Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4986 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R174 JRR-D
2	2	By: Burrows H.B. No. 4986
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to size limitations for certain vehicles transporting
8	8	agricultural products and equipment.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 504.505(a), Transportation Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	(a) The department shall issue specialty license plates for
13	13	a single motor vehicle that is:
14	14	(1) used only to transport chile pepper modules, seed
15	15	cotton, cotton, cotton burrs, hay, or equipment used in
16	16	transporting or processing chile peppers, [or] cotton, or hay; and
17	17	(2) not more than 10 feet in width.
18	18	SECTION 2. Section 622.101, Transportation Code, is amended
19	19	by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
20	20	follows:
21	21	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] single motor
22	22	vehicle or truck-tractor operated in combination with a semitrailer
23	23	and trailer or semitrailer and semitrailer used exclusively to
24	24	transport chile pepper modules, seed cotton, cotton, cotton burrs,
25	25	hay, or equipment used to transport or process chile pepper
26	26	modules, [or] cotton, or hay, including a motor vehicle or burr
27	27	spreader, may not be operated on a highway or road if the vehicle
28	28	is:
29	29	(1) wider than 10 feet and the highway has not been
30	30	designated by the commission under Section 621.202;
31	31	(2) longer than 48 feet, if the vehicle is a single
32	32	motor vehicle; or
33	33	(3) higher than 14 feet 6 inches, if the vehicle is a
34	34	single motor vehicle.
35	35	(d) Subsection (a) does not apply to a vehicle transporting
36	36	cylindrical bales of hay under a permit issued under Section
37	37	623.017.
38	38	SECTION 3. Section 622.902, Transportation Code, is amended
39	39	to read as follows:
40	40	Sec. 622.902. LENGTH EXCEPTIONS. The length limitations
41	41	provided by Sections 621.203 to 621.205 do not apply to:
42	42	(1) machinery used exclusively for drilling water
43	43	wells, including machinery that is itself a unit or that is a unit
44	44	mounted on a conventional vehicle or chassis;
45	45	(2) a vehicle owned or operated by a public, private,
46	46	or volunteer fire department;
47	47	(3) a vehicle or combination of vehicles operated
48	48	exclusively in the territory of a municipality or to a combination
49	49	of vehicles operated by a municipality in a suburb adjoining the
50	50	municipality in which the municipality has been using the equipment
51	51	or similar equipment in connection with an established service to
52	52	the suburb;
53	53	(4) a truck-tractor, truck-tractor combination, or
54	54	truck-trailer combination exclusively transporting machinery,
55	55	materials, and equipment used in the construction, operation, and
56	56	maintenance of facilities, including pipelines, that are used for
57	57	the discovery, production, and processing of natural gas or
58	58	petroleum;
59	59	(5) a drive-away saddlemount vehicle transporter
60	60	combination or a drive-away saddlemount with fullmount vehicle
61	61	transporter combination, as defined by 23 C.F.R. Part 658 or its
62	62	successor, if:
63	63	(A) the overall length of the combination is not
64	64	longer than 97 feet; and
65	65	(B) the combination does not have more than three
66	66	saddlemounted vehicles if the combination does not include more
67	67	than one fullmount vehicle;
68	68	(6) the combination of a tow truck and another vehicle
69	69	or vehicle combination if:
70	70	(A) the other vehicle or vehicle combination
71	71	cannot be normally or safely driven or was abandoned on a highway;
72	72	and
73	73	(B) the tow truck is towing the other vehicle or
74	74	vehicle combination directly to the nearest authorized place of
75	75	repair, terminal, or destination of unloading;
76	76	(7) a vehicle or combination of vehicles used to
77	77	transport a harvest machine that is used in farm custom harvesting
78	78	operations on a farm if the overall length of the vehicle or
79	79	combination is not longer than:
80	80	(A) 75 feet if the vehicle is traveling on a
81	81	highway that is part of the national system of interstate and
82	82	defense highways or the federal aid primary highway system; or
83	83	(B) 81-1/2 feet if the vehicle is not traveling
84	84	on a highway that is part of the national system of interstate and
85	85	defense highways or the federal aid primary highway system;
86	86	(8) a truck-tractor operated in combination with a
87	87	semitrailer and trailer or semitrailer and semitrailer if:
88	88	(A) the combination is used to transport a
89	89	harvest machine that is used in farm custom harvesting operations
90	90	on a farm;
91	91	(B) the overall length of the combination,
92	92	excluding the length of the truck-tractor, is not longer than
93	93	81-1/2 feet; and
94	94	(C) the combination is traveling on a highway
95	95	that:
96	96	(i) is not part of the national system of
97	97	interstate and defense highways or the federal aid primary highway
98	98	system; and
99	99	(ii) is located in a county with a
100	100	population of less than 300,000; [or]
101	101	(9) a truck-tractor operated in combination with a
102	102	semitrailer and trailer or semitrailer and semitrailer if:
103	103	(A) the combination is used to transport chile
104	104	pepper modules, seed cotton, cotton, cotton burrs, hay, or
105	105	equipment used to transport or process chile pepper modules,
106	106	cotton, or hay, including a motor vehicle or burr spreader; and
107	107	(B) the overall length of the combination is not
108	108	longer than:
109	109	(i) 75 feet if the combination is traveling
110	110	on a highway that is part of the national system of interstate and
111	111	defense highways or the federal aid primary highway system; or
112	112	(ii) 81-1/2 feet if the combination is not
113	113	traveling on a highway that is part of the national system of
114	114	interstate and defense highways or the federal aid primary highway
115	115	system; or
116	116	(10) a towaway trailer transporter combination, as
117	117	defined by 49 U.S.C. Section 31111, if the overall length of the
118	118	combination is not longer than 82 feet.
119	119	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.