A Kentucky oversize load permit is required any time your vehicle or load exceeds the state’s legal width, height, length, or weight on state-maintained highways. The Division of Motor Carriers within the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet issues these permits, and most carriers apply through the Kentucky Automated Permitting System (KAPS) at kyautomatedpermitsystem.com.1Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Kentucky Automated Permitting System What you pay, how you mark the load, whether you need escorts, and when you can travel all depend on how far past legal you are.
When You Need a Permit
Kentucky’s baseline legal dimensions come from KRS 189.221: 96 inches (8 feet) wide and 11 feet 6 inches tall.2FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes 189.221 On designated highways, KRS 189.222 raises those limits to 102 inches (8 feet 6 inches) wide and 13 feet 6 inches tall, with a gross weight ceiling of 80,000 pounds. Auto carriers can go up to 14 feet tall on those same routes.3FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes 189.222
Cross any of those thresholds and you need a permit. The load must also be nondivisible for a single-trip permit, meaning it cannot reasonably be broken into smaller shipments.4Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. 601 KAR 1:018 – Special Overweight or Overdimensional Motor Vehicle Load Permits Some annual permit categories (metal commodities and feed, for example) do allow divisible loads.
One boundary to know: even if your axle weights and gross weight are all individually legal, you still have to satisfy the federal bridge formula, which controls the ratio of weight to axle spacing across every group of consecutive axles on the vehicle.5Federal Highway Administration. Bridge Formula Weights A truck under 80,000 pounds can still be illegal if a subgrouping of its axles fails the formula.
Permit Types and Fees
Kentucky offers two categories: single-trip permits for one move, and annual permits tied to a specific vehicle for 365 days.
Single-Trip Permits
A single-trip permit is $60 and stays valid for 10 days from the effective date, regardless of whether the load is overweight, overdimensional, or both.4Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. 601 KAR 1:018 – Special Overweight or Overdimensional Motor Vehicle Load Permits
Annual Permits
Annual permits allow unlimited moves for a year but are locked to one vehicle. Fees vary by load type and width:6Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Overweight-Over-Dimensional Permits
- Non-divisible loads under 14 feet wide (A01): $250. Covers up to 13 feet 11 inches wide, 120 feet long, 13 feet 6 inches tall, 160,000 pounds.
- Non-divisible loads 14 to 16 feet wide (A02): $500. Same length, height, and weight caps.
- Farm equipment under 14 feet wide (A03): $80. Width-only; other dimensions must be legal.
- Farm equipment 14 to 16 feet wide (A04): $150. Restricted to dealership-to-farm, farm-to-dealership, or dealership-to-dealership moves.
- Metal commodities (A05): $1,250. Weight-only up to 120,000 pounds; can be divisible or non-divisible.
- Non-divisible steel, statewide (A06): $500. Weight-only up to 120,000 pounds with route restrictions.
- Annual feed certificate (A09): $150. Weight-only up to 88,000 pounds with route restrictions.
- Annual manufactured home (A10): $1,500. Up to 16 feet wide, 120 feet long, 15 feet tall, 160,000 pounds.
No annual permit covers more than 16 feet wide, 120 feet long, or 160,000 pounds. Anything larger needs an individual single-trip permit with route-specific approval.
How to Apply
Most carriers apply through KAPS. You create a company account, submit the application, request a route, and receive the approved permit electronically. Mail, fax, and hand delivery to the Division of Motor Carriers are also accepted.4Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. 601 KAR 1:018 – Special Overweight or Overdimensional Motor Vehicle Load Permits
Single-trip applicants use TC Form 95-10 (the Kentucky Overweight/Overdimensional Permit Worksheet). Annual applicants use TC Form 95-25. Both require:
- Towing vehicle year, make, VIN, license plate number and jurisdiction, and maximum registered weight.
- Kentucky Highway Use License (KYU) number or USDOT number.
- A general load description, plus the serial number for manufactured homes.
- Axle spacing and axle group configuration, used to check bridge formula compliance along the route.
- Specific routes of travel and the effective date.
