State profile · Wisconsin
Every figure here carries the Wisconsin document behind it.
The short version: a Wisconsin single-trip permit starts at $0 before bands, overweight and the transaction charge; an escort is first required at over 16' wide; and the load becomes a superload at a gross weight the state does not publish. Everything below carries the Wisconsin document it came from, that document's own revision date, and the date we read it.
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 § 348.05(1): "No person without a permit therefor shall operate on a highway any vehicle having a total width in excess of 8 feet 6 inches". EXCLUSIVE — 8 ft 6 in exactly is legal. § 348.05(2) also grants 9 ft to pipeline/utility pole-and-pipe hauls (carrier-identity conditioned, not collected on a quote) and 12 ft to baled hay and, from 15 September to 15 December, Christmas trees within a single traffic lane and off the interstate. Neither is applied. |
| Height | 13'6"rev. · read § 348.06(1): "no person, without a permit therefor, may operate on a highway any motor vehicle, mobile home, recreational vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer having an overall height in excess of 13 1/2 feet." EXCLUSIVE. § 348.06(2) exempts implements of husbandry of any height; § 348.06(2m)(a) allows double-deck buses to 14 ft 5 in off the state trunk system, and the tail of that sentence was cut by a PDF page break, so the exact scope of that carve-out is UNKNOWN. Neither is applied. |
| Semitrailer length | Not yet covered |
| Overall length | Two official sources disagree70' — versus — 75' |
| Kingpin to rear axle | None published |
| Front overhang | 3'rev. · read § 348.10(1): "No person, without a permit therefor, may operate on a highway any vehicle or combination of vehicles with any load thereon extending more than 3 feet beyond the front of the foremost vehicle". EXCLUSIVE. The section carves out a carried vehicle with a crane or boom projecting more than 3 ft, but only while the TOTAL length stays inside the statutory limits. |
| Rear overhang | Not yet covered |
| Gross weight | 80,000 lbundated document · read WisDOT: "Maximum gross vehicle weights on all axles 80,000 lbs". § 348.15 states NO flat gross cap — ch. 348 was searched and the only "may not exceed 80,000" hits are inside the commodity paragraphs (bg)/(br)/(bv), each capping a commodity allowance rather than stating the general limit. 80,000 lb is the arithmetic maximum of Figure 348.15(3)(c). Source-authority mismatch, recorded. |
| Single axle | 20,000 lbrev. · read § 348.15(3)(b): "The gross weight imposed on the highway by the wheels of any one axle may not exceed 20,000 pounds or, if the vehicle or combination of vehicles is an implement of husbandry or agricultural commercial motor vehicle ... 23,000 pounds. In addition, the gross weight imposed on the highway by the wheels of the steering axle of a truck tractor may not exceed 13,000 pounds unless the manufacturer's rated capacity of the axle and the tires is sufficient to carry the weight, but not to exceed 20,000 pounds." INCLUSIVE ("may not exceed"). The 13,000 lb steer figure and its conditional escalation to 20,000 turn on the manufacturer's rating, which a quote does not collect; the 23,000 lb agricultural figure turns on the commodity. Neither is applied. § 348.15(3)(a) additionally caps any one wheel at 11,000 lb. |
| Tandem axle | 34,000 lbundated document · read WisDOT: "Tandem axles 34,000 lbs". § 348.15(3)(c) states no flat tandem number — it sets Figure 348.15(3)(c), a table by spacing and axle count, whose value for two consecutive axles at 4-8 ft is 34,000 lb. Recorded from the agency page because the statute does not state it as a scalar. |
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.
