Reference is to the bill as introduced.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by STRIKING ALL AFTER THE ENACTING WORDS AND INSERTING:
/SECTION 1. Section 56-5-4070(A)(1) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(1) No trailer or semitrailer may be operated in a two unit truck tractor-trailer or truck tractor-semitrailer combination in excess of fifty-three feet, inclusive of the load carried on it. A fifty-three foot long trailer must be equipped with a rear underride guard, and the distance between the kingpin of the vehicle and the center of the rear axle assembly or to the center of the tandem axle assembly if equipped with two axles may be no greater than forty-one feet. However, trailers or semitrailers used exclusively or primarily to transport vehicles used in connection with motorsports competition events may not exceed forty-six feet on the distance measured from the kingpin to the center of the rear axle."
SECTION 2. Section 56-5-4130 of the 1976 Code, is amended to read:
"Section 56-5-4130.
(A)(1) The gross weight upon
any wheel of a vehicle shall not exceed eight thousand pounds
when equipped with high-pressure pneumatic, solid rubber or
cushion tires, nor ten thousand pounds when equipped with
low-pressure pneumatic tires. The gross weight upon any one axle
of a vehicle shall not exceed sixteen thousand pounds when
equipped with high-pressure pneumatic, solid rubber or cushion
tires, nor twenty thousand pounds when equipped with
low-pressure pneumatic tires.
(2)
On the interstate and noninterstate highways of
this State, any over-the-road bus as defined by Title 49 of the
United States Code, motorhome, or any vehicle which is regularly
and exclusively used as an intrastate public agency transit
passenger bus as defined by Title 49 of the United States Code,
is excluded from the axle weight limits in item (1). However,
these vehicles are limited to a maximum single axle weight limit
of twenty-four thousand pounds, including all enforcement
tolerances.
(B) For the
purpose of this section an 'axle load' shall be defined as the
total load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers
may be included between two parallel transverse vertical planes
forty inches apart, extending across the full width of the
vehicle, every pneumatic tire designed for use and used when
inflated with air to less than one hundred pounds pressure shall
be deemed a 'low-pressure tire' and every pneumatic tire
inflated to one hundred pounds pressure or more shall be deemed
a 'high-pressure tire'."
SECTION 3. Section 56-5-4140 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 60 of 2009, is further amended to read:
"Section 56-5-4140.
(A)(1) The gross weight of a vehicle
or combination of vehicles, operated or moved upon any
interstate, highway, or section of highway,
including the interstate highway system, except where the
formula in item (4) allows for a higher weight, shall not
exceed:
(The following weight limits do not include applicable
tolerances)
(a)
Single-unit vehicle with two axles........35,000 lbs.
(b)
Single-unit vehicle with three axles......46,000 lbs.
(c)
Single-unit vehicle with four axles...... 63,500 lbs.
Except, except on the interstate,
vehicles must meet axle spacing requirements and corresponding
maximum overall gross weights, not to exceed 63,500 lbs., in
accordance with the table in (b) plus
tolerances item (4).
(d) Single-unit
vehicle with five or more axles...65,000 lbs.
Except, except on the interstate,
vehicles must meet axle spacing requirements and corresponding
maximum overall gross weights, not to exceed 65,000 lbs., in
accordance with the table in (b)
plus tolerances subitem item
(4).
(e)
Combination of vehicles with three axles..........50,000
lbs.
(f)
Combination of vehicles with four axles.........65,000 lbs.
(g)
Combination of vehicles with five or more axles.....73,280
lbs.
The gross weight
imposed upon any highway or section of highway other than the
interstate by two or more consecutive axles in tandem
articulated from a common attachment to the vehicle and spaced
not less than forty inches nor more than ninety-six inches apart
shall not exceed thirty-six thousand pounds, and no one axle of
any such group of two or more consecutive axles shall exceed the
load permitted for a single axle. The load imposed on the
highway by two consecutive axles, individually attached to the
vehicle and spaced not less than forty inches nor more than
ninety-six inches apart, shall not exceed thirty-six thousand
pounds and no one axle of any such group of two consecutive
axles shall exceed the load permitted for a single axle.
