By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026
South Dakota sells oversize and overweight permits through the Highway Patrol Permit Center, online through the South Dakota Automated Permitting System, or from any Highway Patrol district office, trooper, or motor carrier inspector, and permits must be secured before the move or before entering the state. A single-trip oversize or overweight permit costs 25 dollars (sold in self-issuing books of ten for 250 dollars), overweight loads pay an extra two cents per ton-mile for weight above axle-count thresholds, and most extended period permits cost 60 dollars. Legal limits are 8 feet 6 inches wide, 14 feet high including load, and 80,000 pounds gross on the interstate, with weight off the interstate governed by the 20,000 pound single axle, 34,000 pound tandem, and bridge formula limits of SDCL 32-22-16.
Who issues what in South Dakota
The permit pages
South Dakota-specific requirements
South Dakota runs one of the lightest trucking compliance regimes in the country: no intrastate operating authority, no state carrier number, no Public Utilities Commission motor carrier jurisdiction, and no weight-distance or highway use tax. The credentials a carrier actually buys are the county commercial license for intrastate work, the Department of Revenue Motor Carrier Services one-stop office for IRP and IFTA, and Highway Patrol permits for oversize and overweight moves. Legal height is 14 feet statewide, taller than the 13 feet 6 inches common in eastern states, and spring load restrictions cut axle maximums from February 15 through April 30.
No state intrastate operating authority at all
The SD Truck Info portal lists operating authority only under Interstate Carriers and says all forms, licenses, and information are available from the county for intrastate trucking; the Public Utilities Commission site lists no motor carrier jurisdiction (Consumer Assistance, Energy, Telecom, Warehouse). SDCL 32-10-8 preserves PUC intrastate authority only where a grant is otherwise required by law. Full detail in the state intrastate authority page (B1).
One office in Pierre handles both IRP and IFTA
The Department of Revenue Motor Vehicle Division's Motor Carrier Services section calls itself a one-stop shop for both IRP and IFTA for South Dakota based interstate carriers, with one online system (Motor Carrier Connect), one phone line (605-773-3541), and one email (sdmotorcarrier@state.sd.us).
14 foot legal height, with no limit for farm machinery
Legal height including load is 14 feet, with trailers carrying baled feed allowed 15 feet and farm machinery and fire department equipment facing no height limit at all. Legal width is 102 inches, and farm machinery operated by a farmer has no width limit in daylight except on the interstate.
Spring load restrictions from February 15 through April 30
Maximum axle and axle-group loadings are reduced statewide each year from February 15 to April 30 inclusive, with the maintaining highway authority setting the reduced limits, able to extend the period, and the Transportation Commission able to allow heavier overweight permits on highways that can bear them.
Permits sold in books of ten, and before entering the state
Single-trip oversize and overweight permits cost 25 dollars individually or come as self-issuing books of ten for 250 dollars that must be validated by the permit center before use; books are sold only by the Highway Patrol Motor Carrier Services office at 118 W. Capitol Avenue in Pierre. The handbook states oversize and overweight permits must be secured before moving the combination or entering the state.
Two cents per ton-mile overweight charge instead of step fees
Overweight permit pricing is a mileage charge, not a weight-step table: two cents for each ton or fraction of a ton of gross weight above axle-count thresholds (40,000 pounds at two axles rising to 95,000 pounds at seven or more), per mile on state trunk highways, minimum one dollar.
Longer combination vehicles at 129,000 pounds
LCV permits sell in books of ten for 100 dollars and allow combinations up to 110 feet overall (85 feet for truck-trailer), 48 foot semitrailers and trailers in twin combinations (28.5 foot units in triple combinations), and 129,000 pounds gross, with commercial license fees paid to the LCV maximum gross weight before use.
No weight-distance or highway use tax
South Dakota levies no weight-distance or highway-use tax on carriers; the Motor Carrier Handbook's operating credentials chapter covers vehicle registration, IFTA, and Unified Carrier Registration and lists none. The only ton-mile money in the state is the two cents per ton-mile excess charge inside an overweight permit move, and fuel use is settled through IFTA.
Single-trip fuel permit at 20 dollars
An interstate fuel user without an IFTA license must buy a 20 dollar temporary single-trip permit before entering South Dakota; it expires when the vehicle leaves and does not allow tax-unpaid fuel purchases in the state. See the state IFTA page (B4) for the licensing alternative.
