Updated October 22, 2026

Where an Oversized Load Can Stop

A normal truck stall is built for a normal combination. An oversized or overweight load may not fit the entrance, the canopy, the stall, or the route you would drive to reach a closer lot. This page is how to separate the federal size-and-weight rules, the state permit, and the parking lot. It is general information, not legal advice, and it does not list fees, escort rules, or permit steps for any state. Those belong to the state that owns the road. The FHWA pages below were checked on October 22, 2026.

The federal limits that decide whether you even need a permit

FHWA’s Commercial Vehicle Size and Weight Program page states the Interstate weight standards as 20,000 pounds on a single axle, 34,000 pounds on a tandem axle, and 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. The same page says the bridge formula, in place since 1975, can require a lower gross weight depending on the number and spacing of axles. FHWA’s oversize and overweight load permits page repeats those three weights for the Interstate System and reasonable access to it, under 23 CFR 658.17, and it points at the bridge formula. A plain-language walkthrough of the formula is on FHWA’s bridge formula weights page. Off the Interstate System, the overview page says states may set their own commercial vehicle weight standards.

On length and width, the overview page is about the National Network, which includes the Interstate System and other highways the states have certified. It says no federal length limit is imposed on most truck tractor-semitrailers on that network. It also says no state may impose a trailer-length limit of less than 48 feet on a semitrailer in a tractor-semitrailer combination, or less than 28 feet on a trailer in a twin-trailer combination. States may permit longer trailers. Width on the National Network is 102 inches, and safety devices such as mirrors and handholds are not counted in that width. There is no federal vehicle height limit. FHWA says state height standards range from 13.6 feet to 14.6 feet. This page does not assign either number to a named state. Your permit and the state DOT do that.

Grandfathered weights, longer combination vehicles, and commodity exceptions exist. The overview page says federal law includes provisions and variations for particular states, routes, and vehicles, and it points to 23 CFR Part 658. If someone tells you “federal law is 80,000 everywhere, no exceptions,” they have skipped that sentence. Read the permit you were issued, not a memory of the round number.

The federal government does not write your permit

FHWA’s permit page says the federal government does not issue permits for oversize or overweight vehicles. That is a state option. For a nondivisible load, the page says states may issue permits without regard to the axle, gross, or federal bridge-formula requirements. FHWA’s definition of nondivisible, on that page, is a load or vehicle exceeding applicable length or weight limits which, if separated into smaller loads or vehicles, would compromise the intended use of the vehicle, destroy the value of the load or vehicle, or require more than 8 work hours to dismantle using appropriate equipment. The applicant has the burden of proof on the dismantle time. Divisible-load permits are a different category. The page says they may be issued based on historic grandfather rights or a Congressional authorization for a specific commodity or route. States may also grant special permits for vehicles, including manufactured housing, that exceed the 102-inch width.

FHWA keeps a list of state permit contacts on that same page. Phone numbers on a federal contact list go stale. Use the list to find the state’s own permitting office, then use the state’s site for the application, the hours, and the fee. This directory does not copy those phone numbers and does not quote a state’s fee schedule. You need a permit from each state whose roads you will use. A permit for the state you woke up in does not cover the state line you are about to cross.

Read the permit before you exit for a lot

The permit is the document that names what you may do with this load. If it names the roads you may use, a shortcut to a truck stop off that list is a problem you do not want to discover at a scale. If it names hours of travel, a 10-hour break has to fit those hours, or you have to be parked where the permit allows you to sit while the banned hours pass. This site cannot see your permit. Nobody on a forum can see it either.

Standard listings are still useful as a map of where trucks stop. They are not a map of where your width fits. I-40, I-10 in Texas, and Texas show truck parking we have. A space count is how many truck spaces a source reported. It is not a width, a canopy height, or a turning radius. Call the lot when the load is wider than a legal trailer, taller than a typical dry van, or longer than a standard combination, and when the entrance looks tight on the map. Ask about the truck entrance, the canopy, and whether they allow oversize overnight. Get a name. If they say no, you still have time to use the next place on the permit route.

Lots that often do not work, and what to do instead

• A canopy or an entrance bar under your height. The number painted on the bar is the number. A listing will not override it. If you strike it, you have a crash scene and a closed fuel lane.
• A stall that fits a 53-foot trailer and nothing else. Extra axles, a jeep, a steerable, or an overhang change the footprint. Park only where the combination sits inside the stall and out of the driving lane.
• A rest area signed against oversize or against overnight parking. We do not keep a national list of which rest areas allow oversize. The sign and the permit control. Time limits, which vary by state, are left blank on the time-limit page until an official source is recorded.
• A weigh station, unless that state posts truck parking there. The scale is for weighing. Do not treat it as a 10-hour break because the ramp was empty.
• A ramp, a bridge, or a travel lane. Those are not a plan while you wait for daylight or for a pilot car. When the lot is full still means you go to the next legal place on your route.
• A shipper yard that has not agreed to take the length. The dock may be the delivery point and still have no room for you to arrive the night before. Parking at a shipper or warehouse is about permission.
• A downtown street. City truck rules are local, and an oversize load is the last combination you want to test them with. How city truck parking rules work is the checking method, with no city named and no ordinance invented.

If the listing and the entrance disagree

If a page on this site sent you to a lot whose posted clearance or “no trucks” sign the next driver needs to see, send a correction with the number that is on the sign. Do not send a guess. How to correct a wrong listing is the form. We will not publish a clearance we cannot trace to the sign or to you standing in front of it.

Sources: FHWA Commercial Vehicle Size and Weight Program, FHWA oversize and overweight load permits, and FHWA bridge formula weights.