The short version: a Kansas single-trip permit starts at $0 before bands, overweight and the transaction charge; an escort is first required at over 14' wide; and the load becomes a superload at a gross weight the state does not publish. Everything below carries the Kansas document it came from, that document's own revision date, and the date we read it.
Corridor
1. Where the load goes next
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 K.S.A. 8-1902(a): "The total outside width of any vehicle or the load thereon shall not exceed 8 1/2 feet, except as otherwise provided in this section." EXCLUSIVE ("shall not exceed"), so a load of exactly 102 in needs no permit. Note a separate SIDE-projection rule that applies to passenger vehicles only and is not a general limit — K.S.A. 8-1903: "No passenger-type vehicle shall be operated on any highway with any load carried thereon extending beyond the left side of such vehicle nor extending more than six (6) inches beyond the right side thereof."
Height
14'rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1904: "No vehicle including any load thereon shall exceed a height of 14 feet, except that a vehicle transporting cylindrically shaped bales of hay as authorized by K.S.A. 8-1902(e), and amendments thereto, may be loaded with such bales secured to a height not exceeding 14 1/2 feet." EXCLUSIVE. KANSAS IS A 14 FT STATE, NOT A 13 FT 6 IN ONE — carrying the 13 ft 6 in figure that much of the corpus uses would invent a permit requirement, and therefore a $40 fee, on every load between 13 ft 6 in and 14 ft. The 14 ft 6 in hay figure is a commodity carve-out and is not applied.
Semitrailer length
59'6"rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1904(c): "The length limitations in subsection (b) shall not apply to a truck tractor. No semitrailer which is being operated in combination with a truck tractor shall exceed 59 1/2 feet in length. No semitrailer or trailer which is being operated in a combination consisting of a truck tractor, semitrailer and trailer shall exceed 28 1/2 feet in length." EXCLUSIVE, and 59 ft 6 in is well above the 48 ft and 53 ft most of this corpus publishes — an ordinary 57 ft trailer that needs a permit in Utah is legal in Kansas. The 28 ft 6 in figure governs each trailer of a DOUBLE and is not encoded, because the model holds one trailer length.
Overall length
65'rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1904(b): "Except as otherwise provided in K.S.A. 8-1914 and 8-1915, and amendments thereto, and subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j), no combination of vehicles coupled together shall exceed a total length of 65 feet." EXCLUSIVE, and THE EXCEPTION LIST IS LONG — seven lettered subsections plus two statutes, including the K.S.A. 8-1915 special vehicle combinations. A single motor vehicle is separately capped: "No motor vehicle including the load thereon shall exceed a length of 45 feet extreme overall dimension, excluding the front and rear bumpers, except as provided in subsection (d)." The 65 ft figure is recorded because it is the general rule; a combination that falls inside one of the exceptions is not over-length and this engine cannot tell which one it is.
Kingpin to rear axle
None published
Front overhang
3'rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1905(a): "The load upon any vehicle operated alone, or the load upon the front vehicle of a combination of vehicles, shall not extend more than three feet beyond the front wheels of such vehicle or the front bumper of such vehicle if it is equipped with a bumper." EXCLUSIVE ("shall not extend more than"). NOTE THE DATUM: the three feet is measured from the FRONT WHEELS, or from the front bumper where one is fitted — not from the front of the body, which is how Utah writes the same limit. 8-1905(b) raises both figures for vehicle transporters only: "Any vehicle or combination of vehicles transporting passenger vehicles or other motor vehicles may carry a load which extends no more than four feet beyond the front and six feet beyond the rear of the transporting vehicle or combination of vehicles." That carve-out is NOT applied, because a quote does not state whether the load is motor vehicles. THIS ROW CORRECTS `types.ts`: the `PublishedAbsence` doc comment there states that Kansas publishes no overhang limit, which is true of the rear and false of the front.
85,500 lb“four or more lanes non interstate” or “fewer than four lanes”
Single axle
20,000 lbrev. · read K.S.A. 8-1908(b): "The gross weight upon any one axle, including any one axle of a group of axles, of a vehicle shall not exceed 20,000 pounds." EXCLUSIVE. Kansas also caps the WHEEL, which the model has no field for — 8-1908(a): "The gross weight upon any wheel of a vehicle shall not exceed 10,000 pounds." It is recorded here and not evaluated.
Tandem axle
34,000 lbrev. · read K.S.A. 8-1908(e): "The gross weight on tandem axles shall not exceed 34,000 pounds." EXCLUSIVE, and the same as the federal figure most of this corpus uses — unlike Wyoming's 36,000 lb. K.A.R. 36-1-37's permit tables publish heavier PERMITTED axle allowances for particular products (an annual permit at 22,000 lb on a single non-drive axle and 24,000 lb on a single drive axle; special mobile equipment at a 49,000 lb tandem), which are permit allowances rather than legal limits and are not encoded as either.
