SF 470

1st Unofficial Engrossment - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

1.1A bill for an act

1.2relating to motor vehicles; extending permissible route for three-unit paper
1.3products vehicles; allowing certain trucks to qualify for special paper products
1.4vehicle permit; changing effective date authorizing permit for special paper
1.5products vehicle; changing gross weight requirements for vehicles hauling
1.6certain forest products; authorizing extended weight limit permits and providing
1.7for deposit of permit fee revenues; extending a weight restriction exemption for
1.8certain vehicles transporting milk; appropriating money;amending Minnesota
1.9Statutes 2006, sections 169.8261; 169.864, subdivisions 1, 2; 169.87, subdivision
1.104; Laws 2005, First Special Session chapter 1, article 4, section 39; proposing
1.11coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 169.
1.12BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.13    Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 169.8261, is amended to read:
1.14169.8261 GROSS WEIGHT LIMITATIONS; FOREST PRODUCTS.
1.15    (a) A vehicle or combination of vehicles hauling raw or unfinished forest products,
1.16including wood chips, paper, pulp, oriented strand board, laminated strand lumber,
1.17hardboard, treated lumber, untreated lumber, or barrel staves, by the most direct route to the
1.18nearest highway that has been designated under section 169.832, subdivision 11, may be
1.19operated on any highway with gross weights permitted under sections 169.822 to 169.829
1.20without regard to load restrictions imposed on that highway, except that the vehicles must:
1.21    (1) comply with seasonal load restrictions in effect between the dates set by the
1.22commissioner under section 169.87, subdivision 2;
1.23    (2) comply with bridge load limits posted under section 169.84;
1.24    (3) be equipped and operated with six axles and brakes on all wheels;
1.25    (4) not exceed 90,000 pounds gross weight, or 98,000 99,000 pounds gross weight
1.26during the time when seasonal increases are authorized under section 169.826;
1.27    (5) not be operated on interstate and defense highways;
2.1    (6) obtain an annual permit from the commissioner of transportation;
2.2    (7) obey all road postings; and
2.3    (8) not exceed 20,000 pounds gross weight on any single axle.
2.4    (b) A vehicle operated under this section may exceed the legal axle weight limits
2.5listed in section 169.824 by not more than 12.5 percent; except that, the weight limits may
2.6be exceeded by not more than 22.5 percent during the time when seasonal increases are
2.7authorized under section 169.826, subdivision 1.

2.8    Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 169.864, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
2.9    Subdivision 1. Special three-unit vehicle permit. The commissioner may issue a
2.10permit for a vehicle that meets the following requirements:
2.11    (1) is a combination of vehicles, including a truck-tractor and a semitrailer drawing
2.12one additional semitrailer, which may be equipped with an auxiliary dolly, and no
2.13semitrailer used in the three-vehicle combination has an overall length in excess of 28-1/2
2.14feet;
2.15    (2) has a maximum gross vehicle weight of 108,000 pounds;
2.16    (3) complies with the axle weight limits in section 169.824 or with the federal bridge
2.17formula for axle groups not described in that section;
2.18    (4) complies with the tire weight limits in section 169.823 or the tire manufacturers'
2.19recommended load, whichever is less;
2.20    (5) is operated only in this state on Trunk Highway marked 2 between Grand Rapids
2.21and the port of Duluth; on Trunk Highway marked 169 between Grand Rapids and its
2.22junction with Trunk Highway marked 53; on Trunk Highway marked 194 between Trunk
2.23Highway marked 2 and Trunk Highway marked 53; and on Trunk Highway marked 53
2.24between Virginia and the port of Duluth; and
2.25    (6) the seasonal weight increases authorized under section 169.826, subdivision 1,
2.26do not apply.

2.27    Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 169.864, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.28    Subd. 2. Special two-unit vehicle permit. The commissioner may issue a permit
2.29for a vehicle that meets the following requirements:
2.30    (1) is a combination of vehicles consisting of a truck-tractor and a single semitrailer
2.31that may exceed 48 feet, but not 53 feet, if the distance from the kingpin to the centerline
2.32of the rear axle group of the semitrailer does not exceed 43 feet;
2.33    (2) has a maximum gross vehicle weight of 90,000 pounds or 97,000 pounds if
2.34the truck has seven axles;
3.1    (3) has a maximum gross vehicle weight of 98,000 pounds during the time when
3.2seasonal weight increases authorized under section 169.826, subdivision 1, are in effect;
3.3    (4) complies with the axle weight limits in section 169.824 or with the federal bridge
3.4formula for axle groups not described in that section;
3.5    (5) complies with the tire weight limits in section 169.823 or the tire manufacturers'
3.6recommended load, whichever is less; and
3.7    (6) is operated only on the highways specified in subdivision 1, clause (5).

