HF 1207

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to traffic regulations; increasing maximum 
  1.3             length allowed for operation of certain combinations 
  1.4             of vehicles; amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 
  1.5             169.81, subdivisions 3 and 3c. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.81, 
  1.8   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 3.  [LENGTH OF VEHICLE COMBINATIONS.] (a) Statewide, 
  1.10  except as provided in paragraph (b), no combination of vehicles 
  1.11  coupled together, including truck-tractor and semitrailer, may 
  1.12  consist of more than two units and no combination of vehicles, 
  1.13  unladen or with load, may exceed a total length of 65 75 feet.  
  1.14  The length limitation does not apply to the transportation of 
  1.15  telegraph poles, telephone poles, electric light and power 
  1.16  poles, piling, or pole length pulpwood, and is subject to the 
  1.17  following further exceptions:  the length limitations do not 
  1.18  apply to vehicles transporting pipe or other objects by a public 
  1.19  utility when required for emergency or repair of public service 
  1.20  facilities or when operated under special permits as provided in 
  1.21  this subdivision, but with respect to night transportation, a 
  1.22  vehicle and the load must be equipped with a sufficient number 
  1.23  of clearance lamps and marker lamps on both sides and upon the 
  1.24  extreme ends of a projecting load to clearly mark the dimensions 
  1.25  of the load.  Mount combinations may be drawn but the 
  2.1   combinations may not exceed 65 feet in length.  The limitation 
  2.2   on the number of units does not apply to vehicles used for 
  2.3   transporting milk from point of production to point of first 
  2.4   processing, in which case no combination of vehicles coupled 
  2.5   together unladen or with load, including truck-tractor and 
  2.6   semitrailers, may consist of more than three units and no 
  2.7   combination of those vehicles may exceed a total length of 65 
  2.8   feet.  Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, and 
  2.9   except as provided in paragraph (b), no combination of vehicles 
  2.10  consisting of a truck-tractor and semitrailer designed and used 
  2.11  exclusively for the transportation of motor vehicles or boats 
  2.12  may exceed 65 feet in length.  The load may extend a total of 
  2.13  seven feet, but may not extend more than three feet beyond the 
  2.14  front or four feet beyond the rear, and in no case may the 
  2.15  overall length of the combination of vehicles, unladen or with 
  2.16  load, exceed 65 feet.  For the purpose of registration, trailers 
  2.17  coupled with a truck-tractor, semitrailer combination are 
  2.18  semitrailers.  The state as to state trunk highways, and a city 
  2.19  or town as to roads or streets located within the city or town, 
  2.20  may issue permits authorizing the transportation of combinations 
  2.21  of vehicles exceeding the limitations in this subdivision over 
  2.22  highways, roads, or streets within their boundaries.  
  2.23  Combinations of vehicles authorized by this subdivision may be 
  2.24  restricted as to the use of highways by the commissioner as to 
  2.25  state trunk highways, and a road authority as to highways or 
  2.26  streets subject to its jurisdiction.  Nothing in this 
  2.27  subdivision alters or changes the authority vested in local 
  2.28  authorities under the provisions of section 169.04.  
  2.29     (b) The following combination of vehicles regularly engaged 
  2.30  in the transportation of commodities may operate only on divided 
  2.31  highways having four or more lanes of travel, and on other 
  2.32  highways as may be designated by the commissioner of 
  2.33  transportation subject to section 169.87, subdivision 1, and 
  2.34  subject to the approval of the authority having jurisdiction 
  2.35  over the highway, for the purpose of providing reasonable access 
  2.36  between the divided highways of four or more lanes of travel and 
  3.1   terminals, facilities for food, fuel, repair, and rest, and 
  3.2   points of loading and unloading for household goods carriers, 
  3.3   livestock carriers, or for the purpose of providing continuity 
  3.4   of route:  
  3.5      (1) a truck-tractor and semitrailer exceeding 65 feet in 
  3.6   length; 
  3.7      (2) a combination of vehicles with an overall length 
  3.8   exceeding 55 feet and including a truck-tractor and semitrailer 
  3.9   drawing one additional semitrailer which may be equipped with an 
  3.10  auxiliary dolly; 
  3.11     (3) a combination of vehicles with an overall length 
  3.12  exceeding 55 feet and including a truck-tractor and semitrailer 
  3.13  drawing one full trailer; 
  3.14     (4) a truck-tractor and semitrailer designed and used 
  3.15  exclusively for the transportation of motor vehicles or boats 
  3.16  and exceeding an overall length of 65 feet including the load 
  3.17  except as restricted by applicable federal law; and 
  3.18     (5) a truck or truck-tractor transporting similar vehicles 
  3.19  by having the front axle of the transported vehicle mounted onto 
  3.20  the center or rear part of the preceding vehicle, defined in 
  3.21  Code of Federal Regulations, title 49, sections 390.5 and 393.5 
  3.22  as drive-away saddlemount combinations or drive-away saddlemount 
  3.23  vehicle transporter combinations, when the overall length 
  3.24  exceeds 65 feet.  
  3.25     Vehicles operated under the provisions of this section must 
  3.26  conform to the standards for those vehicles prescribed by the 
  3.27  United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway 
  3.28  Administration, Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety, as amended. 
  3.29     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.81, 
  3.30  subdivision 3c, is amended to read: 
  3.31     Subd. 3c.  [RECREATIONAL VEHICLE COMBINATIONS.] 
  3.32  Notwithstanding subdivision 3, a recreational vehicle 
  3.33  combination may be operated without a permit if: 
  3.34     (1) the combination does not consist of more than three 
  3.35  vehicles, and the towing rating of the pickup truck is equal to 
  3.36  or greater than the total weight of all vehicles being towed; 
  4.1      (2) the combination does not exceed 60 feet in length; 
  4.2      (3) the camper-semitrailer in the combination does not 
  4.3   exceed 26 28 feet in length until August 1, 1997, and 26 feet 
  4.4   thereafter; 
  4.5      (4) the operator of the combination is at least 18 years of 
  4.6   age; 
  4.7      (5) the trailer carrying a watercraft meets all 
  4.8   requirements of law; 
  4.9      (6) the trailers in the combination are connected to the 
  4.10  pickup truck and each other in conformity with section 169.82; 
  4.11  and 
  4.12     (7) the combination is not operated within the seven-county 
  4.13  metropolitan area, as defined in section 473.121, subdivision 2, 
  4.14  during the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 
  4.15  p.m. on Mondays through Fridays. 
  4.16     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.17     Section 2 is effective the day following final enactment.