HB-5637, As Passed House, November 30, 2006
SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 5637
A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled
"Michigan vehicle code,"
by amending section 722 (MCL 257.722), as amended by 2006 PA 83.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 722. (1) The maximum axle load shall not exceed the
2 number of pounds designated in the following provisions that
3 prescribe the distance between axles:
4 (a) If the axle spacing is 9 feet or more between axles, the
5 maximum axle load shall not exceed 18,000 pounds for vehicles
6 equipped with high pressure pneumatic or balloon tires.
7 (b) If the axle spacing is less than 9 feet between 2 axles
8 but more than 3-1/2 feet, the maximum axle load shall not exceed
9 13,000 pounds for high pressure pneumatic or balloon tires.
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 (2) When normal loading is in effect, the state
6 transportation department, or a local authority with respect to
7 highways under its jurisdiction, may designate certain highways,
8 or sections of those highways, where bridges and road surfaces
9 are adequate for heavier loading, and revise a designation as
10 needed, on which the maximum tandem axle assembly loading shall
11 not exceed 16,000 pounds for any axle of the assembly, if there
12 is no other axle within 9 feet of any axle of the assembly.
13 (3) On a legal combination of vehicles, only 1 tandem axle
14 assembly shall be permitted on the designated highways at the
15 gross permissible weight of 16,000 pounds per axle, if there is
16 no other axle within 9 feet of any axle of the assembly, and if
17 no other tandem axle assembly in the combination of vehicles
18 exceeds a gross weight of 13,000 pounds per axle. On a
19 combination of truck tractor and semitrailer having not more than
20 5 axles, 2 consecutive tandem axle assemblies shall be permitted
21 on the designated highways at a gross permissible weight of
22 16,000 pounds per axle, if there is no other axle within 9 feet
23 of any axle of the assembly.
24 (4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), on a combination of
25 truck tractor and semitrailer having not more than 5 axles, 2
26 consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross permissible
27 weight of not to exceed 17,000 pounds on any axle of the tandem
1 axles if there is no other axle within 9 feet of any axle of the
2 tandem axles and if the first and last axles of the consecutive
3 sets of tandem axles are not less than 36 feet apart and the
4 gross vehicle weight does not exceed 80,000 pounds to pick up and
5 deliver agricultural commodities between the national truck
6 network or special designated highways and any other highway.
7 This subsection is not subject to the maximum axle loads of
8 subsections (1), (2), and (3). For purposes of this subsection, a
9 "tandem axle" means 2 axles spaced more than 40 inches but not
10 more than 96 inches apart or 2 axles spaced more than 3-1/2 feet
11 but less than 9 feet apart. This subsection does not apply during
12 that period when reduced maximum loads are in effect pursuant to
13 subsection (7).
14 (5) The exception to the loading maximums and gross vehicle
15 weight requirements of subsection (11) under subsection (7) for a
16 person hauling agricultural commodities or a public utility
17 vehicle applies only if the person who picks up or delivers the
18 agricultural commodity either from a farm or to a farm or the
19 public utility notifies the county road commission for roads
20 under its authority not less than 48 hours before the pickup or
21 delivery of the time and location of the pickup or delivery. The
22 county road commission shall issue a permit to the person or the
23 public utility and charge a fee that does not exceed the
24 administrative costs incurred. The permit shall contain the
25 following:
26 (a) The designated route or routes of travel for the load.
27 (b) The date and time period requested by the person who
1 picks up or delivers the agricultural commodities or the public
2 utility during which the load may be delivered or picked up.
3 (c) A maximum speed limit of travel, if necessary.
4 (d) Any other specific conditions agreed to between the
5 parties.
6 (6) The normal size of tires shall be the rated size as
7 published by the manufacturers, and the maximum wheel load
8 permissible for any wheel shall not exceed 700 pounds per inch of
9 width of tire.
10 (7) Except as provided in this subsection and subsection
11 (8), during the months of March, April, and May in each year, the
12 maximum axle load allowable on concrete pavements or pavements
13 with a concrete base shall be reduced by 25% from the maximum
14 axle load as specified in this chapter, and the maximum axle
15 loads allowable on all other types of roads during these months
16 shall be reduced by 35% from the maximum axle loads as specified.
17 The maximum wheel load shall not exceed 525 pounds per inch of
18 tire width on concrete and concrete base or 450 pounds per inch
19 of tire width on all other roads during the period the seasonal
20 road restrictions are in effect. This subsection does not apply
21 to vehicles transporting agricultural commodities or heating fuel
22 or to public utility vehicles on a highway, road, or street under
23 the jurisdiction of a local road agency.