The ten percent
enforcement tolerance specified in Section 56-5-4160 applies to
the vehicle weight limits specified in this
section item (1), and subsections (B) and (C).
However, the gross weight on a single axle operated on the
interstate may not exceed 20,000 pounds, including all
enforcement tolerances; the gross weight on a tandem axle
operated on the interstate may not exceed 35,200 pounds,
including all enforcement tolerances; the overall gross weight
for vehicles operated on the interstate may not exceed 75,185
pounds, including all enforcement tolerances except as provided
in item (4).
(2)
Enforcement tolerance is fifteen percent for a vehicle or
trailer transporting unprocessed forest products
or only on noninterstate routes.
(3)
Enforcement tolerance is fifteen percent for a vehicle or
trailer transporting sod only on noninterstate routes.
(4)
Vehicles with an overall maximum gross weight in excess of
75,185 pounds may operate upon any highway or
section of highway in the Interstate System up to an overall
maximum of 80,000 pounds in accordance with the following:
The weight imposed upon the highway by any
group of two or more consecutive axles may not, unless specially
permitted by the Department of Public Safety exceed an overall
gross weight produced by the application of the following
formula:
In the formula W equals overall gross
weight on any group of two or more consecutive axles to the
nearest 500 pounds, L equals distance in feet between the
extreme of any group of two or more consecutive axles, and N
equals number of axles in the group under consideration.
As an exception, two consecutive sets of
tandem axles may carry a gross load of 68,000 pounds if the
overall distance between the first and last axles of the
consecutive sets of tandem axles is 36 feet or more. The formula
is expressed by the following table:
Distance in feet between
Maximum load in pounds carried on any group of 2
between the extremes
of 2 or more consecutive axles
of any group of 2 or
more consecutive axles
2 axles
3 axles 4 axles
5 axles
6 axles
7 axles
4 35,200
5 35,200
6 35,200
7 35,200
8 and less 35,200
35,200
more than 8 38,000
42,000
9 39,000
42,500
10 40,000
43,500
11 44,000
12 45,000
50,000
13 45,500
50,500
14 46,500
51,500
15 47,500
52,000
16 48,000
52,500
58,000
17 50,500
54,500
60,000
20 51,000
55,500
60,500
66,000
21 51,500
56,000
61,000
66,500
22 52,500
56,500
61,500
67,000
23 53,000
57,500
62,500
68,000
24 54,000
58,000
63,000
68,500 74,000
25 54,500
58,500
63,500
69,000 74,500
26 55,500
59,500
64,000
69,500 75,000
27 56,000
60,000
65,000
70,000 75,500
28 57,000
60,500
65,500
71,000 76,500
29 57,500
61,500
66,000
71,500 77,000
30 58,500
62,000
66,500
72,000 77,500
31 59,000
62,500
67,500
72,500 78,000
32 60,000
63,500
68,000
73,000 78,500
33 64,000
68,500
74,000
79,000
34 64,500
69,000
74,500
80,000
35 65,500
70,000
75,000
36 68,000
70,500
75,500
37 68,000
71,000
76,000
38 68,000
71,500
77,000
39 68,000
72,500
77,500
40 68,500
73,000
78,000
41 69,500
73,500
78,500
42 70,000
74,000
79,000
43 70,500
75,000
80,000
44 71,500
75,500
45 72,000
76,000
46 72,500
76,500
47 73,500
77,500
48 74,000
78,000
49 74,500
78,500
50 75,500
79,000
51 76,000
80,000
52 76,500
53 77,500
54 78,000
55 78,500
56 79,500
57 80,000
(B) On the
interstate and noninterstate highways of this State, any
over-the-road bus as defined in Title 49 of the United States
Code, motorhome, or any vehicle which is regularly and
exclusively used as an intrastate public agency transit
passenger bus as defined in Title 49 of the United States Code,
is excluded from the axle spacing requirements in subsection
(A). However, these vehicles are limited to a maximum single
axle weight limit of twenty-four thousand pounds, including all
enforcement tolerances.
