How to Read an Ohio Oversize Permit: Field-by-Field Guide

An Ohio oversize or overweight special hauling permit (SHP) is short on its face, but it travels with a separate two-page sheet every driver has to carry: Form OS-1A, the limitations and provisions on the use of the permit. ODOT issues the permit through the Ohio Hauling Permits System (OHPS), and the rules behind it sit in OAC Chapter 5501:2-1 and in the size and weight chapters of the Revised Code.

A few Ohio rules catch drivers out: over-dimensional loads are daylight only, loads over 12 feet wide lose rush-hour and late-weekend windows in listed counties, holiday bans start at noon the day before, and the permit is not valid on the Ohio Turnpike or on local roads without separate permission. This guide walks through what an Ohio permit holds and the published rule behind each part. ODOT does not publish a sample issued permit, so where a detail depends on your own permit, read the permit and Form OS-1A, and ask the Special Hauling Permits Office.

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Who issues Ohio oversize permits

Under ORC § 4513.34, vehicles that exceed legal size or weight need written permission from the governmental jurisdiction that owns the road. For the state highway system, that permission is an ODOT special hauling permit. Applications go through Ohio Hauling Permits System (OHPS) (see also ODOT’s Hauling Permits System page), and the Special Hauling Permits Office sits at 1980 W. Broad Street, Mail Stop 5140, Columbus, OH 43223. Reach them at Hauling.Permits@dot.ohio.gov or 614-351-2300 (ODOT’s Special Hauling Permits contacts page).

Form OS-1A is clear that the permit only covers the highways named on it. Permission to travel county or township roads, local streets not part of the State Highway System, or the Ohio Turnpike must come from the proper authorities. Ohio Turnpike special hauling permit FAQ says ODOT and the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission are separate: an ODOT permit is not valid on the Turnpike, and you may need a separate Turnpike permit even when ODOT routes you onto it. ODOT’s Special Hauling Permits contacts page also links local-jurisdiction contact lists for county, city and township roads.

Permit types are defined in OAC 5501:2-1-01. The everyday ones are a single trip (one move between two points in up to five calendar days), a single trip and return (outbound and back within five days), a continuing permit (unlimited trips on the same route for up to 90 days) and a continuing annual permit (same idea for up to 365 days). Specialty permits cover construction equipment, farm equipment, manufactured buildings, boats, marinas, steel or aluminum coils, Michigan-legal weight near the Michigan border, sealed containers and regional heavy haul. Emergency permits can be granted by phone, with the application and fees due the next business day (§ 5501:2-1-01(I); § 5501:2-1-02(D)).

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The top of the permit: type, dates and fees

Start at the top. Find the permit number (shown here only as a placeholder, OH-XXXXXXX; we never show real ones), the permittee, the permit type, and the start and end dates. Then check:

• Validity. OAC 5501:2-1-03(A) sets the durations: a single trip or single trip and return runs up to five calendar days; a continuing permit up to 90 days; a continuing annual up to 365 days; an emergency single trip up to one day (return up to three). A permit cannot outlast the insurance filing on it (§ 5501:2-1-03(B)).
• Extensions and revisions. If weather or another factor beyond your control stops a single-trip move, § 5501:2-1-03(C) allows an extension of up to one calendar day (three days on a single trip and return), unless ODOT extends it further. Revisions can fix errors or adjust for conditions that neither side knew at issuance, but they will not change the permittee, the load description, the origin or destination, or a permit that has already expired (§ 5501:2-1-03(D)).
• Fees. Under OAC 5501:2-1-05, every application has a $20 basic processing charge plus the surcharge that fits the move. For one-way trips, overweight up to 120,000 pounds is $125 outbound / $65 return; overweight over 120,000 pounds adds 4 cents per ton over 60 tons, per mile. Width up to 14 feet and/or height up to 14 feet 6 inches is $55 / $35 return; wider or taller is $125 / $65. An emergency trip is $240 / $115. If a move is both overweight and oversize, you pay the basic fee plus the overweight surcharge only. Continuing and annual fees are higher; boat, construction, farm, manufactured-building and marina permits are flat $80. Governments pay no fee.
• Insurance. § 5501:2-1-05(F) sets a minimum of $500,000 liability insurance or surety bond, and ODOT can raise that when the risk is higher.