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 14' and the road is “fewer than four lanes” and not (width over 16'6" or height over 18' or overall length over 126' or gross weight over 150,000 lb)
1 in front1 behindAdvisory: Kansas publishes a WAIVER of the rear escort that this quote does not apply. K.A.R. 36-1-36(f)(1): "Except for superloads and large structures, the rear escort may be eliminated if a warning light is attached to the top of the towing vehicle and to the rear of each load and is mounted no less then two feet or more than eight feet above the surface of the road." Whether the combination carries that light is a property of the equipment and is not on a quote, so two escorts are quoted and the move may in fact need one. The error is in the expensive direction.
width over 14' and the road is “fewer than four lanes” and width over 16'6" or height over 18' or overall length over 126' or gross weight over 150,000 lb
width over 14' and the road is “interstate system” or “four or more lanes non interstate” and width over 16'6" or height over 18' or overall length over 126' or gross weight over 150,000 lb
width over 16'6" or height over 18' or overall length over 126'
The number is set by the route (bridges and critical locations on the approved route), not by the load. Published as: “Drivers of escorting vehicles shall not allow large structures to cross a bridge or critical location until all traffic has been stopped at both sides of bridges or before and after a critical location.”
width over 16'6" or height over 18' or overall length over 126'
The number is set by the route (side-road intersections), not by the load. Published as: “An escort vehicle shall be stationed at side road intersections during the movement of large structures in order to hold all vehicles at those intersections until the structure has been moved through the section of road being blocked.”Advisory: Kansas does not settle a large structure's route until the agency does. K.A.R. 36-1-38(d)(8): "The final decision with regard to the movement of the large structure, the time of day, date, and the routes to be used shall be approved by a departmental employee of the district in whose area the load travels or by an appointed representative." The $200 permit fee is flat and quotable; the escort count is not computable in advance because the route that sets it does not exist yet.
$0rev. · read AN AFFIRMATIVE ABSENCE. K.S.A. 8-1911(f) was read in full and contains no base, processing, issuance or service component on top of the per-class amounts: the schedule is "(A) Forty dollars for each single-trip permit; (B) two hundred dollars for each single-trip permit for a large structure ...; (C) two hundred dollars for each single-trip permit for a superload ..." and nothing else. The section's only other money language is the remittance rule — "All permit fees received under this section shall be remitted to the state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215 ... the state treasurer shall deposit the entire amount in the state treasury to the credit of the state highway fund" — which is not a charge. The class fee is carried in the bands; this zero is the recorded fact that nothing sits above it.
Transaction / card
None publishedrev. · read AN AFFIRMATIVE ABSENCE, not a gap: K.S.A. 8-1911(f) was read in full — both schedules and the concluding paragraph — and it names no transaction, processing, service or percentage charge, flat or proportional. Permits are issued through KDOT's K-TRIPS system and neither the statute nor KDOT's 2025 presentation attaches a system or convenience fee to it. The statute's closing sentence delegates only the mechanics: "The secretary may adopt rules and regulations for payment and collection of all fees."
Route analysis review
$0rev. · read KANSAS HAS NO ANALYSIS FEE. K.S.A. 8-1911(f) was read in full and contains no route-analysis and no bridge-analysis charge, even though K.A.R. 36-1-38(c)(2) makes a department bridge analysis mandatory for every superload: "Movers of superloads shall have a valid superload permit that includes a bridge analysis, which must be completed by the department before traveling on any highway within Kansas." KDOT's own slides print "No bridge analysis" for the standard and large-structure products and "bridge analysis" for the superload — at the SAME $200. **DO NOT ADD $425 / $625 / $925 HERE.** That "Bridge and Roadway Analysis Fee of $425 for each 0-50 miles, $625 for 51-200 miles, $925 for over 200 miles" is MISSOURI's, under 7 MO ADC 10-25.020; it is attributed to Kansas by at least one secondary source, and reading the KLRD table that the attribution comes from shows the row sitting in the Missouri block. The Kansas block of the same table lists no analysis fee of any kind.
Route with no bridges
$0rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1911(f) charges nothing for a bridge analysis whether or not the approved route crosses a bridge, so there is no reduced no-bridge figure to hold and no gap either. Recorded as a zero because the fee section WAS read.
