Texas plans to halt oversize and overweight loads during solar eclipse

With the Great American Eclipse of 2024 fast approaching, states in the path of totality have begun to plan for increased traffic – with some plans impacting commercial vehicle travel.

On Wednesday, March 27, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles announced that no size/weight-permitted travel would be allowed on the day of the eclipse – Monday, April 8 – from midnight to midnight.

The restrictions on oversize and overweight loads will affect 83 counties where the path of totality will cross – about a 480-mile stretch through the Lone Star State.

Those counties include Anderson, Atascosa, Bandera, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque, Bowie, Brown, Burnet, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Coleman, Collin, Comal, Comanche, Coryell, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Dimmit, Edwards, Ellis, Erath, Falls, Fannin, Franklin, Freestone, Frio, Gillespie, Grayson, Gregg, Hamilton, Harrison, Hays, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Hopkins, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Lamar, Lampasas, Leon, Limestone, Llano, Marion, Mason, Maverick, McLennan, McCulloch, Medina, Menard, Milam, Mills, Morris, Navarro, Parker, Rains, Real, Red River, Robertson, Rockwall, San Saba, Smith, Somervell, Sutton, Tarrant, Titus, Travis, Upshur, Uvalde, Val Verde, Van Zandt, Williamson, Wood and Zavala.

The upcoming celestial event will be the first total solar eclipse to pass over Texas since 1878. According to projections from TxDOT, up to 1 million people are expected to “travel to, through and within Texas” to get a glimpse of totality.

In addition to the restrictions, TxDOT has prepared highway signs to help safely direct traffic. The state said that “some road construction and maintenance work” along major corridors will be put on hold, as well – from Sunday, April 7 through April 9 – based on traffic volumes.

Truckers with questions regarding the travel restrictions should contact the Texas DMV permit office at 1-800-299-1700.

Arkansas’ eclipse plan

In February, the Arkansas Department of Transportation released its 2024 Solar Eclipse Traffic Management Plan in preparation for an influx of visitors.

According to data from the ArDOT, roughly 1.5 million people are expected to make the trek from outside the state. Additionally, the department expects around 500,000 in-state residents to travel from their homes to the path of totality – adding an estimated 700,000 vehicles to Arkansas roadways.

The plan’s suggestions include closing schools and encouraging residents to work from home that day. ArDOT also is asking carriers to take a voluntary “truck holiday” and park their vehicles for the day, claiming “severe congestion” along the state’s highway system could make traveling that day “mostly unproductive for freight vehicles.”

The department added that all of the suggested traffic mitigation strategies, including the one-day shutdown, are entirely voluntary, “with no penalty for those who decide to operate during the eclipse.” LL