Carry it right. OAC 5501:2-1-04(A) says the driver must have, at all times during the move: the valid permit (or a clearly legible facsimile or electronic copy), a complete two-page copy of Form OS-1A, a bill of lading or like document (except farm equipment, government vehicles, construction equipment and boats), and a statement of gross vehicle weight. An electronic or fax copy is allowed, but if an officer asks, you must be able to verify that the original was issued—by producing the permit itself or by written or oral confirmation from the Special Hauling Permits Section. Don’t mark it up: the permit must be free of any writing, logo or letterhead that was not part of what ODOT transmitted.

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Permit restrictions and the Form OS-1A conditions

This is the part most worth slowing down for. Form OS-1A says its limitations and provisions are in addition to anything printed on the SHP or its attachments. Breaking them can void the permit. The general limitations a driver is most likely to need on the road:

OAC 5501:2-1-04 repeats many of the same themes: no night moves unless the permit or an emergency says otherwise, no travel in storms, fog, snow-covered or slippery roads, keep space for overtaking traffic, and stay on the assigned route. Read your own permit’s restriction lines word for word. They can add conditions for a specific bridge, route or time, and they win over anything general in this guide.

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Vehicle, load, dimensions and weights

The vehicle and load block should match the truck exactly. OAC 5501:2-1-02(F) says the application must give an accurate description of the vehicle and load, including all physical dimensions, axle weights and gross vehicle weight. Inaccurate or incomplete applications can delay or deny the permit, and once issued, a mismatch can void it.

What makes a load oversize in the first place? Ohio’s common legal limits in ORC § 5577.05 are 102 inches (8 feet 6 inches) wide for most vehicles, 13 feet 6 inches high, and 53 feet of semitrailer length in a tractor-semitrailer combination. Other combination and bus lengths are listed in the same section. The load must be nondivisible: OAC 5501:2-1-01(Q) defines a nondivisible load as one that cannot reasonably be reduced to legal size or weight, and puts the burden on the applicant to show how long dismantling would take. Steel and aluminum coils are treated as nondivisible for this purpose.

For weight, ORC § 5577.04 sets the legal axle and gross limits (for example, 20,000 pounds on one axle and 34,000 on a tandem on the interstate system, with the federal bridge formula for groups of axles). Anything above those limits needs the SHP. Fee brackets in § 5501:2-1-05 turn at 120,000 pounds gross, which is also the cap on ordinary steel-coil permits (§ 5501:2-1-01(W)). Michigan-legal permits near the Michigan border can go up to 154,000 pounds under Michigan’s weight law (§ 5501:2-1-01(N)).

ODOT’s rules we checked do not print a single “superload” size cut-off the way some states do. When a move needs special traffic control or engineering analysis, § 5501:2-1-05(E) says the applicant deposits the estimated direct cost before the work starts. If your dimensions or weight look unusual, ask the Special Hauling Permits Office what else the permit will require.

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The route section, bridges and clearances

The route section lists each road and direction in order. Drive the route as printed. OAC 5501:2-1-04(M) says the driver must stick to the routing on the permit and may not leave it except as ODOT authorizes for unforeseen conditions. Form OS-1A adds that you are responsible for checking the route for abnormal, changed or unusual conditions during the move, and that posted legal-weight reductions still apply—call the Permit Office immediately if your route includes one.

Height is partly on you. Legal height is 13 feet 6 inches (§ 5577.05(D)), and that statute says the state does not have to provide that much clearance. Under Form OS-1A, any load with an overall height over 14 feet 10 inches must coordinate the move with the owners of overhead signs, signals, utilities and anything else that could block safe clearance. Over 14 feet 6 inches, the escort rules below also call for a lead escort with a height-sensing device.

Local streets and the Ohio Turnpike are outside the SHP. ODOT’s Special Hauling Permits contacts page reminds carriers that ORC § 4513.34 requires written permission from every county, city or township that owns a road on the route, and Ohio Turnpike special hauling permit FAQ says to get a separate Turnpike permit when you use the Turnpike.

