189.222 Increased height, length, and weight limits on designated highways --
Exceptions -- Cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations to <br>implement 23 C.F.R. Part 658 -- Restriction of cabinet's enforcement powers <br>on locally maintained roads.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the secretary of the
Transportation Cabinet in respect to highways which are a part of the state-<br>maintained system, by official order, may increase on designated highways or <br>portions thereof, the maximum height, length, and gross weight prescribed in KRS <br>189.221, if in the opinion of the secretary, the increased height, length, and weight <br>designated by him are justified by the strength, safety, and durability of the <br>designated highways, and the highways do not appear susceptible to unreasonable <br>and unusual damage by reason of the increases and the secretary may establish <br>reasonable classification of state maintained roads and fix a different maximum for <br>each classification. Any increase in the height, length, or width of any motor truck <br>or tractor semitrailer combinations or any other vehicle combinations including any <br>part of the body or load or designation of highways to be used by the vehicles, shall <br>not, in any way, exceed the federal law or regulations thereunder or jeopardize the <br>allotment or qualification for federal aid funds of the Commonwealth of Kentucky <br>or exceed the following dimensions and weights: <br>(a) Height, thirteen and one-half (13-1/2) feet; <br>(b) Length, semitrailers, fifty-three (53) feet; trailers, twenty-eight (28) feet;
motor trucks, forty-five (45) feet, not to exceed two (2) trailers per truck <br>tractor;
(c) Weight, twenty thousand (20,000) pounds per single axle, with axles less than
forty-two (42) inches apart to be considered as a single axle; thirty-four <br>thousand (34,000) pounds on two (2) axles in tandem arrangement which are <br>spaced forty-two (42) inches or more apart and less than ninety-six (96) inches <br>apart; forty-eight thousand (48,000) pounds on three (3) axles which are <br>spaced forty-two (42) inches or more apart and less than one hundred twenty <br>(120) inches apart. No single axle in any arrangement shall exceed twenty <br>thousand (20,000) pounds or seven hundred (700) pounds per inch of the <br>aggregate width of all the tires on a single axle, whichever is less. The total <br>gross weight of the vehicle and load shall not exceed eighty thousand (80,000) <br>pounds;
(d) Except on the interstate highway system, a tolerance of not more than five
percent (5%) per axle load shall be permitted before a carrier is deemed to <br>have violated paragraph (c) of this subsection. The gross weight shall not <br>exceed eighty thousand (80,000) pounds;
(e) Except as provided for in paragraph (f) of this subsection, truck tractor,
semitrailer and trailer combinations, and other vehicle combinations may be <br>operated only on the interstate system and on those parts of the federal aid <br>highway system and the state-maintained system which have been designated <br>by the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet by official order as safely <br>allowing same;
(f) A vehicle or combination of vehicles that is one hundred two (102) inches
wide or less and has a gross weight of not more than eighty thousand (80,000) <br>pounds may be driven on any state highway, for a distance of up to fifteen <br>(15) miles from an interstate or parkway exit.
(2) In addition to the provisions of KRS 189.2226, vehicles with a gross weight of up to
eighty thousand (80,000) pounds may travel on any state highway in the <br>Commonwealth without obtaining a special permit, if the weight does not exceed <br>any limits mandated by federal law or regulation, any posted bridge weight limit, or <br>the weight limits for the size and type of vehicle established under paragraph (c) of <br>subsection (1) of this section, and if the vehicle is transporting any of the following: <br>(a) Meats or agricultural crop products originating from a farm to first market; <br>(b) Livestock or poultry from their point of origin to first market; <br>(c) Primary forest products, including, but not limited to, sawdust, wood chips,
bark, slabs, or logs originating from their points of origin to first market; or
(d) Supplies, materials, or equipment necessary to carry out a farming operation
engaged in the production of agricultural crop products, meats, livestock, or <br>poultry.
(3) Vehicles registered under KRS 186.050(4)(b) that are engaged exclusively in the
transportation of items listed in subsection (2)(a), (b), and (c) of this section may <br>exceed the gross weight provisions set forth in subsection (1)(c) of this section by a <br>weight tolerance of ten percent (10%), except on the interstate highway system.
(4) Vehicles exclusively engaged in the transportation of motor vehicles,
unmanufactured tobacco, or unmanufactured tobacco products may, on those <br>highways which are a part of the state-maintained system and which have been <br>designated by the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet by official order as safely <br>allowing same, attain the maximum lengths as provided by subsection (1)(b) of this <br>section, excluding the usual and ordinary bumper overhang of the transported <br>vehicles.
