83R6328 JRR-F
By: Lavender H.B. No. 3418
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to oversize or overweight vehicles transporting timber or
timber products.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 622.041, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 622.041. WEIGHT AND LENGTH LIMITATION. (a) A person
may operate over a highway or road of this state a vehicle or
combination of vehicles that is being used to transport
[exclusively for transporting poles, piling, or] unrefined timber,
wood chips, or woody biomass [from the point of origin of the timber
(the forest where the timber is felled) to a wood processing mill]
if:
(1) the vehicle, or combination of vehicles, is not
longer than 90 feet, including the load; [and]
(2) the distance from the point of origin to the
destination or delivery point does not exceed 150 [125] miles; and
(3) when the maximum allowable gross weight authorized
by a permit issued under Section 623.011 for the vehicle or
combination of vehicles is:
(A) not exceeded, the gross load carried on any
tandem axle of the vehicle or combination of vehicles does not
exceed 44,000 pounds; or
(B) exceeded, the vehicle or combination of
vehicles complies with the requirements of Section 621.101(b).
(b) Section 621.508 does not apply to a vehicle or
combination of vehicles operated under this section. [Subsection
(a)(1) does not apply to a truck-tractor or truck-tractor
combination transporting poles, piling, or unrefined timber.]
SECTION 2. Section 622.043, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 622.043. CONFORMITY WITH GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING
TO VEHICLE SIZE AND WEIGHT. Except as otherwise provided by this
subchapter, the [The] width, height, and gross weight of a vehicle
or combination of vehicles subject to this subchapter shall conform
to Chapter 621.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.