Texas 2023 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4986 Introduced / Bill

Filed 03/10/2023

                    88R174 JRR-D
 By: Burrows H.B. No. 4986


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to size limitations for certain vehicles transporting
 agricultural products and equipment.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Section 504.505(a), Transportation Code, is
 amended to read as follows:
 (a)  The department shall issue specialty license plates for
 a single motor vehicle that is:
 (1)  used only to transport chile pepper modules, seed
 cotton, cotton, cotton burrs, hay, or equipment used in
 transporting or processing chile peppers, [or] cotton, or hay; and
 (2)  not more than 10 feet in width.
 SECTION 2.  Section 622.101, Transportation Code, is amended
 by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
 follows:
 (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] single motor
 vehicle or truck-tractor operated in combination with a semitrailer
 and trailer or semitrailer and semitrailer used exclusively to
 transport chile pepper modules, seed cotton, cotton, cotton burrs,
 hay, or equipment used to transport or process chile pepper
 modules, [or] cotton, or hay, including a motor vehicle or burr
 spreader, may not be operated on a highway or road if the vehicle
 is:
 (1)  wider than 10 feet and the highway has not been
 designated by the commission under Section 621.202;
 (2)  longer than 48 feet, if the vehicle is a single
 motor vehicle; or
 (3)  higher than 14 feet 6 inches, if the vehicle is a
 single motor vehicle.
 (d)  Subsection (a) does not apply to a vehicle transporting
 cylindrical bales of hay under a permit issued under Section
 623.017.
 SECTION 3.  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;
 (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 truck-tractor operated in combination with a
 semitrailer and trailer or semitrailer and semitrailer if:
 (A)  the combination is used to transport chile
 pepper modules, seed cotton, cotton, cotton burrs, hay, or
 equipment used to transport or process chile pepper modules,
 cotton, or hay, including a motor vehicle or burr spreader; and
 (B)  the overall length of the combination is not
 longer than:
 (i)  75 feet if the combination 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
 (ii)  81-1/2 feet if the combination 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
 (10)  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 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.