(5) Vehicles engaged exclusively in the transportation of farm or primary forestry
products and registered under KRS 186.050(4) or 186.050(9) and vehicles engaged <br>exclusively in the transportation of ready-mixed concrete shall be excluded from the <br>axle weight provisions, except on interstate highways, and subject only to total <br>gross weight provisions.
(6) Vehicles registered pursuant to KRS 186.050(3)(b) and engaged in the
transportation of primary forest products, including, but not limited to, vehicles <br>transporting sawdust, wood chips, bark, slabs, or logs, may exceed the axle, or gross <br>weight provisions as set forth in accordance with subsection (1)(c) of this section by <br>a weight tolerance of ten percent (10%), except on the interstate highway system.
(7) Vehicles designed for and engaged exclusively in the collection and hauling of
refuse and registered under KRS 186.050(3)(b) shall be excluded from the axle <br>weight provisions, except when in operation on the federal interstate system, and <br>subject only to total gross weight provisions.
(8) The secretary of the Transportation Cabinet may by order increase the weight and
height limits prescribed by this chapter for motor vehicles while being operated <br>exclusively on roads or highways being constructed, reconstructed, or repaired <br>under contract with the Transportation Cabinet by the contractor or subcontractor, <br>agent, or employee thereof.
(9) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the secretary of the Transportation
Cabinet shall not authorize the operation of any vehicle or combination of vehicles, <br>upon any part of the federal aid highway system or state parkway system, which <br>exceeds the following dimensions and weights: <br>(a) Width, one hundred two (102) inches, including any part of the body or load; <br>(b) Weight, twenty thousand (20,000) pounds per single axle, with axles less than
forty-two (42) inches apart to be considered as a single axle; thirty-four <br>thousand (34,000) pounds on two (2) axles in tandem arrangement which are <br>spaced forty-two (42) inches or more apart and less than ninety-six (96) inches <br>apart; forty-eight thousand (48,000) pounds on three (3) axles which are <br>spaced forty-two (42) inches or more apart and less than one hundred twenty <br>(120) inches apart. The total gross weight of the vehicle and load shall not <br>exceed eighty thousand (80,000) pounds. If any federal law or laws or <br>regulations thereunder are hereafter enacted authorizing weights and <br>dimensions in excess of those set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this <br>subsection, the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet may by official order <br>increase the maximum weights and dimensions but the increased weights and <br>dimensions shall not exceed those set out in this section.
(10) Except on the interstate highway system, vehicles engaged exclusively in the
transportation of crushed stone, fill dirt and rock, soil, bulk sand, coal, phosphate <br>muck, asphalt, concrete, solid waste, tankage or animal residues, livestock, and <br>agricultural products shall be permitted a tolerance of ten percent (10%) of the axle <br>weight provisions before a carrier is deemed to have violated paragraph (1)(c) of <br>this section.
(11) The Transportation Cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations pursuant to
KRS Chapter 13A, relating to the implementation of 23 C.F.R. Part 658 as it relates <br>to state-maintained or locally maintained roads. The enforcement of the provisions <br>of KRS 189.221 and this section on locally maintained roads shall not be the <br>responsibility of the law enforcement officers of the Transportation Cabinet, unless <br>the head of the corresponding local government unit has requested, in writing, <br>enforcement assistance from the Transportation Cabinet.
Effective: June 25, 2009 <br>History: Amended 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 34, sec. 1, effective June 25, 2009. -- Amended
2003 Ky. Acts ch. 30, sec. 1, effective June 24, 2003; and ch. 124, sec. 36, effective <br>June 24, 2003. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 111, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1994. <br>Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 132, sec. 2, effective July 14, 1992. -- Amended 1990 <br>Ky. Acts ch. 71, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1990; and ch. 179, sec. 1, effective July 13, <br>1990. -- Amended 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 393, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1984. -- Amended <br>1982 Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1982. -- Amended 1980 Ky. Acts <br>ch. 39, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1980. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 368, sec. 1. --
Amended 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 150, sec. 1. -- Amended 1966 Ky. Acts ch. 261, sec. 1. -<br>- Amended 1964 Ky. Acts ch. 95, sec. 3. -- Amended 1962 Ky. Acts ch. 108, sec. 1. -<br>- Amended 1960 Ky. Acts ch. 254, sec. 2. -- Amended 1958 Ky. Acts ch. 70, sec. 29. <br>-- Amended 1956 (2nd Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 1, sec. 2. -- Created 1950 Ky. Acts <br>ch. 115, sec. 3.
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