Louisiana OS Load info.

Louisiana OS/OD Overview

Permit Required

Yes – oversize and overweight loads must obtain a permit from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD).

Legal Limits (Without Permit)

• Width: 8'6"
• Height: 13'6"
• Length: 65' (combo); 59'6" trailer allowed with conditions
• Weight: 80,000 lbs GVW (with axle limits)

Permitted Load Maximums (Typical Upper Limits)

• Width: 18' is the routine permit ceiling. Escorts step up before that — 1 civilian escort over 12', 1 State Trooper from 16'1", and 2 State Police escorts over 18'. See the escort table below
• Height: 16'6" is the routine permit ceiling; over 15'10" off the interstate you need a front escort with a height pole, plus utility and route coordination
• Length: 125' is the routine permit ceiling; a rear escort comes in over 90', and over 125' it takes a State Police escort
• Weight: Over 232,000 lbs with detailed engineering and bridge analysis

Superloads must be reviewed by the DOTD Bridge Section and may take extra processing time.

Travel Hours

• Standard: Sunrise to sunset, seven days a week
• Night travel: Only when the permit specifically authorizes it. Overweight-only loads not over 65' overall length may run continuously
• Weekend: No separate weekend cutoff in my data. The "no movement after noon Saturday or any time Sunday" line that circulates on other state-guide pages is not something I could confirm for Louisiana – what I have is daylight, seven days. Ask the permit office before you plan a Saturday afternoon
• Holidays: No travel New Year’s, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Mardi Gras brings additional restrictions in the affected areas

Escort Requirements

Read every figure in this table — the widths, the lengths and the 15'10" height trigger alike — as a compiled hint, not as a confirmed finding. My whole Louisiana entry is flagged unverified. LADOTD’s own permit pages and LAC Title 73 would not load when I rebuilt this state, so I could not check a single one of these against the primary text — the tiers are right as far as I can tell, but where one band stops and the next starts is unconfirmed. Have the LADOTD Truck Permit Office read you the band you are in before you quote or dispatch. Two spots in particular: the 16'1" State Trooper tier is missing from most escort charts online, which jump from "over 12' – 1 escort" straight to the State Police at 18'; and the 90' length band is written here as a round number, so if LADOTD’s text reads "90 feet or more" instead of "over 90 feet" the rear escort starts an inch earlier. At exactly 90'0", put the rear car on.

Additional Notes

• Oversize Load signs, red flags, and amber lights are mandatory per permit instructions
• Loads must avoid peak-hour congestion in urban areas like New Orleans and Baton Rouge
• Permits are issued through LaDOTD’s Truck Permit Office and LTRAC system

Detailed Information

PERMITS: Permits can be ordered for the number of days needed (usually one to three days). Must have permit prior to entering the state. Overweight permits are valid for 4 days.

OPERATING TIME: Sunrise to sunset, seven days a week, unless the permit specifically authorizes night movement. Overweight only and not over 65' overall length may have continuous travel.

RESTRICTED TRAVEL: Permit loads may not cross any bridge spanning the Mississippi River in the New Orleans area or be within 2 miles of such bridge from 6:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. and from 3:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (that second window is printed here as it has long stood on this page; read it as the afternoon peak — an a.m. start with a p.m. end is not a window, and it cannot be right). Loads over 12' wide may not travel on the Interstate system through Shreveport, Monroe, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans from 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. and from 3:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday — same caution on that second window. These city curfews are legacy text I could not re-verify; take the real hours off your permit’s provision sheet. The restricted areas are detailed on the permit and on the provision sheets. Vehicles and loads over 14' wide may not travel on Interstate highways in Louisiana except for fiberglass swimming pools, tanks, boats and mobile homes (special restrictions apply). No travel New Year’s, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, and additional restrictions in certain areas on Mardi Gras.

LEGAL DIMENSIONS: Width: 8'6" Interstate and designated roads, 8' on non-designated. Height: 14’ on designated highways, 13'6" on non-designated. Length: 59'6" trailer or load on Interstate and designated highways; 65' truck and trailer on other highways Overhang: 4' front, 8' rear (over 59'6" length of load on trailer needs permit on all roads.) Weight: 80,000 Gross (with a Tridem axle, 83,400 on Interstate & 88,000 non Interstate if licensed for it) Interstate highway system: Single – 20,000 Tandem – 34,000 Tridem – 42,000 Quad – 50,000 Non- Interstate highways: Single – 20,000 Tandem – 37,000 Tridem – 45,000 Quad – 53,000

ROUTINE PERMIT LIMITS: Width: 18' Height: 16'6" Length: 125' Weight: 5 axles – 108,000 6 axles – 120,000 7 axles – 132,000 8 axles – 152,000 Vehicles must be registered for 88,000 to run with overweight permit. Single – 24,000 if GVW is 120,000 pounds or less, 20,000 if GVW exceeds 120,000 pounds Tandem – 48,000 if GVW is up to 120,000 pounds; but 45,000 if it exceeds 120,000 pounds Tridem – 60,000 Steer axle cannot exceed 13,000 pounds if tandem exceeds 40,000 pounds and gross weight exceeds 120,000 pounds. Loads exceeding these dimensions or with GVW exceeding 232,000 pounds are considered as Super Loads.

ESCORTS: Width: over 12' through 16'0" – 1 civilian escort, front on a 2-lane highway and rear on a 4-lane or wider; 16'1" through 18'0" – 1 State Trooper, on 2-lane and multi-lane highways alike; over 18' – 2 State Police escorts, again on both highway types. That trooper tier between 16'1" and 18' is the one most charts leave out, jumping from one escort at 12' straight to the State Police at 18'. Length: over 90' through 125' – 1 rear escort on both highway types; over 125' – State Police escort. Height: over 15’10” off the interstate – 1 front escort carrying a height pole, and that figure is unconfirmed too. Above that there is no further height tier in what I have: 16'6" is the ceiling for a routine permit and anything taller leaves routine permitting altogether, so ask LADOTD what they want running with it rather than assuming a number. And read every width and length in this paragraph as unconfirmed – LADOTD’s permit pages and LAC Title 73 would not load on this pass, so the band edges have not been checked against the state’s own text. Call the Truck Permit Office and have them read you your band.

NEW ORLEANS CITY ESCORT: This is a city rule, separate from the state tiers above and not part of what I rebuilt this year, so confirm it directly. Off the Interstate inside the City of New Orleans, a police escort is called for at width over 12', height over 13'6", or length over 90'. Cost is usually $200.00 cash paid at time of service for one truck, $150 each for two loads, or $100 each for three. Call the New Orleans motorcycle police escort office at 504-658-6205 to confirm and schedule.

MISCELLANEOUS: When hauling an overweight dozer, the blade or side boom may be removed and hauled on the same vehicle. For other equipment such as excavators, pieces (buckets, forks, etc.) that do not weigh more than 500 pounds can be removed and shipped on the same load.

SIGNS, FLAGS & LIGHTS: "Oversize Load" signs are required for all loads exceeding 10' wide, over 75' long or exceeding legal overhang. Flags are required on all over width loads. Flags must be placed on all four corners of the load and at any protrusions. Over-length must be flagged, no sign requirements. Rear overhang over 4' must be flagged. NO sign or flag requirements for height only.