HF 2793

as introduced - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 03/26/2012 04:23pm

A bill for an act
relating to transportation; traffic regulations; allowing vehicle combination to
transport property and equipment; amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, section
169.81, subdivision 3.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 169.81, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Length of vehicle combinations.

(a) Statewide, except on the highways
identified under provisions in paragraph (c), no combination of vehicles may exceed
a total length of 75 feet.

(b) However, the total length limitation does not apply to combinations of vehicles
transporting:

(1) telephone poles, electric light and power poles, piling, or pole-length pulpwood;
or

(2) pipe or other objects by a public utility when required for emergency or repair
of public service facilities or when operated under special permits as provided in section
169.86.

These combinations of vehicles must be equipped with sufficient clearance markers, or
lamps for night transportation, on both sides and upon the extreme ends of a projecting
load to clearly mark the dimensions of the load.

(c) The following combination of vehicles regularly engaged in the transportation of
commodities new text begin , property, or equipment, new text end may operate only on divided highways having four
or more lanes of travel, and on other highways as may be designated by the commissioner
of transportation subject to section 169.87, subdivision 1, and subject to the approval of
the authority having jurisdiction over the highway, for the purpose of providing reasonable
access between the divided highways of four or more lanes of travel and terminals,
facilities for food, fuel, repair, and rest, and points of loading and unloading for household
goods carriers, livestock carriers, or for the purpose of providing continuity of route:

(1) a truck-tractor and semitrailer exceeding 75 feet in length;

(2) a combination of vehicles including a truck-tractor and semitrailer drawing one
additional semitrailer which may be equipped with an auxiliary dolly;

(3) a combination of vehicles including a truck-tractor and semitrailer drawing
one full trailer;

(4) a truck-tractor and semitrailer designed and used exclusively for the
transportation of motor vehicles or boats and exceeding an overall length of 75 feet
including the load; and

(5) a truck or truck-tractor transporting similar vehicles by having the front axle of
the transported vehicle mounted onto the center or rear part of the preceding vehicle,
defined in Code of Federal Regulations, title 49, sections 390.5 and 393.5 as drive-away
saddlemount combinations or drive-away saddlemount vehicle transporter combinations,
when the overall length exceeds 75 feet but does not exceed 97 feet.

(d) Vehicles operated under the provisions of this section must conform to the
standards for those vehicles prescribed by the United States Department of Transportation,
Federal Highway Administration, Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety, as amended.

(e) For purposes of this paragraph, "total length" means the overall length of the
motor vehicle including (1) bumpers and load; and (2) the length of any semitrailer, as
defined in section 168.002, subdivision 30, and any trailer, as defined in section 168.002,
subdivision 35. The maximum allowable total length of a commercial vehicle combination
is 55 feet on that portion of marked Trunk Highway 36 from the intersection with marked
Trunk Highway 95 and Washington County State-Aid Highway 23 in Stillwater, to the
Stillwater lift bridge, located on marked Trunk Highway 36 over the St. Croix River in
Stillwater. This paragraph does not apply to emergency vehicles; motor vehicles while
engaged in work on the bridge or on the portion of highway described in this paragraph,
including snow and ice removal and flood control; a vehicle carrying an oversize permit
issued under section 169.86, subdivision 5, paragraph (d); and vehicles on the Stillwater
lift bridge.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end