24 (8) The state transportation department for roads under its
25 jurisdiction and a county road commission for roads under its
26 jurisdiction may grant exemptions from seasonal weight
27 restrictions for milk on specified routes when requested in
1 writing. Approval or denial of a request for an exemption shall
2 be given by written notice to the applicant within 30 days after
3 the date of submission of the application. If a request is
4 denied, the written notice shall state the reason for denial and
5 alternate routes for which the permit may be issued. The
6 applicant may appeal to the state transportation commission or
7 the county road commission. These exemptions do not apply on
8 county roads in counties that have negotiated agreements with
9 milk haulers or haulers of other commodities during periods of
10 seasonal load limits before April 14, 1993. This subsection does
11 not limit the ability of these counties to continue to negotiate
12 such agreements.
13 (9) The state transportation department, or a local
14 authority with respect to highways under its jurisdiction, may
15 suspend the restrictions imposed by this section when and where
16 conditions of the highways or the public health, safety, and
17 welfare warrant suspension, and impose the restricted loading
18 requirements of this section on designated highways at any other
19 time that the conditions of the highway require.
20 (10) For the purpose of enforcement of this act, the gross
21 vehicle weight of a single vehicle and load or a combination of
22 vehicles and loads, shall be determined by weighing individual
23 axles or groups of axles, and the total weight on all the axles
24 shall be the gross vehicle weight. In addition, the gross axle
25 weight shall be determined by weighing individual axles or by
26 weighing a group of axles and dividing the gross weight of the
27 group of axles by the number of axles in the group. Pursuant to
1 subsection (11), the overall gross weight on a group of 2 or more
2 axles shall be determined by weighing individual axles or several
3 axles, and the total weight of all the axles in the group shall
4 be the overall gross weight of the group.
5 (11) The loading maximum in this subsection applies to
6 interstate highways, and the state transportation department, or
7 a local authority with respect to highways under its
8 jurisdiction, may designate a highway, or a section of a highway,
9 for the operation of vehicles having a gross vehicle weight of
10 not more than 80,000 pounds that are subject to the following
11 load maximums:
12 (a) Twenty thousand pounds on any 1 axle, including all
13 enforcement tolerances.
14 (b) A tandem axle weight of 34,000 pounds, including all
15 enforcement tolerances.
16 (c) An overall gross weight on a group of 2 or more
17 consecutive axles equaling:
18 W = 500 /LN + 12N + 36\
19 \N-1 /
20 where W = overall gross weight on a group of 2 or more
21 consecutive axles to the nearest 500 pounds, L = distance in feet
22 between the extreme of a group of 2 or more consecutive axles,
23 and N = number of axles in the group under consideration; except
24 that 2 consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of
25 34,000 pounds each if the first and last axles of the consecutive
26 sets of tandem axles are not less than 36 feet apart. The gross
1 vehicle weight shall not exceed 80,000 pounds including all
2 enforcement tolerances. Except for 5 axle truck tractor,
3 semitrailer combinations having 2 consecutive sets of tandem
4 axles, vehicles having a gross weight in excess of 80,000 pounds
5 or in excess of the vehicle gross weight determined by
6 application of the formula in this subsection shall be subject to
7 the maximum axle loads of subsections (1), (2), and (3). As used
8 in this subsection, "tandem axle weight" means the total weight
9 transmitted to the road by 2 or more consecutive axles, the
10 centers of which may be included between parallel transverse
11 vertical planes spaced more than 40 inches but not more than 96
12 inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.
13 Except as otherwise provided in this section, vehicles
14 transporting agricultural commodities shall have weight load
15 maximums as defined in this subsection.
16 (12) As used in this section, "agricultural commodities"
17 means those plants and animals useful to human beings produced by
18 agriculture and includes, but is not limited to, forages and sod
19 crops, grains and feed crops, field crops, dairy and dairy
20 products, poultry and poultry products, cervidae, livestock,
21 including breeding and grazing, equine, fish, and other
22 aquacultural products, bees and bee products, berries, herbs,
23 fruits, vegetables, flowers, seeds, grasses, nursery stock,
24 mushrooms, fertilizer, livestock bedding, farming equipment, and
25 fuel for agricultural use. The term "agricultural commodities"
26 shall not include trees and lumber.