Every permit issued under KRS 189.270 carries a liability acknowledgment: the Transportation Cabinet does not guarantee safe passage. Measuring bridge clearances, vertical and lateral, along the approved route is on you. The state can also limit routes, exclude certain highways, or cancel a permit if the load poses an unreasonable accident risk or would seriously impede traffic.1Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Kentucky Automated Permitting System
Any mismatch between what the permit lists and what the vehicle actually is can void the permit at a weigh station. Officers routinely compare axle configurations against the paperwork.
Signs, Flags, and Lighting
Any vehicle wider than 10 feet 6 inches, or with a front overhang, must display two “OVERSIZE LOAD” signs: one on the front of the power unit and one on the rear of the trailer or load. Each sign is 6 to 8 feet wide with black letters at least 18 inches tall on a yellow background, brush stroke at least 1.4 inches.7Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Escort Requirements
Flag requirements depend on what’s oversized. An overwidth vehicle needs four warning flags, one at each corner, with additional flags at the widest points if the load extends past the corners. An overlength vehicle or one with rear overhang needs two flags at the extreme rear marking the full width at that point.
When You Need Escort Vehicles
Escort requirements shift based on width, height, and whether you’re on a multi-lane or two-lane road.7Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Escort Requirements
Multi-Lane Highways
- Over 12 feet wide: one rear escort.
- Over 14 feet wide: one front and one rear.
- Over 16 feet wide: two front and two rear.
Two-Lane Highways
- Over 12 feet wide: one front and one rear.
- Over 16 feet wide: two front and two rear.
Height triggers a separate rule. Any load taller than 14 feet 11 inches needs a front escort with a height pole. Above 15 feet 6 inches, you must also submit a completed Proposed Route Survey (TC95-625) documenting vertical clearances along the entire route.
Escort vehicles carry their own “OVERSIZE LOAD” signs visible to oncoming traffic, built to the same specifications as the hauling vehicle’s signs. Professional escort services typically charge between $1.75 and $2.25 per mile.
When You Can Travel
Permitted loads can travel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, unless the permit itself says otherwise.8Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Travel Provisions Mobile homes are the main exception: daylight only, Monday through Saturday, no Sunday travel.
Rush-hour restrictions apply in Boone, Campbell, Fayette, Jefferson, and Kenton counties. No permitted movement between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. or between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Loads originating in Fayette County get a partial exemption for I-64 and I-75 within the county and connecting routes up to three miles from those interstates.
Kentucky does not ban holiday travel for oversize or overweight loads, which surprises carriers used to neighboring states. Always read the permit itself, because the Cabinet can add route or time restrictions to any individual permit.
Penalties for Overweight Violations
Vehicles exceeding the weight limits under KRS 189.222, 189.221, or 189.270 are fined two cents per pound of excess weight when the overage is 5,000 pounds or less. Above 5,000 pounds, the two-cent rate still applies but with a floor of $100 and a cap of $500.9Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 189.990 – Penalties
3,000 pounds over runs $60. At 10,000 pounds over, the calculation lands at $200, within the $100 to $500 band. Fines apply per violation, and officers can order the vehicle held until the excess weight is removed or a valid permit is produced. Operating with no permit at all, when one was clearly required, is a separate violation from being over a permitted weight.
Enforcement tolerances on weight are not permitted on interstate highways. 80,001 pounds on an interstate scale is over.10Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. 603 KAR 5:066 – Weight (Mass) Limits for Trucks – Section 3 Dimension tolerances on non-interstate routes are handled under 603 KAR 5:070 to account for minor measurement variations.11Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. 603 KAR 5:070 – Motor Vehicle Dimension Limits
Insurance
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires any for-hire property carrier operating a vehicle rated at 10,001 pounds or more to carry at least $750,000 in bodily injury and property damage liability insurance. Certain hazardous materials require $1,000,000, and explosives, poison gas, or radioactive materials require $5,000,000.12Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Insurance Filing Requirements
The FMCSA does not set a separate, higher tier for oversize or overweight loads specifically. The standard $750,000 minimum for non-hazardous freight applies to legal-dimension and permitted oversize loads alike, though shippers moving heavy or high-value cargo often require proof of coverage well above that floor.