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Private escorts and police escorts

OAC 5501:2-1-04(L) lets ODOT require private or police escorts on the permit, and lets a permittee elect escorts if they tell ODOT in advance and meet the conditions. The published size triggers sit on Form OS-1A:

Escort vehicles must be a single unit with clear front and rear vision, must not tow a trailer or haul overhanging equipment, and must keep a safe distance from the load. Each escort displays a yellow OVERSIZE LOAD sign 5 feet long by 12 inches high with 8-inch letters, runs a roof-mounted amber flashing or rotating light, and keeps radio contact with the load. The escort driver acts as a flagger when needed and may not operate other vehicles or equipment while escorting. Unless the SHP says otherwise, a public safety or law-enforcement vehicle does not count as a private escort.

§ 5501:2-1-04(L) adds that every private escort driver must be a licensed driver capable of flagging as described in the rule. The rules and Form OS-1A we checked do not set a separate escort certification program, so if a broker or your permit asks for a certified escort, confirm with the Special Hauling Permits Office what ODOT will accept. For how escort triggers compare across states, see our guide to pilot car requirements by state.

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Travel times, rush hours, weekends and holidays

Overweight only. Under Form OS-1A and ODOT’s travel hour restrictions page, a permitted load that is overweight but not over-dimensional has no travel-hour or day restriction, so long as it can move without obstructing the normal flow of traffic. That overweight-only exception also appears in the OHPS holiday notice: overweight-only loads may move on holiday weekends with a valid SHP.

Daylight for over-dimensional loads. Except for the overweight-only case, permitted vehicles may move in daylight hours, Sunday through Saturday. Daylight is defined as one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset (Form OS-1A; ODOT’s travel hour restrictions page). OAC 5501:2-1-04(C) says the same idea in shorter form: no night moves (sunset to sunrise) unless the permit or an emergency provides otherwise.

Rush hours for loads over 12 feet wide. Movement of any vehicle/load over 12 feet wide is prohibited Monday through Friday between 6:30–9:00 a.m. and 4:30–6:00 p.m. in these counties: Butler, Clermont, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Geauga, Hamilton, Lake, Licking, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Medina, Montgomery, Pickaway, Stark, Summit, Union, Warren and Wood (Form OS-1A). ODOT’s travel hour restrictions page notes that this rush-hour rule does not apply to farm-equipment permits.

Weekend limits for loads over 12 feet wide. The same over-12-foot loads are also barred (Form OS-1A):

• Saturday from 3 p.m. until one-half hour before sunrise Sunday
• Sunday from 3 p.m. until one-half hour before sunrise Monday
• Friday from 3 p.m. until one-half hour before sunrise Saturday, April 1 through November 30

Those weekend limits stack on top of the holiday and rush-hour rules.

Holidays. Over-dimensional loads (and over-dimensional/overweight combinations) are barred on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Form OS-1A says the prohibition begins at noon the day preceding and continues until one-half hour before sunrise the day following the holiday or holiday weekend. § 5501:2-1-04(C) and the dated windows posted in Ohio Hauling Permits System (OHPS) and on ODOT’s 2026 holiday restrictions for oversized loads phrase the end of the ban as sunrise rather than one-half hour before sunrise. Follow the stricter reading on your Form OS-1A and the dates on your permit; when they differ, ask the Special Hauling Permits Office. Dated windows from the OHPS holiday notice (checked November 6, 2026):

For how curfews and holiday bans read across states, see our guide to checking curfews and travel restrictions on an oversize permit.

