HOUSE BILL NO. 1948
90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
4132L.06T 2000
To repeal section 304.180, RSMo 1994, and sections 301.010, 303.025, 303.409, 304.170 and 304.200, RSMo Supp. 1999, relating to the regulation of the operation of motor vehicles, and to enact in lieu thereof six new sections relating to the same subject.
Section A. Section 304.180, RSMo 1994, and sections 301.010, 303.025, 303.409, 304.170 and 304.200, RSMo Supp. 1999, are repealed and six new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 301.010, 303.025, 303.409, 304.170, 304.180 and 304.200, to read as follows:
301.010. As used in this chapter and sections 304.010 to 304.040, 304.120 to 304.260, RSMo, and sections 307.010 to 307.175, RSMo, the following terms mean:
(1) "All-terrain vehicle", any motorized vehicle manufactured and used exclusively for off-highway use which is fifty inches or less in width, with an unladen dry weight of six hundred pounds or less, traveling on three, four or more low pressure tires, with a seat designed to be straddled by the operator, and handlebars for steering control;
(2) "Automobile transporter", any vehicle combination designed and used specifically for the transport of assembled motor vehicles;
(3) "Axle load", the total load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers are included between two parallel transverse vertical planes forty inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle;
(4) "Boat transporter", any vehicle combination designed and used specifically to transport assembled boats and boat hulls;
(5) "Body shop", a business that repairs physical damage on motor vehicles that are not owned by the shop or its officers or employees by mending, straightening, replacing body parts, or painting;
(6) "Bus", a motor vehicle primarily for the transportation of a driver and eight or more passengers but not including shuttle buses;
(7) "Commercial motor vehicle", a motor vehicle designed or regularly used for carrying freight and merchandise, or more than eight passengers but not including vanpools or shuttle buses;
(8) "Cotton trailer", a trailer designed and used exclusively for transporting cotton at speeds less than forty miles per hour from field to field or from field to market and return;
(9) "Dealer", any person, firm, corporation, association, agent or subagent engaged in the sale or exchange of new, used or reconstructed motor vehicles or trailers;
(10) "Director" or "director of revenue", the director of the department of revenue;
(11) "Driveaway operation", the movement of a motor vehicle or trailer by any person or motor carrier other than a dealer over any public highway, under its own power singly, or in a fixed combination of two or more vehicles, for the purpose of delivery for sale or for delivery either before or after sale;
(12) "Dromedary", a box, deck, or plate mounted behind the cab and forward of the fifth wheel on the frame of the power unit of a truck tractor-semitrailer combination. A truck tractor equipped with a dromedary may carry part of a load when operating independently or in a combination with a semitrailer;
(13) "Farm tractor", a tractor used exclusively for agricultural purposes;
[(13)] (14) "Fleet", any group of ten or more motor vehicles owned by the same owner;
[(14)] (15) "Fleet vehicle", a motor vehicle which is included as part of a fleet;
[(15)] (16) "Fullmount", a vehicle mounted completely on the frame of either the first or last vehicle in a saddlemount combination;
[(16)] (17) "Gross weight", the weight of vehicle and/or vehicle combination without load, plus the weight of any load thereon;
[(17)] (18) "Hail-damaged vehicle", any vehicle, the body of which has become dented as the result of the impact of hail;
[(18)] (19) "Highway", any public thoroughfare for vehicles, including state roads, county roads and public streets, avenues, boulevards, parkways or alleys in any municipality;
[(19)] (20) "Improved highway", a highway which has been paved with gravel, macadam, concrete, brick or asphalt, or surfaced in such a manner that it shall have a hard, smooth surface;
[(20)] (21) "Intersecting highway", any highway which joins another, whether or not it crosses the same;
[(21)] (22) "Junk vehicle", a vehicle which is incapable of operation or use upon the highways and has no resale value except as a source of parts or scrap, and shall not be titled or registered;
[(22)] (23) "Kit vehicle", a motor vehicle assembled by a person other than a generally recognized manufacturer of motor vehicles by the use of a glider kit or replica purchased from an authorized manufacturer and accompanied by a manufacturer's statement of origin;
[(23)] (24) "Land improvement contractors' commercial motor vehicle", any not-for-hire commercial motor vehicle the operation of which is confined to:
(a) An area that extends not more than a radius of one hundred miles from its home base of operations when transporting its owner's machinery, equipment, or auxiliary supplies to or from projects involving soil and water conservation, or to and from equipment dealers' maintenance facilities for maintenance purposes; or
