HOUSE BILL No. 5020 July 11, 2001, Introduced by Rep. Allen and referred to the Committee on Transportation. A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled "Michigan vehicle code," by amending section 722 (MCL 257.722), as amended by 2000 PA 6. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 722. (1)TheEXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (E), 2 THE maximum axle load shall not exceed the number of pounds des- 3 ignated in the following provisions that prescribe the distance 4 between axles: 5 (a) If the axle spacing is 9 feet or more between axles, the 6 maximum axle load shall not exceed 18,000 pounds for vehicles 7 equipped with high pressure pneumatic or balloon tires. 8 (b) If the axle spacing is less than 9 feet between 2 axles 9 but more than 3-1/2 feet, the maximum axle load shall not exceed 10 13,000 pounds for high pressure pneumatic or balloon tires. 04097'01 TJS 2 1 (c) If the axles are spaced less than 3-1/2 feet apart, the 2 maximum axle load shall not exceed 9,000 pounds per axle. 3 (d) Subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) shall be known as the 4 normal loading maximum. 5 (E) A VEHICLE USED FOR PAVEMENT MARKING MAY EXCEED THE 6 NORMAL LOADING MAXIMUM PROVIDED BY THIS SUBSECTION BY NOT MORE 7 THAN 20%. HOWEVER, A VEHICLE USED FOR PAVEMENT MARKING IS NOT 8 EXEMPT FROM THE SEASONAL WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS DESCRIBED IN 9 SUBSECTION (6). 10 (2) When normal loading is in effect, the state transporta- 11 tion department, or a local authority with respect to highways 12 under its jurisdiction, may designate certain highways, or sec- 13 tions of those highways, where bridges and road surfaces are ade- 14 quate for heavier loading, and revise a designation as needed, on 15 which the maximum tandem axle assembly loading shall not exceed 16 16,000 pounds for any axle of the assembly, if there is no other 17 axle within 9 feet of any axle of the assembly. 18 (3) Except as provided in subsection (10), on a legal combi- 19 nation of vehicles, only 1 tandem axle assembly shall be permit- 20 ted on the designated highways at the gross permissible weight of 21 16,000 pounds per axle, if there is no other axle within 9 feet 22 of any axle of the assembly, and if no other tandem axle assembly 23 in the combination of vehicles exceeds a gross weight of 13,000 24 pounds per axle. When the maximum gross weight of a combination 25 of vehicles with load does not exceed 73,280 pounds, 2 tandem 26 axle assemblies shall be permitted on the designated highways at 04097'01 3 1 a gross permissible weight of 16,000 pounds per axle, if there is 2 no other axle within 9 feet of any axle of the assembly. 3 (4) The exception to the loading maximums and gross vehicle 4 weight requirements of subsection (10) under subsection (6) for a 5 person hauling agricultural commodities applies only if the 6 person who picks up or delivers the agricultural commodity either 7 from a farm or to a farm notifies the county road commission for 8 roads under its authority not less than 48 hours before the 9 pickup or delivery of the time and location of the pickup or 10 delivery. The county road commission shall issue a permit and 11 charge a fee that does not exceed the administrative costs 12 incurred to the person containing the following: 13 (a) The designated route or routes of travel for the load. 14 (b) The date and time period requested by the person who 15 picks up or delivers the agricultural commodities during which 16 the load may be delivered or picked up. 17 (c) A maximum speed limit of travel, if necessary. 18 (d) Any other specific conditions agreed to between the 19 parties. 20 This subsection does not apply after April 1, 2002. 21 (5) The normal size of tires shall be the rated size as pub- 22 lished by the manufacturers, and the maximum wheel load permissi- 23 ble for any wheel shall not exceed 700 pounds per inch of width 24 of tire. 25 (6) Except as provided in this subsection and subsection 26 (7), during the months of March, April, and May in each year, the 27 maximum axle load allowable on concrete pavements or pavements 04097'01 4 1 with a concrete base shall be reduced by 25% from the maximum 2 axle load as specified in this chapter, and the maximum axle 3 loads allowable on all other types of roads during these months 4 shall be reduced by 35% from the maximum axle loads as 5 specified. The maximum wheel load shall not exceed 525 pounds 6 per inch of tire width on concrete and concrete base or 450 7 pounds per inch of tire width on all other roads during the 8 period the seasonal road restrictions are in effect. Until 9 April 1, 2002, this subsection does not apply to vehicles trans- 10 porting agricultural commodities on a highway, road, or street 11 under the jurisdiction of a local road agency. 12 (7) The state transportation department for roads under its 13 jurisdiction and a county road commission for roads under its 14 jurisdiction may grant exemptions from seasonal weight restric- 15 tions for milk on specified routes when requested in writing. 