October 5, 2005, Introduced by Reps. Casperson, LaJoy, Marleau, Nitz, Moore, Meyer, Gosselin, Gleason, David Law, Wenke, Murphy, Gaffney, Huizenga, Nofs, Mayes, Robertson, Hune, Hildenbrand, Stakoe, Stahl, Pearce, Hoogendyk, Pastor, Vander Veen, Farhat, Baxter, Farrah, Palsrok, Elsenheimer and Accavitti 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 2002 PA 41.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 722. (1) The maximum axle load shall not exceed the
number of pounds designated in the following provisions that
prescribe the distance between axles:
(a) If the axle spacing is 9 feet or more between axles, the
maximum axle load shall not exceed 18,000 pounds for vehicles
equipped with high pressure pneumatic or balloon tires.
(b) If the axle spacing is less than 9 feet between 2 axles
but more than 3-1/2 feet, the maximum axle load shall not exceed
13,000 pounds for high pressure pneumatic or balloon tires.
(c) If the axles are spaced less than 3-1/2 feet apart, the
maximum axle load shall not exceed 9,000 pounds per axle.
(d) Subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) shall be known as the
normal loading maximum.
(2) When normal loading is in effect, the state transportation
department, or a local authority with respect to highways under its
jurisdiction, may designate certain highways, or sections of those
highways, where bridges and road surfaces are adequate for heavier
loading, and revise a designation as needed, on which the maximum
tandem axle assembly loading shall not exceed 16,000 pounds for any
axle of the assembly, if there is no other axle within 9 feet of
any axle of the assembly.
(3) On a legal combination of vehicles, only 1 tandem axle
assembly shall be permitted on the designated highways at the gross
permissible weight of 16,000 pounds per axle, if there is no other
axle within 9 feet of any axle of the assembly, and if no other
tandem axle assembly in the combination of vehicles exceeds a gross
weight of 13,000 pounds per axle. On a combination of truck tractor
and semitrailer having not more than 5 axles, 2 consecutive tandem
axle assemblies shall be permitted on the designated highways at a
gross permissible weight of 16,000 pounds per axle, if there is no
other axle within 9 feet of any axle of the assembly.
(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), on a combination of truck
tractor and semitrailer having not more than 5 axles, 2 consecutive
sets of tandem axles may carry a gross permissible weight of not to
exceed 17,000 pounds on any axle of the tandem axles if there is no
other axle within 9 feet of any axle of the tandem axles and if the
first and last axles of the consecutive sets of tandem axles are
not less than 36 feet apart and the gross vehicle weight does not
exceed 80,000 pounds to pick up and deliver agricultural
commodities between the national truck network or special
designated highways and any other highway. This subsection is not
subject to the maximum axle loads of subsections (1), (2), and (3).
For purposes of this subsection, a "tandem axle" means 2 axles
spaced more than 40 inches but not more than 96 inches apart or 2
axles spaced more than 3-1/2 feet but less than 9 feet apart. This
subsection does not apply during that period when reduced maximum
loads
are in effect pursuant to subsection (7) (9). This
subsection does not apply after December 31, 2006.
(5) The exception to the loading maximums and gross vehicle
weight
requirements of subsection (11) (13)
under subsection (7)
(9) for a person hauling agricultural commodities or
a public
utility
vehicle applies only if the person who picks up or
delivers
the agricultural commodity either from a farm or to a farm
or
the public utility notifies the county road commission for
roads under its authority not less than 48 hours before the pickup
or delivery of the time and location of the pickup or delivery. The
county
road commission shall issue a permit to the person or
the
public
utility and charge a fee that does not exceed the
administrative costs incurred. The permit shall contain all of the
following:
(a) The designated route or routes of travel for the load.
(b) The date and time period requested by the person who picks
up
or delivers the agricultural commodities or the public utility
during which the load may be delivered or picked up.
(c) A maximum speed limit of travel, if necessary.
(d) Any other specific conditions agreed to between the
parties.
(6) The exception to the loading maximums and gross vehicle
weight requirements of subsection (13) under subsection (9) applies
to public utility vehicles only under the following circumstances:
(a) For emergency public utility work, the public utility
vehicle travels to and from the site of emergency public utility
work at a speed not greater than 35 miles per hour.
(b) For nonemergency public utility work, the public utility
notifies the county road commission for roads under its authority
not less than 48 hours before the public utility vehicle travels to
and from the site of nonemergency public utility work of the time
and location of the nonemergency public utility work. If the public
utility provides the required notice, the county road commission
shall issue a permit to the public utility for that nonemergency
public utility work. The county road commission may charge a fee
for issuing the permit that does not exceed the administrative
costs incurred. The permit shall contain all of the following:
(i) The designated route or routes of travel for the
nonemergency public utility work.
(ii) The date and time period requested by the public utility
during which the scheduled nonemergency utility work is to be
performed.
(iii) The maximum speed limit of travel, if necessary.
(iv) Any other specific conditions agreed to between the public
utility and the county road commission.
(7) A public utility may commence or complete nonemergency
utility work after the date and time specified on a permit issued
pursuant to subsection (6)(b) if, due to unforeseen circumstances,
the public utility is unable to commence or complete the work
during that specified time.