(b) An area that extends not more than a radius of twenty-five miles from its home base of operations when transporting its owner's machinery, equipment, or auxiliary supplies to or from projects not involving soil and water conservation. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent any motor vehicle from being registered as a commercial motor vehicle or local commercial motor vehicle;
[(24)] (25) "Local commercial motor vehicle", a commercial motor vehicle whose operations are confined solely to a municipality and that area extending not more than fifty miles therefrom, or a commercial motor vehicle whose property-carrying operations are confined solely to the transportation of property owned by any person who is the owner or operator of such vehicle to or from a farm owned by such person or under the person's control by virtue of a landlord and tenant lease; provided that any such property transported to any such farm is for use in the operation of such farm;
[(25)] (26) "Local log truck", a commercial motor vehicle which is registered pursuant to this chapter to operate as a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state, used exclusively in this state, used to transport harvested forest products, operated solely at a forested site and in an area extending not more than a fifty-mile radius from such site, carries a load with dimensions not in excess of twenty-five cubic yards per two axles with dual wheels, and is not operated on the national system of interstate and defense highways described in Title 23, Section 103(e) of the United States Code, does not have more than four axles and does not pull a trailer which has more than two axles. A local log truck may not exceed the limits required by law, however, if the truck does exceed such limits as determined by the inspecting officer, then notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, such truck shall be subject to the weight limits required by such sections as licensed for eighty thousand pounds;
[(26)] (27) "Local transit bus", a bus whose operations are confined wholly within a municipal corporation, or wholly within a municipal corporation and a commercial zone, as defined in section 390.020, RSMo, adjacent thereto, forming a part of a public transportation system within such municipal corporation and such municipal corporation and adjacent commercial zone;
[(27)] (28) "Log truck", a vehicle which is not a local log truck and is used exclusively to transport harvested forest products to and from forested sites which is registered pursuant to this chapter to operate as a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state for the transportation of harvested forest products;
[(28)] (29) "Major component parts", the rear clip, cowl, frame, body, cab, front-end assembly, and front clip, as those terms are defined by the director of revenue pursuant to rules and regulations or by illustrations;
[(29)] (30) "Manufacturer", any person, firm, corporation or association engaged in the business of manufacturing or assembling motor vehicles, trailers or vessels for sale;
[(30)] (31) "Mobile scrap processor", a business located in Missouri or any other state that comes onto a salvage site and crushes motor vehicles and parts for transportation to a shredder or scrap metal operator for recycling;
[(31)] (32) "Motor change vehicle", a vehicle manufactured prior to August, 1957, which receives a new, rebuilt or used engine, and which used the number stamped on the original engine as the vehicle identification number;
[(32)] (33) "Motor vehicle", any self-propelled vehicle not operated exclusively upon tracks, except farm tractors;
[(33)] (34) "Motor vehicle primarily for business use", any vehicle other than a recreational motor vehicle, motorcycle, motortricycle, or any commercial motor vehicle licensed for over twelve thousand pounds:
(a) Offered for hire or lease; or
(b) The owner of which also owns ten or more such motor vehicles;
[(34)] (35) "Motorcycle", a motor vehicle operated on two wheels;
[(35)] (36) "Motorized bicycle", any two-wheeled or three-wheeled device having an automatic transmission and a motor with a cylinder capacity of not more than fifty cubic centimeters, which produces less than three gross brake horsepower, and is capable of propelling the device at a maximum speed of not more than thirty miles per hour on level ground;
[(36)] (37) "Motortricycle", a motor vehicle operated on three wheels, including a motorcycle while operated with any conveyance, temporary or otherwise, requiring the use of a third wheel. A motortricycle shall not be included in the definition of all-terrain vehicle;
[(37)] (38) "Municipality", any city, town or village, whether incorporated or not;
[(38)] (39) "Nonresident", a resident of a state or country other than the state of Missouri;
