Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        CHAPTER 182-S.F.No. 1148 
           An act relating to traffic regulations; increasing 
          fees for overweight trucks; authorizing permit to be 
          issued for trailer or semitrailer exceeding 28-1/2 
          feet in three-vehicle combination; amending Minnesota 
          Statutes 1992, sections 169.81, subdivision 2; and 
          169.86, subdivision 5. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 169.81, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [LENGTH OF SINGLE VEHICLE.] (a) No single unit 
motor vehicle, except mobile cranes which may not exceed 48 
feet, unladen or with load may exceed a length of 40 feet 
extreme overall dimensions inclusive of front and rear bumpers, 
except that the governing body of a city is authorized by permit 
to provide for the maximum length of a motor vehicle, or 
combination of motor vehicles, or the number of vehicles that 
may be fastened together, and which may be operated upon the 
streets or highways of a city; provided, that the permit may not 
prescribe a length less than that permitted by state law.  A 
motor vehicle operated in compliance with the permit on the 
streets or highways of the city is not in violation of this 
chapter.  
    (b) No single semitrailer may have an overall length, 
exclusive of non-cargo-carrying accessory equipment, including 
refrigeration units or air compressors, necessary for safe and 
efficient operation mounted or located on the end of the 
semitrailer adjacent to the truck or truck-tractor, in excess of 
48 feet, except that a single semitrailer may have an overall 
length in excess of 48 feet but not greater than 53 feet if the 
distance from the kingpin to the centerline of the rear axle 
group of the semitrailer does not exceed 41 feet.  No single 
trailer may have an overall length inclusive of tow bar assembly 
and exclusive of rear protective bumpers which do not increase 
the overall length by more than six inches, in excess of 45 feet.
For determining compliance with the provisions of this 
subdivision, the length of the semitrailer or trailer must be 
determined separately from the overall length of the combination 
of vehicles.  
     (c) No semitrailer or trailer used in a three-vehicle 
combination may have an overall length in excess of 28-1/2 feet, 
exclusive of: 
     (1) non-cargo-carrying accessory equipment, including 
refrigeration units or air compressors and upper coupler plates, 
necessary for safe and efficient operation, mounted or located 
on the end of the semitrailer or trailer adjacent to the truck 
or truck-tractor; 
    (2) the tow bar assembly; and 
    (3) lower coupler equipment that is a fixed part of the 
rear end of the first trailer.  
    The commissioner may not grant a permit authorizing the 
movement, in a three-vehicle combination, of a semitrailer or 
trailer that exceeds 28-1/2 feet, except that the commissioner 
may renew a permit that was granted before April 16, 1984, for 
the movement of a semitrailer or trailer that exceeds the length 
limitation in this paragraph, or may grant a permit authorizing 
the transportation of empty trailers that exceed 28-1/2 feet, 
when using a B-train hitching mechanism as defined in Code of 
Federal Regulations, title 23, section 658.5, paragraph (o), 
from a point of manufacture in the state to the state border. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 169.86, 
subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 5.  [FEES.] The commissioner, with respect to 
highways under the commissioner's jurisdiction, may charge a fee 
for each permit issued.  All such fees for permits issued by the 
commissioner of transportation shall be deposited in the state 
treasury and credited to the trunk highway fund.  Except for 
those annual permits for which the permit fees are specified 
elsewhere in this chapter, the fees shall be: 
     (a) $15 for each single trip permit. 
     (b) $36 for each job permit.  A job permit may be issued 
for like loads carried on a specific route for a period not to 
exceed two months.  "Like loads" means loads of the same 
product, weight, and dimension. 
     (c) $60 for an annual permit to be issued for a period not 
to exceed 12 consecutive months.  Annual permits may be issued 
for: 
     (1) motor vehicles used to alleviate a temporary crisis 
adversely affecting the safety or well-being of the public; 
     (2) motor vehicles which travel on interstate highways and 
carry loads authorized under subdivision 1a; 
     (3) motor vehicles operating with gross weights authorized 
under section 169.825, subdivision 11, paragraph (a), clause 
(3); and 
     (4) special pulpwood vehicles described in section 169.863. 