Dimension bands
Band
Fee
standard single-trip permit — within 16 ft 6 in wide, 126 ft long and 18 ft high
$40rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(A): "Forty dollars for each single-trip permit." The $20 in (f)(1)(A) is the expressly superseded "Prior to January 1, 2020" figure and is not encoded. The band's boundaries are the STANDARD permit's published maxima — KDOT 2025: "Standard Permit: $40 — Routed based on dimensions, weight restrictions — No bridge analysis — Maximum Weight: 150,000 pounds — Maximum Width: 16 feet, 6 inches — Maximum Length: 126 feet — Maximum Height: 18 feet", and K.A.R. 36-1-37's standard table: "Width 16 feet 6 inches / Length 126 feet / Height 18 feet", "Gross Weight 150,000 pounds". K.A.R. 36-1-38(b)(2): "Each standard permit shall be good for a period of seven days."
standard single-trip permit — within 16 ft 6 in wide, 126 ft long and 18 ft high
$40rev. · read The issuing agency's own restatement, and the cross-check on the statute: KDOT's fee-change table prints "Standard OSOW $20 $40" before and after January 1, 2020.
standard single-trip permit — within 16 ft 6 in wide, 126 ft long and 18 ft high
$40rev. · read Third corroboration, SECONDARY: "Kansas | KSA 8-1911 | Single Trip | 40.00 $ | Trip". Held mainly because the same table is what refutes the $425/$625/$925 analysis fee attributed to Kansas — that row belongs to MISSOURI under 7 MO ADC 10-25.020.
large structure single-trip permit — over 16 ft 6 in wide
$200rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(B): "two hundred dollars for each single-trip permit for a large structure, as defined by rules and regulations." The definition is K.A.R. 36-1-35: "'Large structure' is defined as any load that exceeds either sixteen feet, six inches in width or 18 feet in height." KDOT 2025 restates the product as "Large Structure Permits: $200 — Routed based on dimensions, weight restrictions — DISTRICT PERSONNEL HEAVILY INVOLVED — No bridge analysis — Maximum Weight: 150,000 pounds — Width GREATER THAN 16 feet, 6 inches — Length GREATER THAN 126 feet — Height GREATER THAN 18 feet", and K.A.R. 36-1-38(d)(1): "Large structure permits shall be valid for a period of 30 calendar days."
large structure single-trip permit — over 18 ft high
$200rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(B) with K.A.R. 36-1-35's height limb. Note that Kansas publishes no height CEILING to go with the trigger: K.A.R. 36-1-36(l)(1), "Overheight permits shall allow a height that is limited only by the constraints existing on the route to be traveled."
large structure single-trip permit — over 126 ft long
$200rev. · read THE LENGTH TRIGGER IS WHERE THE SOURCES DIFFER, AND THIS READING IS OURS. K.A.R. 36-1-35's definition of "large structure" names only width over 16 ft 6 in or height over 18 ft; KDOT's 2025 presentation adds "Length GREATER THAN 126 feet" as a third trigger. Two further sources agree with KDOT: K.A.R. 36-1-37's own STANDARD-permit table caps length at 126 ft, and K.A.R. 36-1-38(d) defines the large structure permit as allowing "movement of oversize loads that exceed the size limitations of the standard permit". A definition that omits a limb is weaker evidence than a table that states it, so a load over 126 ft within both 16 ft 6 in and 18 ft is priced at $200 — and that is a reading, not a quotation. Under K.A.R. 36-1-35 read alone it would be $40. The difference is $160 and it reaches no other cell, because width and height are $200 under every source.
large structure single-trip permit — over 16 ft 6 in wide and over 18 ft high
$200rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(B). Both of K.A.R. 36-1-35's limbs are tripped; the fee is the same flat $200, because Kansas prices the CLASS and not the number of dimensions.
large structure single-trip permit — over 16 ft 6 in wide and over 126 ft long
$200rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(B). The width limb alone puts this load in the class under every source, so the length difference recorded on the length-only band cannot change the amount here.
large structure single-trip permit — over 18 ft high and over 126 ft long
$200rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(B). The height limb alone puts this load in the class under every source.
large structure single-trip permit — over 16 ft 6 in wide, over 18 ft high and over 126 ft long
$200rev. · read K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2)(B). Still one flat $200.
Kansas has more than one permit issuer. A state total can be complete and still be missing a whole permit.