(8) (6) The normal size of tires shall be the rated size as
published by the manufacturers, and the maximum wheel load
permissible for any wheel shall not exceed 700 pounds per inch of
width of tire.
(9) (7) Except as provided in this subsection and
subsection
(8) (10), during the months of March, April, and May in each
year,
the maximum axle load allowable on concrete pavements or pavements
with
a concrete base shall be are reduced by 25% from the
maximum
axle load as specified in this chapter, and the maximum axle loads
allowable
on all other types of roads during these months shall be
are reduced by 35% from the maximum axle loads as specified. The
maximum wheel load shall not exceed 525 pounds per inch of tire
width on concrete and concrete base or 450 pounds per inch of tire
width on all other roads during the period the seasonal road
restrictions are in effect. This subsection does not apply to
vehicles transporting agricultural commodities or public utility
vehicles on a highway, road, or street under the jurisdiction of a
local road agency.
(10) (8) The state transportation department for roads under
its jurisdiction and a county road commission for roads under its
jurisdiction may grant exemptions from seasonal weight restrictions
for milk on specified routes when requested in writing. Approval or
denial of a request for an exemption shall be given by written
notice to the applicant within 30 days after the date of submission
of the application. If a request is denied, the written notice
shall state the reason for denial and alternate routes for which
the
permit may be issued. The applicant
shall have has the
right
to appeal to the state transportation commission or the county road
commission.
These exemptions shall do
not apply on county roads
in counties that have negotiated agreements with milk haulers or
haulers of other commodities during periods of seasonal load limits
before April 14, 1993. This subsection does not limit the ability
of these counties to continue to negotiate such agreements.
(11) (9) The state transportation department, or a local
authority
with respect to highways under its jurisdiction, may in
its
discretion suspend the restrictions imposed by this section
when and where conditions of the highways or the public health,
safety, and welfare warrant suspension, and impose the restricted
loading requirements of this section on designated highways at any
other time that the conditions of the highway require.
(12) (10) For the purpose of enforcement of enforcing this
act, the gross vehicle weight of a single vehicle and load or a
combination of vehicles and loads, shall be determined by weighing
individual axles or groups of axles, and the total weight on all
the axles shall be the gross vehicle weight. In addition, the gross
axle weight shall be determined by weighing individual axles or by
weighing a group of axles and dividing the gross weight of the
group
of axles by the number of axles in the group. Pursuant to
For
purposes of subsection (11) (13), the overall gross weight on
a group of 2 or more axles shall be determined by weighing
individual axles or several axles, and the total weight of all the
axles in the group shall be the overall gross weight of the group.
(13) (11) The loading maximum in this subsection applies to
interstate highways, and the state transportation department, or a
local authority with respect to highways under its jurisdiction,
may designate a highway, or a section of a highway, for the
operation of vehicles having a gross vehicle weight of not more
than 80,000 pounds that are subject to the following load maximums:
(a) Twenty thousand pounds on any 1 axle, including all
enforcement tolerances.
(b) A tandem axle weight of 34,000 pounds, including all
enforcement tolerances.
(c) An overall gross weight on a group of 2 or more
consecutive axles equaling:
W = 500 /LN + 12N + 36\
\N-1 /
where W = overall gross weight on a group of 2 or more consecutive
axles to the nearest 500 pounds, L = distance in feet between the
extreme of a group of 2 or more consecutive axles, and N = number
of axles in the group under consideration; except that 2
consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of 34,000
pounds each if the first and last axles of the consecutive sets of
tandem axles are not less than 36 feet apart. The gross vehicle
weight shall not exceed 80,000 pounds including all enforcement
tolerances. Except for 5 axle truck tractor, semitrailer
combinations having 2 consecutive sets of tandem axles, vehicles
having a gross weight in excess of 80,000 pounds or in excess of
the vehicle gross weight determined by application of the formula
in
this subsection shall be are subject to the maximum
axle loads
of subsections (1), (2), and (3). As used in this subsection,
"tandem axle weight" means the total weight transmitted to the road
by 2 or more consecutive axles, the centers of which may be
included between parallel transverse vertical planes spaced more
than 40 inches but not more than 96 inches apart, extending across
the full width of the vehicle. Except as otherwise provided in this
section,
vehicles transporting agricultural commodities shall
have
weight load maximums as defined set forth in this
subsection.
(14) (12) As used in this section: , "agricultural
commodities"
(a) "Agricultural commodities" means those plants and animals
useful to human beings produced by agriculture and includes, but is
not limited to, forages and sod crops, grains and feed crops, field
crops, dairy and dairy products, poultry and poultry products,
cervidae, livestock, including breeding and grazing, equine, fish,
and other aquacultural products, bees and bee products, berries,
herbs, fruits, vegetables, flowers, seeds, grasses, nursery stock,
mushrooms, fertilizer, livestock bedding, farming equipment, and
fuel
for agricultural use. The term "agricultural commodities"
shall
does not include trees and or lumber.
(b) "Emergency public utility work" means work performed to
restore public utility service or to eliminate a danger to the
public due to an unforeseen circumstance, a natural disaster, or an
act of God, whether or not a public official has declared an
emergency.