     (d) $120 for an oversize annual permit to be issued for a 
period not to exceed 12 consecutive months.  Annual permits may 
be issued for:  
     (1) mobile cranes; 
    (2) construction equipment, machinery, and supplies; 
    (3) manufactured homes; 
    (4) farm equipment when the movement is not made according 
to the provisions of section 169.80, subdivision 1, paragraphs 
(a) to (f); 
    (5) double-deck buses; 
    (6) commercial boat hauling.  
    (e) For vehicles which have axle weights exceeding the 
weight limitations of section 169.825, an additional cost added 
to the fees listed above.  The additional cost is equal to the 
product of the distance traveled times the sum of the overweight 
axle group cost factors shown in the following chart:  

                   Overweight Axle Group Cost Factors 
 Weight (pounds)         Cost Per Mile For Each Group Of:
 exceeding         Two consec-    Three consec-   Four consec-
 weight limi-      utive axles    utive axles     utive axles
 tations on        spaced within  spaced within   spaced with- 
 axles             8 feet or      9 feet or       in 14 feet 
                   less           less            or less
      0-2,000      .100 .12       .040 .05        .036 .04
  2,001-4,000      .124 .14       .050 .06        .044 .05
  4,001-6,000      .150 .18       .062 .07        .050 .06
  6,001-8,000      Not permitted  .078            .056    
                   .21            .09             .07
  8,001-10,000     Not permitted  .094            .070    
                   .26            .10             .08
 10,001-12,000     Not permitted  .116            .078    
                   .30            .12             .09
 12,001-14,000     Not permitted  .140            .094    
                                  .14             .11
 14,001-16,000     Not permitted  .168            .106    
                                  .17             .12
 16,001-18,000     Not permitted  .200            .128    
                                  .19             .15
 18,001-20,000     Not permitted  Not permitted   .140    
                                                  .16
 20,001-22,000     Not permitted  Not permitted   .168    
                                                  .20
    The amounts added are rounded to the nearest cent for each 
axle or axle group.  The additional cost does not apply to 
paragraph (c), clauses (1) and (3).  
    For a vehicle found to exceed the appropriate maximum 
permitted weight, a cost-per-mile fee of 22 cents per ton, or 
fraction of a ton, over the permitted maximum weight is imposed 
in addition to the normal permit fee.  Miles must be calculated 
based on the distance already traveled in the state plus the 
distance from the point of detection to a transportation loading 
site or unloading site within the state or to the point of exit 
from the state. 
    (f) As an alternative to paragraph (e), an annual permit 
may be issued for overweight, or oversize and overweight, 
construction equipment, machinery, and supplies.  The fees for 
the permit are as follows:  
Gross Weight (pounds) of vehicle          Annual Permit Fee
     90,000 or less                             $200
     90,001 - 100,000                           $300
    100,001 - 110,000                           $400
    110,001 - 120,000                           $500
    120,001 - 130,000                           $600
    130,001 - 140,000                           $700
    140,001 - 145,000                           $800
    If the gross weight of the vehicle is more than 145,000 
pounds the permit fee is determined under paragraph (e). 
    (g) For vehicles which exceed the width limitations set 
forth in section 169.80 by more than 72 inches, an additional 
cost equal to $120 added to the amount in paragraph (a) when the 
permit is issued while seasonal load restrictions pursuant to 
section 169.87 are in effect. 
    (h) $85 for an annual permit to be issued for a period not 
to exceed 12 months, for refuse compactor vehicles that carry a 
gross weight of not more than:  22,000 pounds on a single rear 
axle; 38,000 pounds on a tandem rear axle; or, subject to 
section 169.825, subdivision 14, 46,000 pounds on a tridem rear 
axle.  A permit issued for up to 46,000 pounds on a tridem rear 
axle must limit the gross vehicle weight to not more than 62,000 
pounds. 
    Presented to the governor May 12, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 14, 1993, 9:59 p.m.