Permit ordering oversize overweight?

Permits take a few minutes to several days. Depends on load and state.

 

I order mine the day before and its active the next day for the state of Illinois i also order it for 3 months. If its over 12 ft wide a need extra permits for weight its easy for me.i can scale 120k in 6 axles usually never that heavy. If i am i have never beem scaled out per axle usualy just see the permits walk out. To tell u the truth its really hard to tell u how to do all of this at once i suggest start with a flatbed company and little by little grab over size overweight loads to get u an idea.

 

If youre going to haul a lot of them, you can get what they call a Blanket permit that usually lasts for a certain amount of time. The company I hauled for had one that covered up to 120,000 lbs and up to 12 feet wide. It lasted for a year. May be pretty expensive, I really couldn't say about that. The only time I had to get permits is when the load was over those specs (i.e. Scrapers, Huge Dozers, etc). They may have changed since the 70's but the way it was then, if your permit didn't cover the weight or width, they would fine you back to the legal weight of 80,000 lbs and 8 feet wide, etc, just like you didn't have a permit.

 

It takes my permit service a few hours to several hours to get me my permits. I always request them in advance. If the dims are wrong, someone else is paying for the re-order.

As for the weight, I don't do much of that but when I have, I request the max allowable for each axle in the first state. That gets me rolling and after I hit a scale I request the proper amount for the other states.

 

You can order them yourself for almost every state but its a lot easier to call a nationwide permit service and let them do all the work. Be careful, sometimes they just take the easy way out and let the states dictate your route. That can cost hundreds of miles unnecessarily, sometimes a simple county or city permit will save rerouting around construction or a low bridge.

 

Sometimes pre ordering can bite you in the backside. Ld. ends up being bigger or heavier than first told.
Alot of things I can pre order if I have hauled them before.
Like others have said, some states minutes to have permit and others several days.
Depends on the ld and the rteing you are wanting, plus the state you are ordering it for

 

FACT, My company pre-ordered permits for 73ft long and 10' 11'' wide.

I go to pick it up and it's 89' long and 11' 1" wide.

They had to order all new permits lol.

 

There are a huge number of variables to take into account. For starters, how confident are you in the dimensions provided? If you are hauling "small" oversize or current model equipment it is pretty easy to know if you can pad the dims a bit without extra cost. For example, IA charges $10 and Ohio charges $135 for overweight permits which cover anything we can haul...so max out your legal dims and preorder to keep the truck rolling. Illinois, on the other hand, has certain breaking points (88K on 5 axles). If you exceed this, your permit gets much more expensive. In this case, if you are around that breaking point wait to order. Other states like OK have a high charge per ton overweight. Again, make sure you get an accurate weight.

IN my opinion, avoid permit services. Current rates are $15-20 per state. Most states are relatively simple to order and can be done in under 15 minutes. Plus if you take middle men out of the equation you are much more likely to get the routes you want.

Permits can be a real pain in the ###, but it is definitely not rocket science. In addition, 75% of state permit offices are actually very helpful when you call in. For full disclosure, I do have 15 years experience doing this...it could seem easier to me than it actually is.

 

Permits are a hell of a lot easier than I ever thought. If you search google, they will have the permit requirements right there. A few states have cheap online permits, and a few will sell them at weigh stations. Some states give you a code, and you just turn the code into the weigh station and pay a few dozen bucks for the permit. Its really nothing to worry much about.

You can always call the scale houses, they are usually super nice and helpful. Ive never seen an officer in a bad mood unless someone deserved it... like running full speed over a single axle scale without stopping. Facepalm. That turned a nice female officer into the devil very quickly.

The states will also list their requirements right on the website, its not secret or anything. Its actually pretty easy to keep track of what most states require. They arent that strict unless you are making a problem for them.

But we all know those truckers who claim everyone is out to get them, but end up being the guy who breaks every rule and thinks they are special. I got inspected 3 times in 3 months, passed all. I also got a ticket for bad paperwork, but it was waived because I didnt so much as grimace. Sometimes tickets are a part of the game, expect them and the officer might just make them go away for being respectful.

I still remember the look on the officers face when he gave me a $300 ticket for paperwork after I was hit by a car in DC. He was clearly surprised when I just took it and didnt change my tone of voice or anything. I just said "Oh, ok. This goes to the local courthouse or is this a state thing?"... instead of being all dramatic like a lot of drivers can be.

The ticket got dismissed real easy...I actually had more problem explaining to my company that their paperwork was bogus, than problems with the officer.

As a side note, I helped the driver bungee his bumper back on, just gave him the bungees for free, and tried to make a good impression. He was at fault, which is the perfect time to make a good impression on the public. You think he will ever say anything negative about truckers after I helped him out, despite not being at fault?

Same thing when I got real ended at a truck stop by a family a few weeks back. They were flipping out because they didnt want to be held responsible for their actions, I just stayed calm and polite... I told the officer I felt bad for them despite that they were at fault... you should have seen how his look changed real quick.

I know its off topic, but dont underestimate the power of good behavior when you are around other people... this goes ten times over for scale houses and the DOT. Responding in a welcome tone can make a big difference in how the officers treat you.