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Oversize Permit, Road Bans and Axle Limits in Alberta: A Shipper's Guide
If you are researching whether your load needs an oversize permit in Alberta, you are already dealing with freight that is not routine. This guide explains the permits, the seasonal road bans and the axle-weight limits in plain language — and then, if you would rather hand the whole thing over, we handle all of it.
Call an account manager:
780-823-0439
Plain-Language Guide
Updated for Alberta Rules
Or Hand the Permits to Us
Do You Need an Oversize Permit in Alberta?
Alberta sets base limits for width, height, length and weight. Cross any of them and your load becomes over-dimensional or overweight and needs a permit before it travels. As a rough guide, loads wider than the standard legal width, over standard height, or over standard axle weights will trigger a permit — but the exact thresholds and the routing depend on your dimensions and your lane.
Alberta Government
Commercial vehicle – Oversize and overweight permits
Permits allow carriers to move oversized and overweight vehicles with permit conditions to help maintain safety and protect infrastructure.
The Rules That Catch Shippers Out
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Seasonal road bans — During spring thaw, Alberta's seasonal weight program reduces allowable axle weights on many roads, which can close the window on a non-divisible load for weeks. Timing a heavy move around the ban is often the whole game.
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Axle-weight limits — It is not just gross weight — how the weight is spread across axles decides what is legal. The same machine can be legal on a multi-axle configuration and illegal on a standard one.
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Pilot cars and escorts — Past certain widths, lengths or heights, Alberta requires one or more pilot cars, and the largest loads require police escorts. The requirement scales with your dimensions.
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Approved routing — An oversize permit is tied to a route. Low bridges, weight-restricted structures and construction all shape the legal path, which may not be the shortest one.
What a Permit Costs — and Why That's the Wrong First Question
Shippers often ask the permit cost first, but the permit fee is usually the small part. The real cost drivers are the pilot cars, the routing, and any delay waiting out a road ban. A load that is planned properly — right trailer, right timing, right escorts — almost always costs less overall than one that is quoted cheap and then runs into a restriction. That is why we quote from your dimensions and date, not from a rate card.
Or Just Send Us the Dimensions
You do not have to become a permit expert to move one awkward load. Give your account manager the dimensions, the weight, the pickup and destination and the date, and we handle the oversize permit, the seasonal-weight timing, the pilot cars and the routing. You hand over the whole problem — not just the truck.
Your Account Manager, Direct
Every shipper deals with one named account manager, and you get their direct line and direct email — not a general inbox. The directory below lists the team and how to reach each of them, so the person who quotes your load is the person who answers when you call back.
Ray
Ph: 780-823-0439
Cell: 587-599-6973
Patrick
Ph: 780-823-0439
Cell: 780-777-7150
Betty
Ph: 780-823-0439
Cell: 780-298-1853
General Inquries
Ph: 780-823-0439
101 - 7 Boulder Blvd.
Stony Plain, Ab. T7Z 1V6
Don't Become a Permit Expert for One Load — Hand It Over
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an oversize permit for my load?
If your load exceeds Alberta's base limits for width, height, length or weight, yes. Send us the dimensions and we will tell you exactly what it triggers — at no charge.
When are Alberta's spring road bans?
They are declared each spring as the thaw sets in and lift as roads recover, and they vary by region and year. We plan non-divisible moves around the current bans rather than getting caught by them.
How much does an oversize permit cost in Alberta?
The permit fee itself is usually modest; the real cost is pilot cars, routing and timing. We quote the whole move from your dimensions so the number is complete, not just the permit.
Do you arrange pilot cars and escorts?
Yes. Certified pilot cars and, for the largest loads, police escorts are arranged by us as part of the move.