The short version: a Michigan single-trip permit starts at $0 before bands, overweight and the transaction charge; an escort is first required at no width the state publishes; and the load becomes a superload at a gross weight the state does not publish. Everything below carries the Michigan document it came from, that document's own revision date, and the date we read it.
Corridor
1. Where the load goes next
The jurisdictions this one borders, each chip carrying the fact that decides whether that crossing is the expensive one — so the row is itself a small comparison. A multi-state lane is the actual job, and from here it is one click per state rather than a return to an alphabetical index.
Anything over one of these needs a permit. Every value links to the document that sets it.
Measure
Legal limit
Width
8'6"rev. · read T-1 prints "Designated Highways / Width ....... 102 inches" and "Non-Designated Highways / Width ....... 96 inches". The 102-inch figure is recorded; the 96-inch one is carried by mi-width-96-to-102-non-designated.
164,000 lbrev. · read MDOT: "Since 1967, the maximum number of axles has been limited to eleven, and per-axle load restrictions have resulted in a maximum gross vehicle weight of 164,000 pounds", and "The maximum allowable gross vehicle weight on the heaviest ‘Michigan-weight-law truck’ is 164,000 pounds, which can only be achieved by use of eleven properly spaced axles." THIS IS AN ARITHMETIC RESULT, NOT A STATUTORY LIMIT: no Michigan statute states a general gross-weight cap, and the binding constraints are MCL 257.722(1)’s per-axle maxima keyed to axle spacing and MCL 257.719(5)(b)’s eleven-axle cap — both evaluated in axleSpacingWeightTables. MCL 257.719(5)(b) also permits MORE than eleven axles under permit, so 164,000 lb is not an absolute ceiling. The only other appearance of 164,000 in the Michigan Vehicle Code is MCL 257.719(3)(b), a cap on a LOG CRIB VEHICLE ("A crib vehicle and semitrailer or trailer designed to and used to transport saw logs shall not exceed a gross vehicle weight of 164,000 pounds") and must not be cited as the general limit.
Single axle
20,000 lbrev. · read MCL 257.722(12)(a): "Twenty thousand pounds on any 1 axle, including all enforcement tolerances." This is the FEDERAL regime, which MCL 257.722(12) applies to interstate highways and to designated highways for vehicles at or under 80,000 lb. Above 80,000 lb the Michigan table of MCL 257.722(1) governs instead and the per-axle maximum is 18,000, 13,000 or 9,000 lb by spacing — see axleSpacingWeightTables. The two are not in conflict; they are selected by gross weight.
Tandem axle
34,000 lbrev. · read MCL 257.722(12)(b): "A tandem axle weight of 34,000 pounds, including all enforcement tolerances." Federal regime, at or under 80,000 lb gross. Above it, MCL 257.722(2)-(3) allow ONE tandem assembly at 16,000 lb per axle — 32,000 lb — "on designated highways", a route condition MDOT’s own T-1 footnote omits. That disagreement is carried in axleSpacingWeightTables, where both readings are on file and neither is adopted.
Not one number per dimension — the whole staircase. Each row is a condition the state actually publishes, what it requires when that condition holds, and the clause it comes from. Where a rule requires escorts and the source states no number, the row says that in the source's own words rather than reporting no requirement.
No in-effect rule on file puts an escort on a load here. That is what the documents say, not a gap we are papering over — the rule list below is every escort rule we hold for this jurisdiction.
$0rev. · read Michigan charges no issuance fee on top of the printed single-trip figure. MCL 257.725(5) sets the whole over-dimension fee at "$15.00 for a single trip", and the same section sets the whole over-weight fee at "$50.00" for a single trip. Recorded as a sourced zero so the $15 and $50 rows below are the complete permit price and nothing is added to them.
Transaction / card
Not yet covered
Route analysis review
Not yet covered
Route with no bridges
Not yet covered
Dimension bands
Band
Fee
over-dimension only, legal in weight
$15rev. · read MCL 257.725(5): "The fee charged by the state transportation department for an intrastate or an out-of-state vehicle or combination of vehicles that exceed the maximum size specified in this chapter but do not exceed the maximum weight or load specified in this chapter or are otherwise not in conformity with this chapter shall be $15.00 for a single trip and $30.00 for multiple trips or on an annual basis." The same subsection authorises an annual CPI increase, "rounded to the nearest whole dollar", which MDOT has not applied — T-2 (10/2023) and the FAQ both still print $15.
over-dimension only, legal in weight
$15rev. · read T-2: "Single Trip Permit: $15.00 For a load that is over-dimension only, legal in weight".
over-dimension only, legal in weight
$15undated document · read FAQ: "What is the cost of a single trip permit? Oversize: $15 Oversize/Overweight: $50".
Michigan has more than one permit issuer. A state total can be complete and still be missing a whole permit.
county road commission or city — Any part of the move that leaves the state trunkline system — which almost every lane does at its first or last mile.. We do not hold this authority's fee schedule, so the leg goes to review rather than being quoted short. MDOT — Special Provisions, Conditions and Restrictions for Transport Permits
A permit priced against an unposted-road assumption in March is simply wrong, and wrong in the expensive direction. This is the window we watch, the basis for that window in the state's own orders or statute, and the authority that posts it.
