Overweight container drayage with the right chassis and the right permits.
Overweight drayage isn't just a heavier load — it's a different equipment configuration, a permit, and sometimes a route restriction. Cate Freight runs tri-axle chassis, pulls state permits where required, and routes around the bridges and roads that don't accept the weight.
What "overweight" means in Charleston drayage
A standard 5-axle tractor-chassis combination in South Carolina is legal up to 80,000 lb gross — translating to roughly 44,000 lb of payload in a 40' container. Anything above that gross is overweight, and most 20' containers loaded to international spec end up there.
Tri-axle chassis push the legal weight up to roughly 60,000 lb of payload with state permits, depending on configuration. We carry tri-axle equipment specifically because Southeast manufacturing flows (paper, metals, ceramics, food ingredients) regularly run heavy.
Permits, routes, and the boring details that matter
- South Carolina overweight permits — pulled by us, billed pass-through
- Bridge restriction awareness on heavy lanes (we route around weight-restricted bridges)
- Tri-axle availability scheduled in advance, not at the gate
- Driver match — overweight runs go to the drivers used to handling the equipment
The SCDOT 100,000 lb permit — Charleston's overweight container ceiling
South Carolina carries one of the highest container weight allowances on the East Coast. SCDOT's Oversize/Overweight Permit Office issues a permit that lets an international shipping container move by truck at up to 100,000 lb gross vehicle weight — well above the 80,000 lb standard legal limit, and up from the 90,000 lb ceiling the state allowed before. For an importer or 3PL routing heavy cargo, that headroom is one of the quieter advantages of Charleston drayage.
On an overweight container transport move out of Charleston, the mechanics are straightforward: a tri-axle chassis carries the extra weight, we pull the SCDOT container permit before dispatch, and we bill it pass-through with no markup. A loaded box that would be illegal on a standard 5-axle then moves legally to a Berkeley, Dorchester, or Charleston County warehouse, or up the I-26 corridor toward Columbia and the Upstate. If a container is heavy enough to clear even the 100,000 lb permit, it crosses into superload territory — a separate permit, a route survey, and usually an escort — and we flag that before you book, not after.
Out-of-gauge (OOG) containers
OOG cargo — loads that exceed the standard container's internal dimensions and ride flat-rack or open-top — need extra coordination: tarping if open-top, tie-down inspection on flat-rack, sometimes pilot car or escort if oversized. We handle the equipment match and the route plan, and we'll tell you upfront when escort costs are on the bill.
Common questions