Senate Study Bill 1109 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON ZUMBACH) A BILL FOR An Act relating to raw farm products for purposes of increased 1 gross weight for motor vehicles transporting such products 2 on this states public highways. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2067XC (5) 91 da/ns
S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 321.460, Code 2025, is amended to read 1 as follows: 2 321.460 Spilling loads on highways. 3 A vehicle shall not be driven or moved on any highway by 4 any person unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded or 5 the load securely covered as to prevent any of its load from 6 dropping, sifting, leaking, or otherwise escaping or its load 7 covering from dropping from the vehicle, except that sand may 8 be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or 9 other substance may be sprinkled on a roadway in cleaning or 10 maintaining such roadway. The provisions of this section shall 11 not apply to vehicles loaded with hay or stover or the products 12 listed in section 321.466, subsections subsection 4 and 5 . 13 Sec. 2. Section 321.466, subsections 4, 5, and 6, Code 2025, 14 are amended to read as follows: 15 4. a. A Except as otherwise provided in paragraph b , a 16 person shall not operate a motor truck, trailer, truck tractor, 17 road tractor, semitrailer, or combination thereof, or any such 18 vehicle equipped with a transferable auxiliary axle or axles, 19 on the public highways with a gross weight exceeding the gross 20 weight for which it is registered by more than five percent ; 21 provided, however, that any . 22 b. A person may operate a vehicle or vehicle combination 23 referred to in this subsection , paragraph a while carrying 24 a load of raw farm products , or soil fertilizers including 25 ground limestone, raw dairy products, livestock, live 26 poultry, or eggs, or a special truck , while carrying a load of 27 distillers grains, may be operated with a gross weight of up to 28 twenty-five percent in excess of the gross weight for which it 29 is registered. However, this subsection paragraph shall not 30 be construed to allow the operation of a special truck on the 31 public highways with a gross weight exceeding the maximum gross 32 weight allowed under section 321.463, subsection 6 . 33 c. As used in paragraph b , raw farm product includes but 34 is not limited to any of the following: 35 -1- LSB 2067XC (5) 91 da/ns 1/ 3
S.F. _____ (1) Animals that are dead. 1 (2) Blood. 2 (3) Corn, including ear corn and hybrids, shelled corn, and 3 corn cobs. 4 (4) Cream that is separated. 5 (5) Distillers grain, either dried or wet. 6 (6) Eggs, including fresh or frozen in the shell. 7 (7) Flax or flax seed. 8 (8) Fodder. 9 (9) Fruits or berries, that are fresh. 10 (10) Grains, either threshed or unthreshed. 11 (11) Hair. 12 (12) Hay, either baled or loose. 13 (13) Hides. 14 (14) Honey, either in a comb or extracted. 15 (15) Livestock. 16 (16) Manure. 17 (17) Melons. 18 (18) Nursery stock. 19 (19) Peat. 20 (20) Potatoes. 21 (21) Poultry that are alive. 22 (22) Raw milk or raw dairy products. 23 (23) Saw logs. 24 (24) Sod. 25 (25) Soybean meal, either dried or wet. 26 (26) Soybeans. 27 (27) Straw, either baled or loose. 28 (28) Vegetables that are fresh. 29 (29) Wood, either cord or stove. 30 (30) Wool. 31 5. d. For the purposes of this section As used in paragraph 32 b , cracked or ground soybeans, sorgo, corn, wheat, rye, 33 oats, or other grain shall be deemed to be a raw farm products 34 product , provided that such products are product is being 35 -2- LSB 2067XC (5) 91 da/ns 2/ 3
S.F. _____ directly and immediately delivered to a farm , from the place 1 where the whole grain had been delivered from a farm for the 2 purpose of cracking or grinding and immediate delivery to 3 the farm to which such cracked or ground products are being 4 delivered . 5 6. 5. The A truck operator shall have in the truck 6 operators possession a receipt showing place of processing on 7 the return trip. 8 EXPLANATION 9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 10 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 11 BACKGROUND. Current law prohibits a person from operating 12 a motor truck, trailer, truck tractor, road tractor, or 13 semitrailer having a gross weight that exceeds the vehicles 14 registered gross weight by 5 percent. An exception allows such 15 a vehicle transporting certain loads associated with farming 16 to operate on the public highways so long as the gross weight 17 does not exceed the vehicles registered gross weight by 25 18 percent. Loads subject to this exemption include raw farm 19 products, fertilizers, raw dairy products, livestock, live 20 poultry, and eggs. Raw farm product is defined by department 21 of transportation (DOT) rule to include a list of commodities, 22 including live poultry and eggs (761 IAC 400.47). Another 23 statutory exemption provides that cracked or ground grain 24 may be considered a raw farm product if it is being directly 25 delivered between farms for purposes of cracking or grinding. 26 BILLS PROVISIONS. This bill codifies the list of raw farm 27 products adopted by DOT rule entitled to be transported subject 28 to the additional 25 percent registered gross weight exception. 29 The bill strikes the statutory terms raw dairy products, 30 livestock, live poultry, and eggs from the statutory exemptions 31 and adds them into the codified list of raw farm products. The 32 bill also adds manure, soybean meal, and wet or dry distillers 33 grains to that list. 34 -3- LSB 2067XC (5) 91 da/ns 3/ 3