By: Seliger  S.B. No. 1815
         (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 2021; March 26, 2021, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Transportation;
  April 23, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 23, 2021,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1815 By:  Seliger
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
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.
 
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