S.B. No. 1815
AN ACT
relating to motor vehicle size and weight limitations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 622, Transportation Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter K to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER K. AUTOMOBILE TRANSPORTERS
Sec. 622.151. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Automobile transporter" has the meaning assigned
by 49 U.S.C. Section 31111.
(2) "Backhaul" means the return trip of a vehicle
transporting cargo or general freight.
(3) "Stinger-steered" means a truck-tractor and
semitrailer combination in which the fifth wheel is located on a
drop frame located behind and below the rearmost axle of the
truck-tractor.
Sec. 622.152. AUTOMOBILE TRANSPORTER BACKHAULS. (a) An
automobile transporter that complies with the weight and size
limitations for a truck-tractor and semitrailer combination under
this subtitle may transport cargo or general freight on a backhaul.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (a), an automobile
transporter is presumed to be on a backhaul if the automobile
transporter is transporting cargo or general freight back over all
or part of the same route.
Sec. 622.153. MAXIMUM EXTENDED LENGTH OF LOAD.
Notwithstanding Section 621.206, an automobile transporter that is
stinger-steered may carry a load that extends not more than:
(1) four feet beyond its front; and
(2) six feet beyond its rear.
SECTION 2. Section 622.902, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 622.902. LENGTH EXCEPTIONS. The length limitations
provided by Sections 621.203 to 621.205 do not apply to:
(1) machinery used exclusively for drilling water
wells, including machinery that is itself a unit or that is a unit
mounted on a conventional vehicle or chassis;
(2) a vehicle owned or operated by a public, private,
or volunteer fire department;
(3) a vehicle or combination of vehicles operated
exclusively in the territory of a municipality or to a combination
of vehicles operated by a municipality in a suburb adjoining the
municipality in which the municipality has been using the equipment
or similar equipment in connection with an established service to
the suburb;
(4) a truck-tractor, truck-tractor combination, or
truck-trailer combination exclusively transporting machinery,
materials, and equipment used in the construction, operation, and
maintenance of facilities, including pipelines, that are used for
the discovery, production, and processing of natural gas or
petroleum;
(5) a drive-away saddlemount vehicle transporter
combination or a drive-away saddlemount with fullmount vehicle
transporter combination, as defined by 23 C.F.R. Part 658 or its
successor, if:
(A) the overall length of the combination is not
longer than 97 feet; and
(B) the combination does not have more than three
saddlemounted vehicles if the combination does not include more
than one fullmount vehicle;
(6) the combination of a tow truck and another vehicle
or vehicle combination if:
(A) the other vehicle or vehicle combination
cannot be normally or safely driven or was abandoned on a highway;
and
(B) the tow truck is towing the other vehicle or
vehicle combination directly to the nearest authorized place of
repair, terminal, or destination of unloading;
(7) a vehicle or combination of vehicles used to
transport a harvest machine that is used in farm custom harvesting
operations on a farm if the overall length of the vehicle or
combination is not longer than:
(A) 75 feet if the vehicle is traveling on a
highway that is part of the national system of interstate and
defense highways or the federal aid primary highway system; or
(B) 81-1/2 feet if the vehicle is not traveling
on a highway that is part of the national system of interstate and
defense highways or the federal aid primary highway system; [or]
(8) a truck-tractor operated in combination with a
semitrailer and trailer or semitrailer and semitrailer if:
(A) the combination is used to transport a
harvest machine that is used in farm custom harvesting operations
on a farm;
(B) the overall length of the combination,
excluding the length of the truck-tractor, is not longer than
81-1/2 feet; and
(C) the combination is traveling on a highway
that:
(i) is not part of the national system of
interstate and defense highways or the federal aid primary highway
system; and
(ii) is located in a county with a
population of less than 300,000; or
(9) a towaway trailer transporter combination, as
defined by 49 U.S.C. Section 31111, if the overall length of the
combination is not longer than 82 feet.
SECTION 3. Section 622.952, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 622.952. EMERGENCY [FIRE DEPARTMENT] VEHICLE. (a)
The weight limitations of Section 621.101 do not apply to an
emergency [a] vehicle [owned or operated by a public, private, or
volunteer fire department].
(b) The weight of an emergency [a fire department's] vehicle
may not exceed the greater of:
(1) [be heavier than] the manufacturer's gross vehicle
weight capacity or axle design rating; or
(2) including all enforcement tolerances, a:
(A) gross weight of 86,000 pounds;
(B) single steering axle weight of 24,000 pounds;
(C) single drive axle weight of 33,500 pounds;
(D) tandem axle weight of 62,000 pounds; or
(E) tandem rear drive steer axle weight of 52,000
pounds.
(c) In this section, "emergency vehicle" means a vehicle
designed to be used under emergency conditions:
(1) to transport personnel and equipment; and
(2) to support the suppression of fires and mitigation
of other hazardous situations.
SECTION 4. Section 622.955(c), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The weight increase under Subsection (b) may not be
greater than 550 [400] pounds.
SECTION 5. Sections 623.071(a), (c), and (c-1),
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department may issue a permit to allow the operation
on [a person to operate over] a state highway of [superheavy or
oversize] equipment that exceeds the weight and size limits
provided by law for the movement of equipment[:
[(1) is used to transport cylindrically shaped bales of
hay] or a commodity that cannot reasonably be dismantled[; and
[(2) has a gross weight or size that exceeds the limits
allowed by law to be transported over a state highway].
(c) The department may issue an annual permit to allow the
operation on a state highway of equipment that exceeds weight and
size limits provided by law for the movement of:
(1) an implement of husbandry by a dealer;
(2) water well drilling machinery and equipment or
harvesting equipment being moved as part of an agricultural
operation; or
(3) [superheavy or oversize] equipment or a commodity
that:
(A) cannot reasonably be dismantled; and
(B) does not exceed:
(i) 12 feet in width;
(ii) 14 feet in height;
(iii) 110 feet in length; or
(iv) 120,000 pounds gross weight.
(c-1) The department may issue an annual permit that allows
a person to operate over a state highway or road a vehicle or
combination of vehicles transporting a load that cannot reasonably
be dismantled that exceeds the length and height limits provided by
law, except that:
(1) the maximum length allowed may not exceed 110
feet; and
(2) the maximum height allowed may not exceed 14 feet.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1815 passed the Senate on
April 27, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1815 passed the House on
May 23, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 136, Nays 9, two
present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor