As the use of oversize and overweight (OSOW) vehicles continues to increase, the lack of uniformity among states in regulation, policy, and operational aspects becomes much more apparent. States must recognize and adapt to higher numbers of increasingly complex permits. Industry and government agencies have an opportunity and obligation to harmonize their permitting processes. This paper compares OSOW permit fees carriers must pay to obtain a permit with the agency costs to carry out the permit requests. These comparisons provide useful information to those working to harmonize policies among states. The research team created six vehicle and load scenarios as the basis for comparison. The ten Mid-America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO) states were surveyed and interviewed to obtain and confirm fees and costs for each scenario. The results showed states with high fees relative to other states in a given scenario tended to have high fees for other scenarios. The same applied for those with low fees. Carrier fees generally increase with weight and dimensions of the load and complexity of the configuration. Agency costs showed less variation since each state must roughly do the same things to issue permits. The researchers recommend continuing to pursue improvements to the fee structures across states by simplifying and justifying them. Taking advantage of technology for routine permitting and routing will become essential with complex loads requiring additional resources in times of scarce funding. Finally, states and carriers must collaborate in working toward industry harmonization, but ultimately, federal guidance may be required.
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