Georgia trailer laws: dimensions, brakes, lights, and registration

Georgia caps your trailer at 8 ft 6 in wide and 13 ft 6 in tall, requires brakes on all wheels of any trailer over 3,000 lb GVWR, and limits a tow-vehicle-plus-trailer combo to 60 ft overall. Trailers must carry a safety chain, two red tail lights visible from 500 ft, and have to be titled and tagged through your county tag office.

The thresholds you actually need to remember:

Brakes: the 3,000 lb line

Under O.C.G.A. § 40-8-50, any trailer or semitrailer with a gross weight of 3,000 lb or more has to have brakes on every wheel. That’s gross weight, loaded, not empty. A 1,800 lb utility trailer hauling 1,500 lb of pea gravel is over the line.

Breakaway brakes aren’t called out by statute the way some states do, but federal rules and most trailer manufacturers will already include them on anything with electric brakes. If your trailer came with a breakaway kit, keep the battery charged. A dead breakaway battery is a routine fail point at safety inspections in states that do them.

Registration and the T-22C

Georgia wants a serial plate riveted to the trailer. A state law enforcement officer fills out form T-22C certifying the plate is properly affixed, and you take the form to the county tag office along with the fee. Homemade trailers go through the same process.

Trailers are exempt from Georgia’s mandatory liability insurance requirement, but if the trailer breaks loose and hurts someone, your auto policy likely won’t pick it up. Adding the trailer to your policy or buying a separate physical-damage policy is cheap insurance against an expensive claim.

Width, height, and the 102-inch question

96 inches is the default trailer width on every Georgia road. 102 inches is allowed on designated highways (most interstates and major arterials), but if you exit onto a state route or county road you can be cited. If you’re at 102 inches, plan the route.

Over 13 ft 6 in tall or 8 ft 6 in wide outside designated routes means you need an oversize permit from GDOT. Permits cost around $30 to $150 depending on dimensions and route, with escorts required at higher widths.

Lighting and signal rules

• Two red tail lights at the rear, visible from 500 ft.
• Tail lights mounted between 20 and 60 inches from the ground.
• Working brake lights and turn signals when the trailer obscures the tow vehicle’s.
• A white license plate light.
• Reflectors on the rear, and side reflectors on trailers over 30 ft.

If you have a 2021-2026 F-150, 2022-2026 Super Duty, Ranger, Expedition, Maverick, or a 2026 Transit, check NHTSA recall 26V104000 (Ford 26C10). The Integrated Trailer Module software fault can cause trailer lights and brakes to behave erratically. Ford pushed the OTA fix in March 2026, but if your truck sat outside cell coverage it may not have applied yet.

Mirrors

Georgia requires mirrors that give the driver a view of the road behind for at least 200 ft. If the trailer is wider than the tow vehicle and blocks your factory mirrors, slip-on tow mirror extensions are the cheap fix. Telescoping factory tow mirrors on a 3/4-ton or 1-ton truck handle this without anything aftermarket.

Speed and what gets you pulled over

There’s no special towing speed limit in Georgia. You follow the posted limit and use judgment. The thing that actually gets people stopped isn’t speed, it’s sway. If your rig is fishtailing at 65 mph, a trooper will pull you over and you won’t enjoy the conversation. Load tongue weight to roughly 10-15% of total trailer weight, and if you’re regularly towing more than half your tow vehicle’s max capacity, a weight-distribution hitch with sway control earns its money fast.

Riding in the trailer

It’s illegal in Georgia to allow anyone to ride in a house trailer (travel trailer or camper) while it’s being towed. Cargo trailers are obviously off limits too. Fifth-wheel campers fall under the same rule.