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Signs, flags and lights

Form OS-1A and OAC 5501:2-1-04(I)–(K) set the equipment, unless the permit says otherwise:

• Flags. Clean red or orange flags, 18 inches square, with no printing, on all over-dimensional vehicles and loads. Over-width loads get flags at the widest extremities and at each corner (not required on the tractor). Over-length loads, or any rear overhang of 4 feet or more, get one flag at the extreme rear if the projecting part is 2 feet wide or less, or two flags marking the maximum width if it is wider.
• Signs on the load. When required, clean yellow OVERSIZE LOAD signs at least 7 feet long by 18 inches high, black letters at least 10 inches high with a 1.41-inch brush stroke (or 2 inches if Series E Modified is used), on the front and rear of the oversize vehicle or load. Signs are required when the vehicle/load exceeds the legal length in ORC § 5577.05, has an overall width of 10 feet or greater, or has an overall height over 14 feet 6 inches.
• Signs on escort vehicles. Yellow OVERSIZE LOAD, 5 feet by 12 inches, with 8-inch letters.
• Lights. Standard vehicle lighting must work, and headlights must be on during any over-dimensional move. Extra clearance and side-marker lights on the extremities are required when the permit specially authorizes night movement or when visibility drops under 1,000 feet, in the manner described in ODOT’s Operational Guide.

Form OS-1A points readers to the Special Hauling Permits Operational Guide for detailed lighting layout. The ODOT publication page for that guide returned an error when we checked it on November 6, 2026, so if your permit authorizes night movement, ask the Special Hauling Permits Office for the current Operational Guide rather than guessing at the light pattern.

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Emergency moves and where to get help

An emergency under OAC 5501:2-1-01(H)–(I) is a situation that threatens life or otherwise endangers public health, safety or welfare. An emergency permit can be granted over the phone, and the application procedures and fees are finished the next business day. Duration is up to one calendar day for a single trip, or up to three days for an emergency single trip and return (§ 5501:2-1-03(A)).

For anything else, start with Ohio Hauling Permits System (OHPS) or call the Special Hauling Permits Office at 614-351-2300 / Hauling.Permits@dot.ohio.gov. Mail and visitors go to 1980 W. Broad Street, Mail Stop 5140, Columbus, OH 43223 (ODOT’s Special Hauling Permits contacts page). For local-road permission along the route, use the jurisdiction contact lists on that same page. For Turnpike travel, use Ohio Turnpike special hauling permit FAQ.

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A pre-trip checklist, and where JaloPermit fits

Before departure on an Ohio permit, confirm:

1. The SHP and a complete two-page Form OS-1A are in the cab (paper, or a clearly legible electronic/fax copy you can verify), plus the bill of lading and gross-weight statement when required.
2. Every dimension, axle weight and spacing, plate and description on the permit matches the loaded truck, and any revision is attached.
3. You will drive the printed route only, you have local permission for any non-state roads, and you have a separate Turnpike permit if you use the Turnpike.
4. Escorts match Form OS-1A and the permit: signs, amber roof lights, radios, and a height-sensing device when height is over 14 feet 6 inches.
5. The move fits the time rules: daylight for over-dimensional loads, no >12-foot rush-hour or late-weekend windows in the listed counties, and none of the holiday windows (including Thanksgiving 2026 from noon Nov. 25 to sunrise Nov. 27).
6. Weather is clear of the unsafe-travel and mobile-home wind limits, and you have read each restriction line on the permit and on Form OS-1A.

JaloPermit can speed up the reading part. Drop an already-issued, text-based permit PDF into the permit decoder on the JaloPermit homepage and it lays out the route, escorts, time limits, dimensions and limits on one route card, with weigh stations, truck stops and low-bridge alerts. Then compare it with the original. For the state rules at a glance, see the Ohio page in the JaloPermit Atlas. For a general walk-through of any state’s permit, see how to read an oversize load permit, and for escort rules side by side, see pilot car requirements by state. Our Pennsylvania, Wyoming, North Dakota, Kansas, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and Arkansas permit guides cover those states the same way, and if your trip crosses state lines, read multi-state oversize permit trips.

JaloPermit, which publishes this guide, is a reading aid for issued permit PDFs. It is not a permit-filing service and it does not plan routes or provide navigation. The issued permit always wins.

JaloPermit reads text-based PDFs only, not scans or photos. Guests get three free decodes a day with no account and no card. Logged-in users get 10 free decodes a day. After those free decodes, each one is $3.50. There is no subscription.

Questions about how JaloPermit reads a permit? Email support@jalopermit.org.

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FAQs