IRP renewals staggered on four months, intrastate plates by name initial
IRP fleets pick a renewal month of February, May, August, or November (all fleets of a carrier share one), while intrastate commercial plates renew annually on a schedule keyed to the first letter of the owner's last name or business name.
Older trucks get 10 percent off the commercial fee
A commercial motor vehicle ten model years old or older on January 1 of the licensing year pays 90 percent of the scheduled commercial motor vehicle fee, and carriers hauling overweight under permit can elect a 15 dollar per vehicle per trip fee instead of the weight schedule.
Harvest and farm exceptions woven through the rules
Farm vehicles registered in South Dakota used for the farmer's own operation are excepted from the commercial regime (SDCL 32-9-3), harvest permits cost 75 dollars and are also sold by county treasurers and ports of entry, and vehicles hauling from harvest to first unload get a 10 percent weight tolerance within 50 miles off the interstate, with a 5 percent tolerance for farm storage and livestock moves.
Escorts keyed to 16 and 20 feet, not 12 or 14
Escort thresholds run higher than most states: over 16 feet wide requires an escort on the interstate, over 20 feet wide on the rest of the state trunk system, with front escorts required over 10 feet wide on listed Black Hills highways. Movement is daylight-restricted when an escort is required, when wider than 10 feet, or when taller than 14 feet 6 inches.
IFTA annual filing option for small interstate fleets
A South Dakota IFTA licensee whose total distance in member jurisdictions other than South Dakota is under 5,000 miles in a calendar year, with one year of filing history, may petition the Division of Motor Vehicles to file annually instead of quarterly, filing four returns at year end.
The South Dakota permit system
- Apply or log in (South Dakota Automated Permitting System (SDAPS), reached through sdtruckinfo.sd.gov)
- sdtruckinfo.sd.gov
More South Dakota rules that catch carriers out
- State carrier number: note
- No CA#, TxDMV#, or NY DOT# analog exists. The number carried in the cab is the commercial motor vehicle certificate number assigned by the county treasurer or department under SDCL 32-9-7, a per-vehicle registration number rather than a carrier credential. See the state intrastate authority page (B1) for the full registration regime.
The permit office and its channels
The Permit Center sits inside the Highway Patrol's Motor Carrier Services and works through the automated permitting system reached from the SD Truck Info portal. Phone permits issue on a long business-day schedule, and applications also go by letter or in person at any district office, from any trooper, or from a motor carrier inspector.
Two special channels are worth knowing. Self-issuing books of ten single-trip permits sell only from the Pierre Motor Carrier Services office, and each permit must be validated by the permit center before use. Harvest permits also sell at county treasurers' offices and ports of entry. A Transportation Department line handles pre-trip route analysis for emergencies.
The permit types South Dakota issues
Single-trip permits cover one non-divisible load over the legal limits, sold individually or in self-issuing books of ten. The extended period family is the annual option: one fee buys a year from issuance, and the family covers moves over the gross weight line on the interstate, slow movement, baled feed, custom harvest fleets, farm implement dealers, electric utilities, oversize non-divisible loads, manufactured homes, and overlength semitrailers.
Past those sit the commodity and specialty permits: harvest permits at their own fee from county treasurers and ports of entry, longer combination vehicle permits in books, multiple-trip construction equipment permits priced per county per month, and no-charge permits under an emergency declaration. If your work fits one of these, it usually beats permitting trip by trip.
Conditions, curfews, and spring restrictions
A written or validated telephonic permit rides in the vehicle and gets shown to any peace officer on demand, and a photocopy or electronic copy counts. Permits are refused when the load can be reduced to legal size or weight, and an overwidth load may not exceed a set multiple of the width of the narrowest trailer axle.
Movement windows are rule-driven rather than published by district curfew lists. Daylight-only applies when an escort is required or the load passes certain size lines, with a narrow night exception on the interstate. Permits go invalid in poor visibility or on slippery surfaces, manufactured home permits stop above a stated wind speed, and no weekend or holiday moratorium appears in the rules the state publishes. Each spring, reduced load maximums apply statewide from mid-February through April.
Compare beyond South Dakota
Running multi-state loads? The trucking permits by state table shows which permit families and issuing offices apply in every jurisdiction, the oversize permit costs by state table compares limits and fees across all 51 jurisdictions, and the permit cost estimator prices a specific load per state.