West Virginia OS/OD Overview
Read this first — the West Virginia figures on this page are unconfirmed. Everything below, the escort bands and the legal limits both, is carried from a compiled table rather than from West Virginia's own published text. The Secretary of State's copy of the governing rule (CSR Title 157, Series 05) is an image-only scan with no readable text, and WVDOT's oversize/overweight hauling permits page returned a 404 when I last checked it on September 14, 2026. So I could not put a primary source behind a single number here. Treat this page as a planning hint and confirm every figure with the WVDOT permits office before you move. I would rather tell you that than hand you a clean-looking chart I cannot stand behind.
Permit Required
Yes – any load exceeding legal size or weight must have a hauling permit from the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT), Division of Highways. Single-trip and term permits are issued through the WVDOT permits office.
Legal Limits (Without Permit)
- Width: 8'6"
- Height: 13'6"
- Length: 75' (combo); 53' trailer allowed
- Weight: 80,000 lbs GVW (standard axle limits apply)
Anything over a legal dimension or weight requires an oversize/overweight permit before the move. Loads beyond routine permit limits (such as widths over 16') are handled case-by-case and may require special routing and conditions. Of the four limits above, only the 8'6" width has any corroboration in my data — it is the width at which West Virginia's oversize travel restrictions start. The height, length, and weight figures come from the same unconfirmed compilation as the rest of this page.
Travel Hours
- Standard: Oversize loads travel sunrise to sunset.
- 7-day travel: Loads 14' or narrower, 75' or shorter, 14' or shorter in height, with 10' or shorter overhang may travel seven days a week.
- Over 14' wide: Restricted to Monday–Friday only.
- WV Turnpike: Weekend travel allowed only for loads 95' or shorter, with 15' or shorter combined overhang, 14'6" or shorter in height, and 110,000 lbs or lighter GVW.
- Status: These hours come from the same unconfirmed West Virginia compilation as the escort table below. Confirm them on your permit.
Escort Requirements
Unconfirmed band edges. The exact inch where each band below starts — 10'6", 12'1", 14'1", 15'1", 95'1" — is precisely the part I could not verify, and the table I am working from is inconsistent about how it writes those edges: one row reads 95'1"–100' and the next reads a round 75'–95'. I have left the bands exactly as the data carries them rather than invent replacements, because a made-up edge is worse than a flagged one. If your load sits within an inch or two of any line below, call the permit office instead of planning off this table.
| Dimension | Escort Requirement |
|---|---|
| Width 10'6"–12' | 1 front escort (2-lane, 7 days); no escort (4-lane, 7 days) |
| Width 12'1"–14' | 1 front + 1 rear (2-lane, 7 days); 1 rear only (4-lane, 7 days) |
| Width 14'1"–15' | 1 front + 1 rear (both lane types), Mon–Fri only |
| Width 15'1"–16' | 2 front + 1 rear (2-lane); 1 front + 2 rear (4-lane). Over 16' case-by-case, Sunday only |
| Height over 15' | 1 front escort with height pole (Mon–Fri, both lane types) |
| Length 75'–95' | 1 rear (2-lane, Mon–Fri); no escort (4-lane, 7 days). Lower edge unconfirmed — a load at exactly 75'0" may or may not fall in this band |
| Length 95'1"–100' | 1 front + 1 rear (2-lane); 1 rear (4-lane), Mon–Fri only |
| Length over 100' | 1 front + 1 rear (both lane types), Mon–Fri only |
| Front overhang over 10' | 1 front escort required, Mon–Fri |
| Rear overhang over 10' | 1 rear escort required, Mon–Fri |
Detailed Information
SOURCE STATUS: Unverified. Every paragraph in this section restates the same compiled table the chart above comes from, and I was not able to read West Virginia's own rule text for this update. Read each figure below as what the table says, not as what the state requires.
WIDTH ESCORTS: From 10'6" to 12' wide, a single front escort is required on 2-lane highways (no escort on 4-lane), seven days a week. From 12'1" to 14' wide, a front and rear escort are required on 2-lane highways and a rear escort only on 4-lane, seven days a week. From 14'1" to 15' wide, one front and one rear escort are required on both lane types, Monday through Friday only. From 15'1" to 16' wide, two front and one rear escort are required on 2-lane highways, and one front and two rear on 4-lane; widths over 16' are handled case-by-case and move on Sundays only. One thing worth knowing about that first band: charts on other sites commonly list West Virginia's escort trigger at 12' wide, which is the generic figure most states use. The table I carry starts the 2-lane front escort a foot and a half lower, at 10'6". I cannot confirm which is right, so plan to the stricter 10'6" and settle it with WVDOT before the move.
HEIGHT POLE: Loads over 15' in height require a front escort equipped with a height pole, Monday through Friday, on both lane types.
LENGTH ESCORTS: From 75' to 95', a rear escort is required on 2-lane highways (Mon–Fri) with no escort on 4-lane (7 days) — though where that band actually begins is unsettled in my data, which writes the edge as a round 75' while writing every other length edge to the inch, so a load measuring exactly 75'0" is a question for the permit office. From 95'1" to 100', a front and rear escort are required on 2-lane highways and a rear escort on 4-lane, Monday through Friday. Over 100', both a front and rear escort are required on both lane types, Monday through Friday only.
OVERHANG: A front overhang exceeding 10' requires a front escort, and a rear overhang exceeding 10' requires a rear escort, Monday through Friday.
Additional Notes
- "Oversize Load" signs, red/orange flags, and amber warning lights are required on the load and escort vehicles per WVDOT permit conditions.
- Loads over 14' wide are restricted to Monday–Friday travel; loads 14' or narrower, 75' or shorter, 14' or shorter high, with 10' or shorter overhang may travel seven days a week.
- The West Virginia Turnpike imposes its own weekend-travel limits on length, overhang, height, and gross weight.
- Permit conditions issued by WVDOT govern the specific move and may impose requirements beyond these general thresholds.
- West Virginia's escort rules are published in the Code of State Rules, Title 157, Series 05. If you can get a readable copy of that series, it outranks everything on this page.
Source status: none I could read. West Virginia's escort rules live in CSR Title 157, Series 05, and the Secretary of State's copy of that series is an image-only scan with no extractable text; WVDOT's oversize/overweight hauling permits page returned a 404 on my last check, September 14, 2026. The figures above are a compiled table carried forward unchanged, not a finding from a primary document. Get your numbers from the WVDOT permits office; permit conditions control.
