Senate Drives through Bill Creating Oversize/Overweight Annual Permit for Truckers

The Senate approved legislation Wednesday that will help trucking companies save time and money - cost savings that can be passed on to customers. SB 1184, by Sen. Bryce Marlatt, would create an oversize and/or overweight annual permit to replace the current permits which have to be requested with each delivery.

"The current permit system isn't working. Our permitting offices are overwhelmed with calls and simply can't meet the needs of all of the state's trucking companies, and our companies are wasting time calling for a permit every time they have to make a delivery," said Marlatt.
"Having an annual permit just makes good sense, good financial sense for everyone involved."
Marlatt explained that for years, trucking companies and drivers have experienced significant delays getting oversized and/or overweight permits because of the Department of Public Safety's limited staff and resources. Those delays directly impact oil-and-gas companies' ability to safely and quickly move rigs and equipment, which adds significantly to their cost and slows their ability to drill for natural gas and oil. Each delay, depending on the time, can potentially cost a company tens of thousands of dollars.

Other states like Texas and Louisiana currently offer annual permits. Oklahoma’s annual permit would be modeled after Texas’, which costs $4,000 a year.

SB 1184 would also require trucking companies to continue to stay off weight-restricted highways and weight-limit bridges as determined by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT). ODOT does not track city or county roads so the permit would not apply.

The new annual permit would not apply to loads over 120,000 pounds or those over twelve feet in width, fourteen feet in height or 110 feet in length. Heavy or oversized loads such as those would still require individual load permits.

“The new permit will not create more truck traffic on the roads, but will simply enable trucks carrying equipment to more efficiently move their permitted loads without the delays encountered in the current permitting process,” said Marlatt. “This will allow us to address this problem without having to hire more staff in our permit offices especially right now when the state needs to be saving money, and it will also make a tremendous difference for the companies who use these permits.”

SB 1184 will next be heard in the House.