Mobile and modular homes exceed the 8'6" federal legal width by design, so every move is a permitted, escorted oversize haul in every state it crosses. Multi-section homes split at the marriage line and move one section per toter truck. Prep — utilities, skirting, HVAC, marriage-line wrap — and setup — blocking, leveling, rejoining, inspection — are as much of the job as the drive.
A manufactured home is the one load that's oversize before anyone measures it. Legal limits on US highways run 8'6" wide, 13'6" tall, about 53' long, and 80,000 lbs gross. Mobile and modular homes are almost always over legal width by design — the house is built wider than the road allows, on purpose, because that's what makes it a house. So every home move is a permitted, escorted oversize haul in every state it touches. Here's the whole job, from the dispatch desk.
Count the sections, count the hauls
A single-wide is one box on one steel chassis: one trip, one permit set per state. A double-wide is two sections built to join at the marriage line — it splits at that factory seam, and each half moves as its own oversize load with its own permits and its own escorts. A triple-wide is three separate hauls. Nobody moves a multi-section home joined; it doesn't fit on any road and it isn't engineered to travel that way. Plan the schedule around that: a triple-wide is three oversize moves that all have to land at the same site, in the right order.
Modular homes differ on paper — built to state and local building code instead of the federal HUD code — but on the road they get the same treatment. Sections travel on carriers or their own frames, they're over legal width, and two-story sections can push height too. Anything scaling close to 13'6" loaded means a route survey for bridges, signals, and power lines, sometimes with a utility crew standing by to lift wires. Not sure where your home lands? Start with What Is Considered an Oversize Load?
The toter: built for exactly this job
HUD-code homes don't ride a lowboy — they roll on their own axles and tires, towed by a toter: a heavy truck purpose-built or converted for home transport, with a short wheelbase for tight park streets, ballast over the drive axles for traction, and a heavy hitch matched to the home's coupler. It's the same discipline as any heavy haul transport move — weight, clearance, routing — applied to a load that flexes and catches wind. And because many homes sit for years between moves, the running gear gets inspected first. Dry-rotted tires, seized hubs, and missing axles get found in the driveway, not on the interstate.
Prep: what happens before the truck shows up
Most blown schedules on home moves are prep failures, not transport failures. Before move day: utilities disconnected and capped by licensed trades — electric at the meter, water, sewer, gas or propane. Skirting comes off completely so crews can reach the frame and hitch. Decks, steps, porches, awnings, and attached carports come off; none of it travels with the house. The HVAC condenser is disconnected and moved separately, and on multi-section homes the crossover ductwork and wiring under the floor are split. Inside, secure everything — tape cabinet doors, brace appliances, empty the shelves. Then each section's open marriage-line side gets sheeted in weatherproof plastic, because that wall of your house is about to run down the highway exposed.
Permits and escorts, every state, every time
Since the width is over legal everywhere, every state on the route issues its own oversize permit with its own approved routing, and most restrict travel to daylight hours with weekend and holiday curfews. Escort rules scale with width — at typical home widths, expect pilot cars front and rear, and the widest sections trigger police escort in some states. The rules change at every state line, so a multi-state home move is really a chain of separate permits stitched into one continuous route. Our Oversize Load Permits Guide and Pilot Car & Escort Requirements pages break down how the pieces fit. We coordinate all of it — permits, escorts, routing, timing — so the sections keep moving instead of sitting at a border waiting on paperwork.
Setup: delivery is the halfway point
When the toter stops, the job is half done. Sections get backed or winched onto the prepared pad or foundation, blocked, leveled, and anchored per the wind zone on the home's data plate. Multi-section homes are rejoined at the marriage line — structure fastened, roof cap closed, crossover ducts, wiring, and plumbing reconnected. Utilities hook back up, skirting goes back on, and the local jurisdiction inspects before anyone moves in. The best thing an owner can do for setup day is site prep: a firm, level, accessible pad. Soft ground stops a toter faster than any permit office.
Bottom line
- Every mobile or modular home exceeds the 8'6" legal width — every move is permitted and escorted in every state it crosses.
- Multi-section homes move one section per truck: a double-wide is two oversize hauls, a triple-wide is three.
- Prep kills more schedules than transport — utilities, skirting, decks, HVAC, and marriage-line wrap all happen before the toter arrives.
- Setup is half the job: blocking, leveling, anchoring, rejoining, and inspection before anyone moves in.
Moving a single, double, or triple-wide? Get a Quote with the width at the eaves, the height at the peak, and both addresses — we'll build the plan: permits, escorts, toter, and set crew.