Bill 3722

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               3722
Ratification Number:       256
Act Number                 167
Introducing Body:          House
Subject:                   Authorized length and width of
                           vehicles

(A167, R256, H3722)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 56-5-4030, 56-5-4070, 56-5-4075, AND 56-5-4160, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE AUTHORIZED LENGTH AND WIDTH OF VEHICLES AND TO LIMITATIONS ON VEHICLE COMBINATIONS OPERATED ON INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS, FEDERAL AID HIGHWAYS, AND CERTAIN OTHER HIGHWAYS, AND PENALTIES FOR OVERWEIGHT LOADS, SO AS TO REVISE THE PERMISSIBLE LENGTH AND WIDTH OF CERTAIN VEHICLES OPERATING IN TWO UNIT COMBINATIONS, AND AS COMBINATION VEHICLES, TO ELIMINATE CERTAIN REASONABLE ACCESS AND ALTERNATE ROUTE REGULATION REQUIREMENTS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE SUSPENSION OF THE LICENSE AND REGISTRATION OF AN OVERLOADED VEHICLE WHEN A PENALTY ASSESSMENT IS NOT PAID WITHIN FORTY-FIVE DAYS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Width of vehicles

SECTION 1. Section 56-5-4030 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4030. The total outside width of a vehicle or the load on it may not exceed one hundred two inches exclusive of safety devices approved by the department."

Length of vehicles

SECTION 2. Section 56-5-4070 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-5-4070. (1) Two or three unit vehicle combinations may be operated on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, on those qualifying federal-aid highways so designated by the United States Secretary of Transportation, and other highways as designated by the department in accordance with Section 56-5-4075. The department may require warning devices which may be necessary to protect public safety.

When in use on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways and 'other qualifying highways':

(a) a trailer or semitrailer may be operated in a two unit truck tractor-trailer or truck tractor-semitrailer combination in excess of a length of forty-eight feet but no longer than 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 must be no greater than forty-one feet;

(b) a trailer or semitrailer, operating in a three unit combination, may not exceed a length of twenty-eight and one-half feet, inclusive of the load carried on it;

(c) auto and boat transporters may not have an overall length in excess of seventy-five feet, exclusive of front and rear overhang; however, front overhang must not exceed three feet and rear overhang must not exceed four feet;

(d) saddle mounts and full mounts may not have an overall length in excess of sixty-five feet.

(2) No motor vehicle, exclusive of truck tractors being used in two or three unit combinations on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, on those qualifying federal-aid highways so designated by the United States Secretary of Transportation and other highways as designated by the department in accordance with Section 56-5-4075, may exceed a length of forty feet extreme overall dimension, inclusive of front and rear bumpers and load carried on it, and a motor vehicle in excess of thirty-five feet may have not less than three axles, except buses with two axles approved by the department.

(3) A combination of vehicles coupled together or especially constructed to transport motor vehicles in a truckaway or driveaway service may tow up to three saddle mounts. No other combination of vehicles coupled together may consist of more than two units, except as permitted by subsection (1) of this section.

(4) Except as permitted by subsection (1) of this section, trailers or semitrailers used within combinations may not exceed a length of forty-eight feet and auto transporters are excluded from trailer length limitations. Auto transporters may be allowed an upper level overhang not to exceed three feet on the front and four feet on the rear.

(5) Except where specifically prohibited in this article, there is no overall length limit on combination vehicles.

(6) Appropriate safety and energy conservation devices and compressors and fuel saving equipment on the front or loading devices on the rear of trailers or semitrailers may not be considered when determining their length for purposes of this section if the overall length limitations of combinations of vehicles is not exceeded."

Regulation of access of vehicles

SECTION 3. Section 56-5-4075(b) and (c) of the 1976 Code are amended to read:

"(b) points of loading and unloading for household goods carriers and auto transporters; and

(c) specific industrial, commercial, warehousing, and similar sites, only after consulting with and considering the views of the local governments through whose jurisdictions such specific site access would pass."

Payment of assessment for overweight loads

SECTION 4. Section 56-5-4160 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding at the end:

"If the assessment is not paid in full to the department within forty-five days after conviction, the license and registration of the vehicle found to exceed the limits imposed by Section 56-5-4130 or 56-5-4140 must be suspended. The owner of the vehicle immediately shall return the license and registration of the vehicle to the department. If a person fails to return them as provided in this section, the department may secure possession of them by a commissioned trooper. The suspension must continue until the assessment is paid in full."

Time effective

SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.