Ohio

Freight Rate Central

Ohio Freight Rates & Shipment Routes

To get a comprehensive estimate of your Ohio freight rates, use our online quotation system. Ohio is the home of the Mighty Buckeyes which links the northeast to the midwest and contains some of the busiest trucking routes in the country. Ohio is within a one-day drive of 50 percent of US residents and 70 percent of North America’s manufacturing capacity. Bordered to the north by Lake Erie, an important cargo port area and to the south by the Ohio River, Ohio’s nearest neighbors are Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ontario, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Ohio Terrain and Climate

Ohio’s climate ranges from mild to the south to cooler to the north, where severe lake effect snowstorms are not uncommon in the winter, making travel in the north treacherous during the worst parts of the winter. Major cities include Ohio’s capitol, Columbus, along with Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton and Akron.

Ohio State Industry

Ohio is primarily an industrial state; its economy would nominally be the 25th largest global economy, just behind the nation of Sweden, according to 2013 World Bank projections. Research and engineering, education and healthcare are some of the state’s biggest moneymakers, but manufacturing and production are also important to the state’s economy.

Ohio’s major industries include aerospace and defense, bio-science and chemical engineering, agriculture, automobile manufacturing, iron and steel and rubber and plastics. Some of the major names in Ohio industry include Goodyear, Boeing, Kroger, General Motors and Proctor and Gamble. Ohio is just behind Michigan in automobile manufacturing in the US, producing 14 percent of the nation’s cars for Honda, Daimler-Chrysler and Ford in addition to General Motors.

Ohio Shipping and Trucking to Texas, California, Arizona, Georgia, Washington and More

As a major manufacturing hub, Ohio exports its goods to international port states like Texas, California and Washington. Southern and western states like Georgia and Arizona are also important shipping and trucking destinations for Ohio, which ships its industrial and agricultural products all over the country and all over the world.

Ohio Trucking Rules and Regulations

Trucking in Ohio is regulated by the Ohio Department of Transportation. Routing is a major factor in permitting in Ohio, but the general rules are as follows: loads over 90’-0” require a pilot car/escort vehicle, and loads over 14’-0” in width and 14′-6″ in height are acceptable for routine permits. Weight limits are more strictly defined; see the ODOT Special Permits site for more information.

Ohio restricts truck travel on a state and local level. Travel is generally allowed one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset. Pay close attention to the information on your physical permit; if your shipment is over 12’-0” in width, travel is restricted in certain counties and within a 25-mile radius of certain cities between the hours of 6:30am and 9:00am and from 4:30pm until 6:00pm, Monday to Friday. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, travel is restricted after 3:00pm April 1st through November 30th.

The cities affected include Akron, Canton, Dayton, Lima, Toledo and Youngstown; counties affected include Butler, Clermont, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Fairfield, Geauga, Hamilton, Lake Licking, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Medina, Montgomery, Pickaway, Stark, Summit, Union, Warren, and Wood.

Ohio State Roads

Many major US highways pass through Ohio. East-west routes include the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90), I-76 connecting to Pennsylvania, I-70 connecting Columbus and Dayton and the Appalachian Highway—State Route 32—connecting to West Virginia. North-south routes include I-75 connecting to Michigan and Kentucky through Toledo, Dayton and Cincinnati, I-71 to Kentucky through Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati and I-77 from Cleveland through Akron, Canton and Marietta through West Virginia. I-75 through Cincinnati to Columbus is one of the most heavily traveled interstate routes in the nation. The state’s Ohio website provides up-to-date information about hazardous conditions and route changes.

The next step in arranging a shipment to, from or within Ohio? Get a free, instant online quote from Freight Rate Central.