| When | What is required | Source |
|---|---|---|
| width over 16' | Escorts required; the source states no number — at least 1. Published as: “All loads exceeding 16 feet in width shall have one or more properly equipped escorts.” |
page footer "Register November 2024 No. 827";…rev. · read |
| Measurement | First escort trigger | First police escort trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Width | over 16'rev. · read | None published |
| Height | None published | None published |
| Length | None published | None published |
| Rear overhang | None published | None published |
| Gross weight | None published | None published |
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Single-trip base | $0rev. · read § 348.25(8)(a) lists four fees and no base: "the department shall charge the following fees for each permit issued under s. 348.26: 1. ... $15. 2. ... $20. 2m. ... $25. 3. ... 10 percent of the fee specified in par. (b) 3. ..." Nothing is charged in addition to whichever of the four applies. § 348.25(8)(f) does authorise a LOCAL issuing authority to charge its own issuance fee, and MV2605 condition 3 makes a local permit mandatory off the state trunk system — "A permit issued by the department is valid only on State, U.S. and Interstate highways" — but no amount is set by state law and none is collected here. |
| Transaction / card | None publishedrev. · read MV2600: "1. Online applications accept eCheck/ACH and credit card. ... 2. If application is mailed in, make checks payable to: Registration Fee Trust. The fee must accompany the application and will be retained by the Department only if a permit is issued." No percentage or per-transaction charge is stated. Trans 250.08 additionally makes every fee $0 for a state department, county, town, municipality, or branch of the United States or a foreign government — a condition a quote does not state, so it is recorded and not applied. |
| Route analysis review | Not yet covered |
| Route with no bridges | Not yet covered |
| Band | Fee |
|---|---|
| over width AND over height (any length) — § 348.25(8)(a)2m. | $25rev. · read § 348.25(8)(a): "1. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds length limitations, $15. 2. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds either width limitations or height limitations, $20. ... 2m. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds both width and height limitations, $25." The band places no ceiling on length above $20 because § 348.25(8)(c) charges nothing more for length once width or height is over. |
| over width, not over height (any length) — § 348.25(8)(a)2. | $20rev. · read § 348.25(8)(a): "1. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds length limitations, $15. 2. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds either width limitations or height limitations, $20. ... 2m. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds both width and height limitations, $25." The band places no ceiling on length above $20 because § 348.25(8)(c) charges nothing more for length once width or height is over. |
| over height, not over width (any length) — § 348.25(8)(a)2. | $20rev. · read § 348.25(8)(a): "1. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds length limitations, $15. 2. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds either width limitations or height limitations, $20. ... 2m. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds both width and height limitations, $25." The band places no ceiling on length above $20 because § 348.25(8)(c) charges nothing more for length once width or height is over. |
| over length only — § 348.25(8)(a)1. | $15rev. · read § 348.25(8)(a): "1. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds length limitations, $15. 2. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds either width limitations or height limitations, $20. ... 2m. For a vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds both width and height limitations, $25." The band places no ceiling on length above $20 because § 348.25(8)(c) charges nothing more for length once width or height is over. |
| over width AND over height (any length) — § 348.25(8)(a)2m. | $25rev. · read MV2600 fee chart: "Overlength Only $15.00 / Overwidth OR Overheight (may include Overlength) 20.00 / Overwidth AND Overheight (may include Overlength) 25.00". MV2600 states the classification and the amount; the dimensional thresholds it is applied against come from §§ 348.05-348.07. |
| over width, not over height (any length) — § 348.25(8)(a)2. | $20rev. · read MV2600 fee chart: "Overlength Only $15.00 / Overwidth OR Overheight (may include Overlength) 20.00 / Overwidth AND Overheight (may include Overlength) 25.00". MV2600 states the classification and the amount; the dimensional thresholds it is applied against come from §§ 348.05-348.07. |
| over height, not over width (any length) — § 348.25(8)(a)2. | $20rev. · read MV2600 fee chart: "Overlength Only $15.00 / Overwidth OR Overheight (may include Overlength) 20.00 / Overwidth AND Overheight (may include Overlength) 25.00". MV2600 states the classification and the amount; the dimensional thresholds it is applied against come from §§ 348.05-348.07. |
| over length only — § 348.25(8)(a)1. | $15rev. · read MV2600 fee chart: "Overlength Only $15.00 / Overwidth OR Overheight (may include Overlength) 20.00 / Overwidth AND Overheight (may include Overlength) 25.00". MV2600 states the classification and the amount; the dimensional thresholds it is applied against come from §§ 348.05-348.07. |
Graduated weight bands. § 348.25(8)(a)3. prices the single-trip overweight permit as "10 percent of the fee specified in par. (b) 3. for an annual permit for the comparable gross weight, rounded to the nearest whole dollar". Par. (b)3. is a flat-stepped gross-weight ladder with a $100-per-10,000-lb-or-fraction tail, so the single-trip fee is the same shape at a tenth of the money. There is no mileage component anywhere in the subsection.
