A legal-size load can run on Thanksgiving. An oversize one often can't. Many states restrict permitted oversize and overweight moves around major holidays, and the restriction usually covers more than the holiday itself. A load that misses its window can sit parked until the restriction lifts, and the truck waiting with it is not free.
How the restrictions work
Each state sets its own rules, usually in the conditions printed on the permit. They tend to follow the same pattern:
- No movement on the holiday itself.
- Restrictions that start the afternoon before and run through the following day, sometimes longer when the holiday touches a weekend.
- Wider windows for the largest loads, such as superloads and loads that need escorts.
- Separate daylight and weekend rules that apply all year.
Because every state on the route has its own rule, a load crossing three states is held to the strictest of the three. The permit for each state lists the restrictions that apply to that load. If the conditions on any permit are unclear, ask before the truck is scheduled, not after.
The holidays to watch
States commonly name these holidays in their permit restrictions:
- New Year's Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
Some states add others. Thanksgiving and the stretch from Christmas to New Year catch the most loads, because they fall close together at the end of the year, when a lot of equipment is moving before year-end.
How to plan around them
- Ask for the quote early. Permits take time to issue, and a request made a week before a holiday has less room to work with.
- Give a delivery deadline, not only a pickup date, so the route can be planned backwards from it.
- Allow for the days around the holiday, not only the holiday itself.
- Confirm that someone can receive the load if it arrives the day before a holiday. A site that closes early leaves a loaded truck waiting.
- On a multi-state move, expect the schedule to follow the strictest state's calendar.
What it costs to get it wrong
A load stopped by a restriction does not move until the window opens again. Depending on the route and the carrier, that waiting time can be billed as layover. Our page on how heavy-haul rates work explains the charges that make up a heavy-haul price. Planning the dates around the calendar is almost always cheaper than paying for the wait.
Tell us what you’re moving.
Three fields to start, no account. One coordinator owns the load from quote to delivery — and signs every message.