[(39)] (40) "Non-USA-std motor vehicle", a motor vehicle not originally manufactured in compliance with United States emissions or safety standards;
[(40)] (41) "Operator", any person who operates or drives a motor vehicle;
[(41)] (42) "Owner", any person, firm, corporation or association, who holds the legal title to a vehicle or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this law;
[(42)] (43) "Public garage", a place of business where motor vehicles are housed, stored, repaired, reconstructed or repainted for persons other than the owners or operators of such place of business;
[(43)] (44) "Rebuilder", a business that repairs or rebuilds motor vehicles owned by the rebuilder, but does not include certificated common or contract carriers of persons or property;
[(44)] (45) "Reconstructed motor vehicle", a vehicle that is altered from its original construction by the addition or substitution of two or more new or used major component parts, excluding motor vehicles made from all new parts, and new multistage manufactured vehicles;
[(45)] (46) "Recreational motor vehicle", any motor vehicle designed, constructed or substantially modified so that it may be used and is used for the purposes of temporary housing quarters, including therein sleeping and eating facilities which are either permanently attached to the motor vehicle or attached to a unit which is securely attached to the motor vehicle. Nothing herein shall prevent any motor vehicle from being registered as a commercial motor vehicle if the motor vehicle could otherwise be so registered;
[(46)] (47) "Rollback or car carrier", any vehicle specifically designed to transport wrecked, disabled or otherwise inoperable vehicles, when the transportation is directly connected to a wrecker or towing service;
[(47)] (48) "Saddlemount combination", a combination of vehicles in which a truck or truck tractor tows one or more trucks or truck tractors, each connected by a saddle to the frame or fifth wheel of the vehicle in front of it. The saddle is a mechanism that connects the front axle of the towed vehicle to the frame or fifth wheel of the vehicle in front and functions like a fifth wheel kingpin connection. When two vehicles are towed in this manner the combination is called a double saddlemount combination. When three vehicles are towed in this manner, the combination is called a triple saddlemount combination;
[(48)] (49) "Salvage dealer and dismantler", a business that dismantles used motor vehicles for the sale of the parts thereof, and buys and sells used motor vehicle parts and accessories;
[(49)] (50) "Salvage vehicle", a motor vehicle, semitrailer or house trailer which, by reason of condition or circumstance, has been declared salvage, either by its owner, or by a person, firm, corporation, or other legal entity exercising the right of security interest in it, or by an insurance company as a result of settlement of a claim for loss due to damage or theft; or a vehicle, ownership of which is evidenced by a salvage title; or abandoned property which is titled pursuant to section 304.155, RSMo, or section 304.157, RSMo, and designated with the words "salvage/abandoned property";
[(50)] (51) "School bus", any motor vehicle used solely to transport students to or from school or to transport students to or from any place for educational purposes;
[(51)] (52) "Shuttle bus", a motor vehicle used or maintained by any person, firm, or corporation as an incidental service to transport patrons or customers of the regular business of such person, firm, or corporation to and from the place of business of the person, firm, or corporation providing the service at no fee or charge. Shuttle buses shall not be registered as buses or as commercial motor vehicles;
[(52)] (53) "Special mobile equipment", every self-propelled vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including farm equipment, implements of husbandry, road construction or maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, stone crushers, air compressors, power shovels, cranes, graders, rollers, well-drillers and wood-sawing equipment used for hire, asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, ditchers, leveling graders, finished machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth-moving carryalls, scrapers, drag lines, concrete pump trucks, rock-drilling and earth-moving equipment. This enumeration shall be deemed partial and shall not operate to exclude other such vehicles which are within the general terms of this section;
[(53)] (54) "Specially constructed motor vehicle", a motor vehicle which shall not have been originally constructed under a distinctive name, make, model or type by a manufacturer of motor vehicles. The term "specially constructed motor vehicle" includes kit vehicles;
[(54)] (55) "Stinger-steered combination", a truck tractor-semitrailer wherein the fifth wheel is located on a drop frame located behind and below the rearmost axle of the power unit;
[(55)] (56) "Tandem axle", a group of two or more axles, arranged one behind another, the distance between the extremes of which is more than forty inches and not more than ninety-six inches apart;
