloads — superload definition: over 16 ft wide; 16 ft or more high; over 160 ft long; 200,000 lb or more undated document · read 2026-09-01
17 NYCRR Subpart 154-1 — Special Hauling Permits (PDF) — New York State Department of Transportation — §154-1.2(b)(1) trip permit definition; §154-1.20 fee table, form PERM43 (9/95); three-way movement = two permit fees rev. 1995-09-01 · read 2026-09-01
New York State Police — Commercial Vehicles (escort rates) — New York State Police — regular $101.89/hr, overtime $144.66/hr, mileage $0.725/mi, 3-hour minimum per officer, 62.91% fringe and indirect included rev. 2026-04-01 · read 2026-09-01
NY Vehicle & Traffic Law §385 (NYSDOT reprint) — New York State Department of Transportation — independent reprint, used as corroboration of the Senate text; also the regional-office surcharge and the New York City exclusion undated document · read 2026-09-01
NYS Certified Vehicle Escort Manual (PDF) — New York State Department of Transportation — escort positions and escalations; height-pole settings; police-escort triggers; §IV.1(e) separate permits. Cover states the year 2025 only — no month or day. rev. 2025-01-01 · read 2026-09-01
NYSDOT — Special Hauling Permit Fees — New York State Department of Transportation — trip permit table — every type $40 with a $10 amendment fee; page carries no revision date undated document · read 2026-09-01
NYSDOT — Superloads — New York State Department of Transportation — superload definition: over 16 ft wide; 16 ft or more high; over 160 ft long; 200,000 lb or more undated document · read 2026-09-01
NYSDOT PERM 12S — Superload Permit Requirements (PDF) — New York State Department of Transportation — superload definition with INCLUSIVE length boundary; bond schedule; police escorts for all superloads. Month-only date, recorded as the 1st. rev. 2014-02-01 · read 2026-09-01
NYSDOT Perm 87 — Special Requirements for Oversize Permits (PDF) — New York State Department of Transportation — form stamp "PERM 87 (3/15)"; width, height, length and overhang bands; route-survey triggers; police-escort triggers rev. 2015-03-01 · read 2026-09-01
Common questions
Questions
How much is an oversize permit in New York?
New York's single-trip base fee does not resolve to a single figure in the documents on file — see the fee section above, which shows what each document says.
When does New York require a pilot car?
The first width trigger is over 12'.
What is a superload in New York?
New York's published gross-weight superload line is 200,000 lb or more. It is not 80,000 lb; that is the federal legal gross limit, not a superload threshold.
Do New York's own documents contradict each other?
Yes, in 2 place(s) we hold both documents for. They are set out in full above, each with its pinpoint citation, and none of them has been adopted.
