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.