16 Approval or denial of a request for an exemption shall be given 17 by written notice to the applicant within 30 days after the date 18 of submission of the application. If a request is denied, the 19 written notice shall state the reason for denial and alternate 20 routes for which the permit may be issued. The applicant shall 21 have the right to appeal to the state transportation commission 22 or the county road commission. These exemptions shall not apply 23 on county roads in counties that have negotiated agreements with 24 milk haulers or haulers of other commodities during periods of 25 seasonal load limits before April 14, 1993. This subsection does 26 not limit the ability of these counties to continue to negotiate 27 such agreements. 04097'01 5 1 (8) The state transportation department, or a local 2 authority with respect to highways under its jurisdiction, may in 3 its discretion suspend the restrictions imposed by this section 4 when and where conditions of the highways or the public health, 5 safety, and welfare warrant suspension, and impose the restricted 6 loading requirements of this section on designated highways at 7 any other time that the conditions of the highway require. 8 (9) For the purpose of enforcement of this act, the gross 9 vehicle weight of a single vehicle and load or a combination of 10 vehicles and loads, shall be determined by weighing individual 11 axles or groups of axles, and the total weight on all the axles 12 shall be the gross vehicle weight. In addition, the gross axle 13 weight shall be determined by weighing individual axles or by 14 weighing a group of axles and dividing the gross weight of the 15 group of axles by the number of axles in the group. Pursuant to 16 subsection (10), the overall gross weight on a group of 2 or more 17 axles shall be determined by weighing individual axles or several 18 axles, and the total weight of all the axles in the group shall 19 be the overall gross weight of the group. 20 (10) The loading maximum in this subsection applies to 21 interstate highways, and the state transportation department, or 22 a local authority with respect to highways under its jurisdic- 23 tion, may designate a highway, or a section of a highway, for the 24 operation of vehicles having a gross vehicle weight of not more 25 than 80,000 pounds that are subject to the following load 26 maximums: 04097'01 6 1 (a) Twenty thousand pounds on any 1 axle, including all 2 enforcement tolerances. 3 (b) A tandem axle weight of 34,000 pounds, including all 4 enforcement tolerances. 5 (c) An overall gross weight on a group of 2 or more consecu- 6 tive axles equaling: 7 W = 500 /LN + 12N + 36\ 8 \N-1 / 9 10 where W = overall gross weight on a group of 2 or more consecu- 11 tive axles to the nearest 500 pounds, L = distance in feet 12 between the extreme of a group of 2 or more consecutive axles, 13 and N = number of axles in the group under consideration; except 14 that 2 consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of 15 34,000 pounds each if the first and last axles of the consecutive 16 sets of tandem axles are not less than 36 feet apart. The gross 17 vehicle weight shall not exceed 80,000 pounds including all 18 enforcement tolerances. Except for 5 axle truck tractor, semi- 19 trailer combinations having 2 consecutive sets of tandem axles, 20 vehicles having a gross weight in excess of 80,000 pounds or in 21 excess of the vehicle gross weight determined by application of 22 the formula in this subsection shall be subject to the maximum 23 axle loads of subsections (1), (2), and (3). As used in this 24 subsection, "tandem axle weight" means the total weight transmit- 25 ted to the road by 2 or more consecutive axles, the centers of 26 which may be included between parallel transverse vertical planes 27 spaced more than 40 inches but not more than 96 inches apart, 28 extending across the full width of the vehicle. Except as 29 otherwise provided in this section, vehicles transporting 04097'01 7 1 agricultural commodities shall have weight load maximums as 2 defined in this subsection. 3 (11) As used in this section, "agricultural commodities" 4 means those plants and animals useful to human beings produced by 5 agriculture and includes, but is not limited to, forages and sod 6 crops, grains and feed crops, field crops, dairy and dairy pro- 7 ducts, poultry and poultry products, cervidae, livestock, includ- 8 ing breeding and grazing, equine, fish, and other aquacultural 9 products, bees and bee products, berries, herbs, fruits, vegeta- 10 bles, flowers, seeds, grasses, nursery stock, mushrooms, fertil- 11 izer, livestock bedding, farming equipment, and fuel for agricul- 12 tural use. The term "agricultural commodities" shall not include 13 trees and lumber. This subsection does not apply after April 1, 14 2002. 04097'01 Final page. TJS