81R7817 SLB-D
 
  By: Jones H.B. No. 4187
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a length exemption for a vehicle or combination of
  vehicles used to transport a combine used in farm custom harvesting
  operations.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  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; or
               (7)  a vehicle or combination of vehicles used to
  transport a combine 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.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.