[(56)] (57) "Tractor", "truck tractor" or "truck-tractor", a self-propelled motor vehicle designed for drawing other vehicles, but not for the carriage of any load when operating independently. When attached to a semitrailer, it supports a part of the weight thereof;
[(57)] (58) "Trailer", any vehicle without motive power designed for carrying property or passengers on its own structure and for being drawn by a self-propelled vehicle, except those running exclusively on tracks, including a semitrailer or vehicle of the trailer type so designed and used in conjunction with a self-propelled vehicle that a considerable part of its own weight rests upon and is carried by the towing vehicle. The term "trailer" shall not include cotton trailers as defined in subdivision (8) of this section and shall not include manufactured homes as defined in section 700.010, RSMo;
[(58)] (59) "Truck", a motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained for the transportation of property;
[(59)] (60) "Truck-tractor semitrailer-semitrailer", a combination vehicle in which the two trailing units are connected with a B-train assembly which is a rigid frame extension attached to the rear frame of a first semitrailer which allows for a fifth-wheel connection point for the second semitrailer and has one less articulation point than the conventional "A dolly" connected truck-tractor semitrailer-trailer combination;
[(60)] (61) "Truck-trailer boat transporter combination", a boat transporter combination consisting of a straight truck towing a trailer using typically a ball and socket connection with the trailer axle located substantially at the trailer center of gravity rather than the rear of the trailer but so as to maintain a downward force on the trailer tongue;
[(61)] (62) "Used parts dealer", a business that buys and sells used motor vehicle parts or accessories, but not including a business that sells only new, remanufactured or rebuilt parts. "Business" does not include isolated sales at a swap meet of less than three days;
[(62)] (63) "Vanpool", any van or other motor vehicle used or maintained by any person, group, firm, corporation, association, city, county or state agency, or any member thereof, for the transportation of not less than eight nor more than forty-eight employees, per motor vehicle, to and from their place of employment; however, a vanpool shall not be included in the definition of the term "bus" or "commercial motor vehicle" as defined by subdivisions (6) and (7) of this section, nor shall a vanpool driver be deemed a "chauffeur" as that term is defined by section 302.010, RSMo; nor shall use of a vanpool vehicle for ride-sharing arrangements, recreational, personal, or maintenance uses constitute an unlicensed use of the motor vehicle, unless used for monetary profit other than for use in a ride-sharing arrangement;
[(63)] (64) "Vehicle", any mechanical device on wheels, designed primarily for use, or used, on highways, except motorized bicycles, vehicles propelled or drawn by horses or human power, or vehicles used exclusively on fixed rails or tracks, or cotton trailers or motorized wheelchairs operated by handicapped persons;
[(64)] (65) "Wrecker" or "tow truck", any emergency commercial vehicle equipped, designed and used to assist or render aid and transport or tow disabled or wrecked vehicles from a highway, road, street or highway rights-of-way to a point of storage or repair, including towing a replacement vehicle to replace a disabled or wrecked vehicle;
[(65)] (66) "Wrecker or towing service", the act of transporting, towing or recovering with a wrecker, tow truck, rollback or car carrier any vehicle not owned by the operator of the wrecker, tow truck, rollback or car carrier for which the operator directly or indirectly receives compensation or other personal gain.
303.025. 1. No owner of a motor vehicle registered in this state, or required to be registered in this state, shall operate, register or maintain registration of a motor vehicle, or permit another person to operate such vehicle, unless the owner maintains the financial responsibility which conforms to the requirements of the laws of this state. Furthermore, no person shall operate a motor vehicle owned by another with the knowledge that the owner has not maintained financial responsibility unless such person has financial responsibility which covers the person's operation of the other's vehicle; however, no owner shall be in violation of this subsection if he or she fails to maintain financial responsibility on a motor vehicle which is inoperable or being stored and not in operation. The director may prescribe rules and regulations for the implementation of this section.
2. A motor vehicle owner shall maintain the owner's financial responsibility in a manner provided for in section 303.160, or with a motor vehicle liability policy which conforms to the requirements of the laws of this state.