3.8    Sec. 4. [169.865] EXTENDED WEIGHT LIMIT PERMITS.
3.9    Subdivision 1. Six-axle vehicles. (a) A road authority may issue an annual permit
3.10authorizing a vehicle or combination of vehicles with a total of six axles to haul raw or
3.11unprocessed agricultural products and be operated with a gross vehicle weight of up to:
3.12    (1) 90,000 pounds; and
3.13    (2) 99,000 pounds during the period set by the commissioner under section 169.826,
3.14subdivision 1.
3.15    (b) Notwithstanding subdivision 4, paragraph (a), clause (4), a vehicle or
3.16combination of vehicles operated under this subdivision and transporting only sealed
3.17intermodal containers may be operated on an interstate highway if allowed by the United
3.18States Department of Transportation.
3.19    (c) The fee for a permit issued under this subdivision is $300.
3.20    Subd. 2. Seven-axle vehicles. (a) A road authority may issue an annual permit
3.21authorizing a vehicle or combination of vehicles with a total of seven axles to haul raw or
3.22unprocessed agricultural products and be operated with a gross vehicle weight of up to:
3.23    (1) 97,000 pounds; and
3.24    (2) 99,000 pounds during the period set by the commissioner under section 169.826,
3.25subdivision 1.
3.26    (b) Drivers of vehicles operating under this subdivision must comply with driver
3.27qualification requirements adopted under section 221.0314, subdivisions 2 to 5, and Code
3.28of Federal Regulations, title 49, parts 40 and 382.
3.29    (c) The fee for a permit issued under this subdivision is $500.
3.30    Subd. 3. Single unit vehicles. (a) A road authority may issue an annual permit
3.31authorizing a single unit vehicle with a total of seven axles up to 45 feet in length to haul
3.32raw or unprocessed agricultural products and be operated with a gross vehicle weight
3.33of up to:
3.34    (1) 80,000 pounds; and
4.1    (2) 88,000 pounds during the period set by the commissioner under section 169.826,
4.2subdivisions 1 and 1a.
4.3    (b) The fee for a permit issued under this subdivision is $300.
4.4    Subd. 4. Requirements; restrictions. (a) A vehicle or combination of vehicles
4.5operating under this section:
4.6    (1) is subject to axle weight limitations under section 169.824, subdivision 1;
4.7    (2) is subject to seasonal load restrictions under section 169.87;
4.8    (3) is subject to bridge load limits posted under section 169.84;
4.9    (4) may only be operated on trunk highways other than interstate highways, and on
4.10local roads designated under section 169.832, subdivision 11;
4.11    (5) may not be operated with loads that exceed the manufacturer's gross vehicle
4.12weight rating as affixed to the vehicle, or other certification of gross vehicle weight rating
4.13complying with Code of Federal Regulations, title 49, parts 567.4 to 567.7;
4.14    (6) must be issued a permit from each road authority having jurisdiction over a road
4.15on which the vehicle is operated, if required;
4.16    (7) must comply with the requirements of section 169.851, subdivision 4; and
4.17    (8) must have brakes on all wheels.
4.18    (b) The percentage allowances for exceeding gross weights if transporting unfinished
4.19forest products under section 168.013, subdivision 3, paragraph (b), or for the first haul of
4.20unprocessed or raw farm products or unfinished forest products under section 168.013,
4.21subdivision 3, paragraph (d), clause (3), do not apply to a vehicle or combination of
4.22vehicles operated under this section.
4.23    Subd. 5. Deposit of revenues; appropriation. (a) Revenue from the permits issued
4.24under this section must be deposited:
4.25    (1) in fiscal years 2007 through 2010, in the bridge inspection and signing account
4.26in the special revenue fund; and
4.27    (2) in fiscal year 2011 and subsequent years, in the trunk highway fund.
4.28    (b) The revenue in the bridge inspection and signing account under this section is
4.29annually appropriated to the commissioner for:
4.30    (1) inspection of local bridges and identification of local bridges to be posted,
4.31including contracting with a consultant for some or all of these functions; and
4.32    (2) erection of weight posting signs on local bridges.

4.33    Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 169.87, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
4.34    Subd. 4. Vehicle transporting milk. Until June 1, 2007, A weight restriction
4.35imposed under subdivision 1 by the commissioner of transportation or a local road
5.1authority, or imposed by subdivision 2, does not apply to a vehicle transporting milk from
5.2the point of production to the point of first processing if, at the time the weight restriction
5.3is exceeded, the vehicle is carrying milk loaded at only one point of production. This
5.4subdivision does not authorize a vehicle described in this subdivision to exceed a weight
5.5restriction of five tons per axle by more than two tons per axle.
5.6EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

5.7    Sec. 6. Laws 2005, First Special Session chapter 1, article 4, section 39, the effective
5.8date, is amended to read:
5.9EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the latter of August 1, 2006, or the
5.10date on which the commissioner determines that building permits have been issued for the
5.11construction of a new pulp and paper manufacturing facility at Grand Rapids 2007.