Kansas Turnpike Authority — A move on the Kansas Turnpike needs NO KDOT PERMIT — in the Authority's own words, "Special permits from KDOT are not required to move oversized loads on the Kansas Turnpike." It also needs no Authority permit: KTA ISSUES NONE, and substitutes a prior-approval step instead — "Written permits are not required for the movement of oversize loads on the Kansas Turnpike. However, due to the size and configuration of some loads, prior approval is required from a Chief Engineer, the Turnpike Highway Patrol Commander, or his designee, before such vehicles and/or loads can be moved or transported on the Kansas Turnpike." So the NET KDOT FEE ON TURNPIKE MILEAGE IS $0 either way, and the Authority's own escort rule and travel window govern instead of K.A.R. 36-1-36(f)'s. WHICH HIGHWAYS THE TURNPIKE CARRIES IS NOT ASSERTED HERE: the Authority's own 236-mile figure is primary-confirmed ("The 236-mile Turnpike was constructed in 22 months and opened to traffic October 25, 1956"), but the I-35 / I-335 / I-470 / I-70 composition could only be sourced to Wikipedia — the live KTA site is a JavaScript application returning HTTP 403 and the Wayback capture of the current URL holds only the "enable JavaScript" shell — so no segment ids are encoded and this quote cannot tell whether the route touches the Turnpike. Confirm the composition from a KTA map or an Authority annual report before relying on it.. We do not hold this authority's fee schedule, so the leg goes to review rather than being quoted short. Oversized Vehicles — Commercial Travel — Kansas Turnpike Authority
Kansas counties, cities and other local authorities — A county or city permit may be required for a move on roads under that body's own jurisdiction, IN ADDITION to KDOT's. K.S.A. 8-1911(a): "The secretary of transportation with respect to highways under the secretary's jurisdiction and local authorities with respect to highways under their jurisdiction, in their discretion, upon application, may issue a special permit..." THE LOCAL REACH IS CAPPED, AND THE CAP IS THE USEFUL PART — 8-1911(g): "in no event shall the jurisdiction of the local authority be construed as extending to any portion of any state highway, any city street designated by the secretary as a connecting link in the state highway system or any highway within the national system of interstate and defense highways, which highways and streets, for the purpose of this section, shall be under the jurisdiction of the secretary." The same subsection also waives the requirement where the local body runs no programme: "If any local authority does not desire to exercise the powers conferred on it by this section to issue or deny permits then such a permit from the local authority shall not be required to operate any such vehicle or combination of vehicles on highways under the jurisdiction of such local authority.". We do not hold this authority's fee schedule, so the leg goes to review rather than being quoted short. K.S.A. 8-1911 — Permits for oversize or overweight vehicles; fees
Graduated weight bands. KDOT's own 2025 presentation describes the same model from the agency side: the superload product is distinguished by "Concentration of weight over a small distance — Axle Groups — Out-to-Out axle distance — Total Weight — Routed based on dimensions, bridge analysis — Route reviewed by staff" and priced at a flat "$200", with no weight increment named anywhere.
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.
Kansas is not in the seasonal-restriction registry, so we hold no posting window for it and are not inventing one.
Superload
7. Kansas's superload threshold
Above one of these, the state stops issuing over the counter and prices the move after an engineering review.
The dimensions at which Kansas triggers a physical route inspection or an engineering review, and what the agency charges to review it.
Measurement
Inspection / review trigger
Width
over 16'6"rev. · read secondary hostK.A.R. 36-1-38(d)(8): "The final decision with regard to the movement of the large structure, the time of day, date, and the routes to be used shall be approved by a departmental employee of the district in whose area the load travels or by an appointed representative." The large-structure trigger is K.A.R. 36-1-35: over 16 ft 6 in wide.
Height
over 18'rev. · read secondary hostSame provision, the height limb of K.A.R. 36-1-35: over 18 ft.
Length
over 126'rev. · read KDOT 2025 names length over 126 ft as a large-structure trigger where K.A.R. 36-1-35's definition does not; K.A.R. 36-1-37's standard-permit table caps standard length at 126 ft and 36-1-38(d) covers loads that "exceed the size limitations of the standard permit". See the fee bands' length-trigger note — that reconciliation is ours.
Police escorts
9. Police escorts
No schedule exists, and that is structural rather than a gap. THE SHORTEST CHECKED NEGATIVE IN THE CORPUS, AND THE AGENCY WROTE IT. The Kansas Highway Patrol publishes an FAQ headed "Does the Kansas Highway Patrol offer escort vehicles for oversize loads?" and answers it: "No. Superloads, large structures, and loads exceeding 14 feet in width require escort vehicles. All escort service providers and operators must be registered with KDOT. (KSA 8-1921 and KAR 36-45-1 through 36-45-10)" There is no rate because there is no service — the New Jersey shape. Every Kansas escort is a registered private escort vehicle service provider, and K.A.R. 36-45 regulates those providers rather than pricing them.
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 Kansas. The seasonal picture — which is a different question — is in section 6 above.