3. Any person who violates this section is guilty of a class C misdemeanor. However, no person shall be found guilty of violating this section if the operator demonstrates to the court that he or she met the financial responsibility requirements of this section at the time the peace officer, commercial vehicle enforcement officer or commercial vehicle inspector wrote the citation. In addition to any other authorized punishment, the court shall notify the director of revenue of any person convicted pursuant to this section and shall do one of the following:
(1) Enter an order suspending the driving privilege as of the date of the court order. If the court orders the suspension of the driving privilege, the court shall require the defendant to surrender to it any driver's license then held by such person. The length of the suspension shall be as prescribed in subsection 2 of section 303.042. The court shall forward to the director of revenue the order of suspension of driving privilege and any license surrendered within ten days;
(2) Forward the record of the conviction for an assessment of four points; or
(3) In lieu of an assessment of points, render an order of supervision as provided in section 302.303, RSMo. An order of supervision shall not be used in lieu of points more than one time in any thirty-six-month period. Every court having jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of this section shall forward a record of conviction or the order of supervision to the department of revenue within ten days. The director shall establish procedures for the record keeping and administration of this section.
4. Nothing in sections 303.010 to 303.050, 303.060, 303.140, 303.220, 303.290, 303.330 and 303.370 shall be construed as prohibiting the department of insurance from approving or authorizing those exclusions and limitations which are contained in automobile liability insurance policies and the uninsured motorist provisions of automobile liability insurance policies.
5. If a court enters an order of suspension, the offender may appeal such order directly pursuant to chapter 512, RSMo, and the provisions of section 302.311, RSMo, shall not apply.
303.409. 1. If the motorist insurance identification database indicates the owner of a registered motor vehicle has, regardless of the owner's operation of such motor vehicle, failed to maintain the financial responsibility required in section 303.025 for two consecutive months, the designated agent shall on behalf of the director inform the owner that the director will suspend the owner's vehicle registration if the owner does not present proof of insurance as prescribed by the director within thirty days from the date of mailing. The notice issued to the vehicle owner by the designated agent shall be sent to the last known address shown on the department's records. The notice is deemed received three days after mailing. The notice of suspension shall clearly specify the reason and statutory grounds for the suspension and the effective date of the suspension, the right of the person to request a hearing, the procedure for requesting a hearing and the date by which that request for a hearing must be made. The suspension shall become effective thirty days after the subject person is deemed to have received the notice of suspension by certified mail as provided in section 303.041. If the request for a hearing is received prior to the effective date of the suspension, the effective date of the suspension will be stayed until a final order is issued following the hearing; however, any delay in the hearing which is caused or requested by the subject person or counsel representing that person without good cause shown shall not result in a stay of the suspension during the period of delay.
2. Neither the fact that, subsequent to the date of verification, the owner acquired the required liability insurance policy nor the fact that the owner terminated ownership of the motor vehicle shall have any bearing upon the director's decision to suspend. The suspension shall remain in force until termination despite the renewal of registration or acquisition of a new registration for the motor vehicle. The suspension shall also apply to any motor vehicle to which the owner transfers the registration.
3. Upon receipt of notification from the designated agent, the director shall suspend the owner's vehicle registration effective immediately. The suspension period shall be as follows:
(1) If the person's record shows no prior violation, the director shall terminate the suspension upon payment of a reinstatement fee of twenty dollars and submission of proof of insurance, as prescribed by the director;
(2) If the person's record shows one prior violation for failure to maintain financial responsibility within the immediately preceding two years, the director shall terminate the suspension ninety days after its effective date upon payment of a reinstatement fee of two hundred dollars and submission of proof of insurance, as prescribed by the director;
(3) If the person's record shows two or more prior violations for failure to maintain financial responsibility, the period of suspension shall terminate one year after its effective date upon payment of a reinstatement fee of four hundred dollars and submission of proof of insurance, as prescribed by the director.
4. In the event that proof of insurance as prescribed by the director has not been filed with the department of revenue in accordance with this chapter prior to the end of the period of suspension provided in this section, such period of suspension shall be extended until such proof of insurance has been filed. In no event shall filing proof of insurance reduce any period of suspension. If proof of insurance is not maintained during the three-year period following the reinstatement or termination of the suspension, the director shall again suspend the license and motor vehicle registration until proof of insurance is filed or the three-year period has elapsed. In no event shall filing proof of insurance reduce any period of suspension.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of this section, the director shall not suspend the registration or registrations of any owner who establishes to the satisfaction of the director that the owner's motor vehicle was inoperable or being stored and not operated on the date proof of financial responsibility is required by the director.