(1)
Dump trucks, dump trailers, trucks carrying agricultural
products, concrete mixing trucks, fuel oil trucks, line trucks,
and trucks designated and constructed for special type work or
use are not required to conform to the axle spacing requirements
of this section. However, the vehicle is limited to a weight of
twenty thousand pounds for each axle plus scale tolerances and
the maximum gross weight of these vehicles may not exceed the
maximum weight allowed by subsection (A)(1) for the appropriate
number of axles, plus allowable scale tolerances.
(2)
Concrete mixing trucks which operate within a fifteen-mile
radius of their home base are not required to conform to the
requirements of this section. However, these vehicles are
limited to a maximum load of the rated capacity of the concrete
mixer, the true gross load not to exceed sixty-six thousand
pounds. All of these vehicles shall have at least three axles
each with brake-equipped wheels.
(3)
Well-drilling, boring rigs, and tender trucks are not
required to conform to the axle spacing requirements of this
section. However, the vehicle is limited to seventy thousand
pounds gross vehicle weight and twenty-five thousand pounds for
each axle plus scale tolerances."
SECTION 4. Section 56-5-4160(L) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 234 of 2008, is amended to read:
"(L)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the maximum
gross vehicle weight and axle weight limit for a vehicle or
combination of vehicles equipped with an idle reduction system,
as provided for in 23 U.S.C. 127, may be increased by an amount
equal to the weight of the system, not to exceed four
hundred five hundred fifty pounds. Upon request
by a law enforcement officer, the vehicle operator must provide
proof that the system is fully functional and that the vehicle's
gross weight increase allowed pursuant to this section is
attributable only to the system."
SECTION 5. Section 56-5-4160 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 234 of 2008, is further amended by adding an appropriately lettered subsection to read:
"( ) Any motor vehicle that is fueled primarily by natural gas shall be allowed to exceed the gross, single axle, tandem axle, or bridge formula weight limits, including tolerances, by no more than two thousand pounds each individually weighed, up to a maximum gross vehicle weight of eighty-two thousand pounds on the interstate, by an amount that is equal to the difference between: the weight of the vehicle attributable to the natural gas tank and fueling system carried by that vehicle; and the weight of a comparable diesel tank and fueling system. To be eligible for this exception, the operator of the vehicle must be able to demonstrate that the vehicle is a natural gas vehicle, a biofuel vehicle using natural gas, or a vehicle that has been converted to a natural gas vehicle. The operator shall provide documentation which certifies the difference between: the weight of the vehicle attributable to the natural gas tank and fueling system carried by that vehicle; and the weight of a comparable diesel tank and fueling system."
SECTION 6. Section 56-35-30(B) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 234 of 2008, is amended to read:
"(B) For a vehicle
equipped with an auxiliary power unit designed for idling
reduction, the gross vehicle weight or axle weight used to
determine the fine for a violation of commercial vehicle weight
restrictions is the actual gross vehicle weight or axle weight
reduced by four hundred five hundred
fifty pounds."
SECTION 7. The repeal or amendment by this act of any law, whether temporary or permanent or civil or criminal, does not affect pending actions, rights, duties, or liabilities founded thereon, or alter, discharge, release or extinguish any penalty, forfeiture, or liability incurred under the repealed or amended law, unless the repealed or amended provision shall so expressly provide. After the effective date of this act, all laws repealed or amended by this act must be taken and treated as remaining in full force and effect for the purpose of sustaining any pending or vested right, civil action, special proceeding, criminal prosecution, or appeal existing as of the effective date of this act, and for the enforcement of rights, duties, penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities as they stood under the repealed or amended laws. /
SECTION 8. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.