2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 42 - Vehicles and Traffic
Regulation of Vehicles and Traffic
Article 4 - Regulation of Vehicles and Traffic
Part 5 - Size - Weight - Load
§ 42-4-507. Wheel and axle loads

(1) The gross weight upon any wheel of a vehicle shall not exceed the following:

(a) When the wheel is equipped with a solid rubber or cushion tire, eight thousand pounds;

(b) When the wheel is equipped with a pneumatic tire, nine thousand pounds.

(2) The gross weight upon any single axle or tandem axle of a vehicle shall not exceed the following:

(a) When the wheels attached to said axle are equipped with solid rubber or cushion tires, sixteen thousand pounds;

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (b.5) of this subsection (2), when the wheels attached to a single axle are equipped with pneumatic tires, twenty thousand pounds;

(b.5) When the wheels attached to a single axle are equipped with pneumatic tires and the vehicle or vehicle combination is a digger derrick or bucket boom truck operated by an electric utility on a highway that is not on the interstate system as defined in section 43-2-101 (2), C.R.S., twenty-one thousand pounds;

(c) When the wheels attached to a tandem axle are equipped with pneumatic tires, thirty-six thousand pounds for highways on the interstate system and forty thousand pounds for highways not on the interstate system.

(3) (a) Vehicles equipped with a self-compactor and used solely for the transporting of trash are exempted from the provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section.

(b) After January 1, 1987, the provisions of this subsection (3) shall be reviewed at a joint meeting of the senate transportation committee and the house transportation and energy committee in order to determine the effects of such provisions.

(c) A vehicle contracted by or owned and operated by a city, county, municipal utility, or special district is exempt from paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of this section if the vehicle:

(I) Is equipped with a vacuum or jet equipment to load or unload solid, semisolid, or liquid waste for water or wastewater treatment or transportation systems or for the removal of storm water; and

(II) Is not operated on the interstate system as defined by section 43-2-101, C.R.S.

(4) For the purposes of this section:

(a) A single axle is defined as all wheels, whose centers may be included within two parallel transverse vertical planes not more than forty inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.

(b) A tandem axle is defined as two or more consecutive axles, the centers of which may be included between parallel vertical planes spaced more than forty inches and not more than ninety-six inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.

(5) The gross weight upon any one wheel of a steel-tired vehicle shall not exceed five hundred pounds per inch of cross-sectional width of tire.

(6) Any person who drives a vehicle or owns a vehicle in violation of any provision of this section commits a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense.