Ladder's on the back of truck.

[Xin Kamero]

What would be the legal limit for ladders on the back of a pickup truck in North Carolina? Because Last night I was driving on the highway, and two pick up trucks had ladders and coolers stacked up to about one foot above the driving suite. These trucks a barely any support on keeping these up as well.

[mcsap]

In PA , the max rear distance of a projecting load is 6 feet.

That is also the Federal Standard for Commercial Vehicles ( but not pickup trucks).

And anything over 4 feet needs a RED flag of 12 by 12 inches and at night , a RED light.

I am sure NC is similar if not identical.

And the front projection is limited to 3 feet.

[JakeLock]

The way I read the question, I believe he's asking vertically. I don't know about NC, but to the best of my knowledge there is no limit here.

As far as out the back/front we are pretty much the exact same.

[Legoate]

47.5 ladders, or 72.8 coolers.....or any comparable combination of the two.

[Wolfman]

Well it's late, but if I'm reading the question right, this is the answer (it does not take into account any local city/county ordinances in your area):

G.S. 20‑116. Size of vehicles and loads.
........(c) No vehicle, unladen or with load, shall exceed a height of 13 feet, six inches. Provided, however, that neither the State of North Carolina nor any agency or subdivision thereof, nor any person, firm or corporation, shall be required to raise, alter, construct or reconstruct any underpass, wire, pole, trestle, or other structure to permit the passage of any vehicle having a height, unladen or with load, in excess of 12 feet, six inches. Provided further, that the operator or owner of any vehicle having an overall height, whether unladen or with load, in excess of 12 feet, six inches, shall be liable for damage to any structure caused by such vehicle having a height in excess of 12 feet, six inches......

.......(g) (1) No vehicle shall be driven or moved on any highway unless the vehicle is constructed and loaded to prevent any of its load from falling, blowing, dropping, sifting, leaking, or otherwise escaping therefrom, and the vehicle shall not contain any holes, cracks, or openings through which any of its load may escape. However, sand may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or other substance may be sprinkled, dumped, or spread on a roadway in cleaning or maintaining the roadway. For purposes of this subsection, load does not include water accumulated from precipitation.........

If the view is obstructed because of his stuff:

G. S. 20‑140.2. Overloaded or overcrowded vehicle.
No person shall operate upon a highway or public vehicular area a motor vehicle which is so loaded or crowded with passengers or property, or both, as to obstruct the operator's view of the highway or public vehicular area, including intersections, or so as to impair or restrict otherwise the proper operation of the vehicle.

All that being said, please do not feel the need to call in a traffic violation to the police unless it falls off, does damage, or is seriously endangering someone.