| Gross weight | Axles | Fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 lb – 90,000 lb | any | $20 | "2023-24 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2…rev. · read |
| 90,001 lb – 100,000 lb | any | $35 | "2023-24 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2…rev. · read |
| 100,001 lb and up | any | $35plus $10 per 10,000 lb above 100,000 lb (any part increment is charged in full) | "2023-24 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2…rev. · read |
| 0 lb – 90,000 lb | any | $20 | printed form stamp "MV2600 6/2021"; the PDF m…rev. · read |
| 90,001 lb – 100,000 lb | any | $35 | printed form stamp "MV2600 6/2021"; the PDF m…rev. · read |
| 100,001 lb and up | any | $35plus $10 per 10,000 lb above 100,000 lb (any part increment is charged in full) | printed form stamp "MV2600 6/2021"; the PDF m…rev. · read |
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.
The live Wisconsin restriction picture, with the date we last read the bulletin →
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 | None published |
| Height | None published |
| Length | None published |
| Short axle spacing | Not yet covered |
The dimensions at which Wisconsin triggers a physical route inspection or an engineering review, and what the agency charges to review it.
| Measurement | Inspection / review trigger |
|---|---|
| Width | over 16'rev. · read Trans 250.05(1)(a): "For each single trip permit for a width exceeding 16 feet, a region review fee of $10 for each region through which the load is routed to cover the costs incurred by the region office in reviewing the adequacy of the route for the proposed move." EXCLUSIVE. |
| Height | Not yet covered |
| Length | Not yet covered |
Charges exist and no schedule is published. Wisconsin publishes the FORMULA and not the rate, which is a different finding from either of the other two kinds. Wis. Admin. Code Trans 320.05(1) lists the fee components — "(a) Duty hours. (b) Rate of pay. (c) Vehicle mileage. (d) Mileage rate. (e) Meal allowance." — and every input is set outside the published code: Trans 320.02(13) defines the rate of pay by "collective bargaining agreement or state of Wisconsin compensation plan", and (6)-(7) define the allowances by reference to the internal departmental manual TAM 8-6, obtainable only by writing to the Division of State Patrol. § 348.26(2) attaches no dimensional trigger at all — a traffic officer is required "whenever the officer or agency issuing such permit deems it necessary". The one fixed figure in the scheme is a $100 surcharge for cancelling with under 24 hours of notice (Trans 320.03(15)).
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 Wisconsin. The seasonal picture — which is a different question — is in section 6 above.
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.
The agency behind each figure above is linked from that figure. We publish no per-state permit-office phone number.
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.
Two official documents, both in effect, giving different answers. Neither has been adopted.
Both are in effect and neither has been adopted.
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.
This is a permit fee, not a freight rate.
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.
The agency's review fee is shown where the state publishes one; the engineer's own fee is a private cost with no schedule.
Set per move by the agency, and in at least one state the escort is billed at actual cost against it.
Arranged with each utility, priced by each utility.
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.
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.
The first width trigger is over 16'.
Wisconsin publishes no gross-weight superload threshold in the documents on file — see the superload section, which shows the dimensional triggers it does publish.
Yes, in 1 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.