Seasonal posting
Programme
A statewide seasonal programmeRestrictions apply to routes marked "Seasonal" on the MDOT Truck Operators Map — a 25% axle-weight reduction on rigid pavement and 35% on flexible. Which pavement a given mile is, is a property of the road, not of the state, so we never compute the reduction ourselves.
Posting window we watch
02-01 → 06-01MDOT issues numbered Spring Weight Restriction Bulletins, each stating the moment it takes effect. The 2026 season ran bulletin #1 on Feb 17 to bulletin #8 on May 15, which lifted the last restriction statewide.
Above one of these, the state stops issuing over the counter and prices the move after an engineering review.
Trigger
Threshold
Gross weight
None published
Width
over 16'rev. · read T-2: "Permits shall not be issued for transportation of loads exceeding the following limitations: 16 feet in width / 15 feet in height / 150 feet in overall combination length ... Superloads / Efforts should be made to move vehicles or loads exceeding these limitations by some means other than by state trunkline or to dismantle the object being moved to comply with the standard permit limitations." Exclusive: at exactly 16 ft 0 in it is an ordinary single-trip permit.
over 150'rev. · read T-2 says "150 feet in overall combination length"; Form 2465 says "150 feet in length". Same number, and T-2’s phrasing is the operative one.
Charges exist and no schedule is published. MDOT Special Provision 14 reads, in full, "Police supervision of traffic required on move." No width, height, length or weight triggers it, and neither the Michigan State Police nor MDOT publishes an hourly rate, minimum hours, officer minimum or mileage rate in michigan.gov/msp, T-1, either revision of T-2, the permit conditions, Form 2465 or the OS/OW FAQ. A required police escort also forces a motor-carrier-officer inspection before movement, for which no fee is published either.
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".
Holiday, curfew and night-travel windows are not yet encoded for Michigan. The seasonal picture — which is a different question — is in section 6 above.
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
11. 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
12. Where the sources disagree
Two official documents, both in effect, giving different answers. Neither has been adopted.
axle-load table by axle spacing
the federal loading maximum, MCL 257.722(12): any single axle, at any spacing → 20,000 lbMCL 257.722 — axle load maxima (Michigan Legislature) — (1)(a)-(d) the normal loading maximum; (2)-(3) the 16,000 lb tandem on designated highways; (7) 700 lb per inch of tyre; (11) how weight is measured; (12) the federal table and the regime selector; (14)-(15) natural-gas and battery-electric allowances; last amendment "Am. 2024, Act 106, Eff. Apr. 2, 2025" rev. · read
the normal loading maximum, MCL 257.722(1) as the statute writes it: (a) axle spacing 9 feet or more between axles → 18,000 lb; (b) less than 9 feet between 2 axles but MORE THAN 3 1/2 feet → 13,000 lb; (c) axles spaced less than 3 1/2 feet apart → 9,000 lb — one tandem assembly at 16,000 lb per axle only on mi-designated highwaysMCL 257.722 — axle load maxima (Michigan Legislature) — (1)(a)-(d) the normal loading maximum; (2)-(3) the 16,000 lb tandem on designated highways; (7) 700 lb per inch of tyre; (11) how weight is measured; (12) the federal table and the regime selector; (14)-(15) natural-gas and battery-electric allowances; last amendment "Am. 2024, Act 106, Eff. Apr. 2, 2025" rev. · read
the axle-load table as MDOT T-1 (05/2024) prints it: 9 feet or more between axles → 18,000 lb; more than or equal to 3 1/2 feet but less than 9 feet → 13,000 lb; less than 3 1/2 feet apart → 9,000 lb — one tandem assembly at 16,000 lb per axle, with NO route condition statedMDOT T-1 — Maximum Legal Truck Loadings and Dimensions — form stamp "T-1 (05/2024)"; designated/non-designated width and length table; axle-load table; the tandem footnote rev. · read
Both are in effect and neither has been adopted.
The 164,000 lb figure is published without the configuration that reaches it
MDOT publishes 164,000 lb as the maximum allowable gross vehicle weight and states it is the result of the eleven-axle cap and the per-axle spacing maxima, not a statutory figure. It does not publish the configuration. One arrangement that reaches it under MCL 257.722(1)-(3) is 3 axles at 18,000 lb (each 9 ft or more from its neighbours) + 1 tandem assembly at 16,000 lb per axle + 6 axles at 13,000 lb = 54,000 + 32,000 + 78,000 = 164,000 lb. THAT ARITHMETIC IS OURS, NOT MICHIGAN’S, it is offered only as evidence the number is reachable, and it is encoded in no rule, fee or limit in this file.