Why those windows are absent rather than estimated
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.
Who issues it
11. Permit office
The agency behind each figure above is linked from that figure. We publish no per-state permit-office phone number.
Why there is no phone number here
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.
Source conflicts
12. Where the sources disagree
Two official documents, both in effect, giving different answers. Neither has been adopted.
K.S.A. 8-1902 — Width of vehicles and loads thereon — Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes — PRIMARY, from the state's own statute host. Source of the 102 in legal width. The page bears no publication date of its own; the statutory history line ends "L. 2006, ch. 3, § 1; July 1." rev. · read
K.S.A. 8-1905 — Projecting loads to the front and rear — Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes — PRIMARY, and the section that corrects `types.ts`. Source of the 3 ft FRONT overhang limit, and the section in which NO GENERAL REAR LIMIT appears. History line ends "L. 2016, ch. 44, § 2; April 14." rev. · read
K.S.A. 8-1908 — Gross weight limits on wheels and axles — Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes — PRIMARY. Source of the 20,000 lb single axle, the 34,000 lb tandem and the 10,000 lb per-wheel cap. History line ends "L. 2017, ch. 50, § 2; July 1." rev. · read
K.S.A. 8-1911 — Permits for oversize or overweight vehicles; fees — Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes — PRIMARY, and the fee section was read in full — both the pre-2020 and the post-2020 schedules and the concluding remittance paragraph. Source of $40 / $200 / $200, of the ABSENCE of any transaction, route-analysis or bridge-analysis fee, of the $0 political-subdivision permit, of the one-permit rule for a load that is both oversize and overweight, and of the local-authority jurisdiction limit. History line ends "L. 2019, ch. 51, § 2; July 1." rev. · read
Kan. Admin. Regs. § 36-1-36 — Common requirements — Kansas Department of Transportation (via Cornell LII) — SECONDARY — Cornell LII's reprint; the official KAR host returns HTTP 403. Source of the entire escort ladder at subsection (f) — including the verbatim "four lanes or more" — and of the overheight provisions at (l). "Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 8-1911; effective Aug. 15, 1997." rev. · read secondary host
Kan. Admin. Regs. § 36-1-37 — Maximum dimensions and gross weights — Kansas Department of Transportation (via Cornell LII) — SECONDARY — Cornell LII's reprint; the official KAR host returns HTTP 403. Source of the per-class permit tables, including the STANDARD permit's 16 ft 6 in / 126 ft / 18 ft / 150,000 lb maxima. It contains NO table for the large-structure or superload classes, and NO overhang or kingpin row in any table. "Authorized by K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 8-1911; implementing K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 8-1904, 8-1908, 8-1909; effective Aug. 15, 1997." rev. · read secondary host
Kan. Admin. Regs. § 36-1-38 — Types of permits — Kansas Department of Transportation (via Cornell LII) — SECONDARY — Cornell LII's reprint; the official KAR host returns HTTP 403. Source of the permit-class definitions and durations, of the >150,000 lb superload threshold and its mandatory free bridge analysis, and of the large-structure procedure at (d) — including (d)(9), the side-road-intersection escort whose count is set by the route. "Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 8-1911; effective Aug. 15, 1997." rev. · read secondary host
KLRD 2025 State Overweight/Oversize Permits (16 pp.) — Kansas Legislative Research Department — SECONDARY — a legislative-staff compilation, not the issuing agency's own schedule. Held for two reasons: it corroborates the $40 single-trip fee, and it is the document that REFUTES the $425/$625/$925 "bridge and roadway analysis fee" attributed to Kansas — that row sits in the MISSOURI block under 7 MO ADC 10-25.020. Header date "2025"; filed with the House Transportation Committee 2025-03-05. rev. · read secondary host
Permitting and Routing Oversize/Overweight Vehicles Through Kansas — KDOT presentation to the House Transportation Committee — Kansas Department of Transportation (filed with the Kansas Legislature) — PRIMARY — the issuing agency's own published document, dated on its title slide. Independently restates $40 / $200 / $200 / $200 and prints the before/after table for the 2020 increase, which is the cross-check on K.S.A. 8-1911(f)(2). It is also the only source that names LENGTH over 126 ft as a large-structure trigger, and the source of the free-registration / $250-$350-course escort-certification figures. rev. · read
Common questions
Questions
How much is an oversize permit in Kansas?
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.
When does Kansas require a pilot car?
The first width trigger is over 14', and it varies by road class — the figure shown is the lowest across classes.
What is a superload in Kansas?
Kansas publishes no gross-weight superload threshold in the documents on file — see the superload section, which shows the dimensional triggers it does publish.
Do Kansas's own documents contradict each other?
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.