MICHIGAN_164000_RECONSTRUCTION
An annual permit fee keyed to the first letter of the applicant's name
A new Michigan extended (annual) permit is prorated once, from a 12x12 matrix crossing the month the existing permit expires with THE FIRST LETTER OF THE APPLICANT COMPANY’S NAME: $30-$57 for an oversize permit and $100-$191 for an overweight one, with farm-to-farm-only permits at 10% of the overweight prorated fee. MDOT’s worked example: "The new extended transport fee for the oversize permit (prorated this year only) is $47.00." No field in this model expresses a fee keyed to an applicant’s name, and none is invented. The sheet itself carries NO printed revision date and its PDF was created on 2010-07-20 — sixteen years old and still the live linked schedule. It leaves June, July and August unassigned to any letter group, and says nothing about a company name beginning with a digit.
MICHIGAN_NAME_LETTER_PRORATION
michigan.gov serves superseded editions of MDOT’s own operational documents
Two official MDOT hosts serve different editions of the same two documents, and only one host is current. MDOT T-1 (04/19) — SUPERSEDED copy still served by michigan.gov at https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/-/media/Project/Websites/MDOT/Business/Truckers/Rules-and-Guidelines/Maximum-Legal-Truck-Loadings-Dimensions.pdf is superseded by T-1 (05/2024) at mdotjboss.state.mi.us. MDOT T-2 (11/22) — SUPERSEDED copy still served by michigan.gov at https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/-/media/Project/Websites/MDOT/Business/Truckers/Rules-and-Guidelines/Moving-Oversize-Overweight-Vehicles-Loads.pdf is superseded by T-2 (10/2023) at mdotjboss.state.mi.us. These are different editions rather than reflows — the michigan.gov T-2 runs to eight pages against the permit host’s five. Every Michigan value on this site is taken from the permit host’s current copies, and no value is taken from the superseded ones, because their contents were not transcribed and writing down what they probably said would manufacture history.
FHWA — Pilot/Escort Vehicle Operator (P/EVO) Best Practices Guide — Federal Highway Administration — "As of early 2016, States that require P/EVOs be certified include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Washington." undated document · read
MCL 257.717 — width of vehicles (Michigan Legislature) — Michigan Legislature — (1) 96 in general; (3) 108 in for named commodities; (4) 102 in tyre-to-tyre and 96 in body; (5) 102 in body of a trailer or semitrailer; (7) designation power; last amendment "Am. 2018, Act 342, Eff. Jan. 14, 2019" rev. · read
MCL 257.719 — height, length, overhang and axle count (Michigan Legislature) — Michigan Legislature — (1) height 13 ft 6 in; (2)(a),(d),(e),(f) non-designated lengths; (3)(a),(b) designated lengths; (5)(b) eleven axles; (5)(e) 3 ft front projection; last amendment "Am. 2018, Act 35, Eff. May 22, 2018" rev. · read
MCL 257.722 — axle load maxima (Michigan Legislature) — Michigan Legislature — (1)(a)-(d) the normal loading maximum; (2)-(3) the 16,000 lb tandem on designated highways; (7) 700 lb per inch of tyre; (11) how weight is measured; (12) the federal table and the regime selector; (14)-(15) natural-gas and battery-electric allowances; last amendment "Am. 2024, Act 106, Eff. Apr. 2, 2025" rev. · read
MCL 257.725 — special permit fees (Michigan Legislature) — Michigan Legislature — (5) $15 single trip / $30 multiple for over-dimension only, and the CPI escalation clause; the $50/$100 over-weight fee; the $264 construction-equipment annual; the local-authority cap frozen at 1997-09-30 levels; last amendment "Am. 2018, Act 17, Eff. May 14, 2018" rev. · read
MDOT — Oversize/Overweight frequently asked questions — Michigan Department of Transportation — single-trip permit cost; processing times; weekend movement allowance; permits on state trunklines only undated document · read
MDOT Form 2465 — Route Survey Certification (superload) — Michigan Department of Transportation — form stamp "2465 (05/19)"; superload definition; certified route survey requirement; MSP coordination and the pre-movement inspection; fees non-refundable rev. · read
MDOT T-1 — Maximum Legal Truck Loadings and Dimensions — Michigan Department of Transportation — form stamp "T-1 (05/2024)"; designated/non-designated width and length table; axle-load table; the tandem footnote rev. · read
MDOT T-2 — Moving Oversize and Overweight Vehicles and Loads — Michigan Department of Transportation — form stamp "T-2 (10/2023)"; Permit Fees; single-trip permit limitations and Superloads; escort vehicle standard; time limitations; holidays rev. · read
Common questions
Questions
How much is an oversize permit in Michigan?
The single-trip base is $0, before the dimension bands, the overweight component and the transaction charge. The base alone is rarely what is paid.
When does Michigan require a pilot car?
Michigan publishes no numeric width trigger for an escort in the documents on file. That does not mean none is ever required — see the escort section above.
What is a superload in Michigan?
Michigan publishes no gross-weight superload threshold in the documents on file — see the superload section, which shows the dimensional triggers it does publish.
Do Michigan's own documents contradict each other?
Yes, in 4 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.