304.170. 1. No vehicle operated upon the highways of this state shall have a width, including load, in excess of ninety-six inches, except clearance lights, rearview mirrors or other accessories required by federal, state or city law or regulation; except that, vehicles having a width, including load, not in excess of one hundred two inches, exclusive of clearance lights, rearview mirrors or other accessories required by law or regulations, may be operated on the interstate highways and such other highways as may be designated by the highways and transportation commission for the operation of such vehicles plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such interstate or designated highway. Provided however, a recreational vehicle as defined in section 700.010, RSMo, may exceed the foregoing width limits if the appurtenances on such recreational vehicle extend no further than the rearview mirrors. Such mirrors may only extend the distance necessary to provide the required field of view before the appurtenances were attached.
2. No vehicle operated upon the interstate highway system or upon any route designated by the chief engineer of the state transportation department shall have a height, including load, in excess of fourteen feet. On all other highways, no vehicle shall have a height, including load, in excess of thirteen and one-half feet, except that any vehicle or combination of vehicles transporting automobiles or other motor vehicles may have a height, including load, of not more than fourteen feet.
3. No single motor vehicle operated upon the highways of this state shall have a length, including load, in excess of forty-five feet, except as otherwise provided in this section.
4. No bus, recreational motor vehicle or trackless trolley coach operated upon the highways of this state shall have a length in excess of forty-five feet, except that such vehicles may exceed the forty-five feet length when such excess length is caused by the projection of a front safety bumper or a rear safety bumper or both. Such safety bumper shall not cause the length of the bus or recreational motor vehicle to exceed the forty-five feet length limit by more than one foot in the front and one foot in the rear. The term "safety bumper" means any device which may be fitted on an existing bumper or which replaces the bumper and is so constructed, treated, or manufactured that it absorbs energy upon impact.
5. No combination of truck-tractor and semitrailer or truck-tractor equipped with dromedary and semitrailer operated upon the highways of this state shall have a length, including load, in excess of sixty feet; except that in order to comply with the provisions of Title 23 of the United States Code (Public Law 97-424), no combination of truck-tractor and semitrailer or truck-tractor equipped with dromedary and semitrailer operated upon the interstate highway system of this state shall have an overall length, including load, in excess of the length of the truck-tractor plus the semitrailer or truck-tractor equipped with dromedary and semitrailer, the length of [which] such semitrailer shall not exceed fifty-three feet.
6. In order to comply with the provisions of Title 23 of the United States Code (Public Law 97-424), no combination of truck-tractor, semitrailer and trailer operated upon the interstate highway system of this state shall have an overall length, including load, in excess of the length of the truck-tractor plus the semitrailer and trailer, neither of which semitrailer or trailer shall exceed twenty-eight feet in length, except that any existing semitrailer or trailer up to twenty-eight and one-half feet in length actually and lawfully operated on December 1, 1982, within a sixty-five foot overall length limit in any state, may continue to be operated upon the interstate highways of this state. On those primary highways not designated by the state highways and transportation commission as provided in subsection 10 of this section, no combination of truck-tractor, semitrailer and trailer shall have an overall length, including load, in excess of sixty-five feet; provided, however, the state highways and transportation commission may designate additional routes for such sixty-five foot combinations.
7. Automobile transporters, boat transporters [and], truck-trailer boat transporter combinations [having a length not in excess of sixty-five feet] and stinger-steered combination automobile transporters and stinger-steered combination boat transporters having a length not in excess of seventy-five feet may be operated on the interstate highways of this state and such other highways as may be designated by the highways and transportation commission for the operation of such vehicles plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such interstate or designated highway. All length provisions regarding automobile or boat transporters, truck-trailer boat transporter combinations and stinger-steered combinations shall include a semitrailer length not to exceed fifty-three feet and are exclusive of front and rear overhang, which shall be no greater than a three-foot front overhang and no greater than a four-foot rear overhang.
8. Driveaway saddlemount combinations having a length not in excess of seventy-five feet may be operated on the interstate highways of this state and such other highways as may be designated by the highways and transportation commission for the operation of such vehicles plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such interstate or designated highway. Saddlemount combinations must comply with the safety requirements of Section 393.71 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations and may contain no more than three saddlemounted vehicles and one fullmount.
9. No truck-tractor semitrailer-semitrailer combination vehicles operated upon the interstate and designated primary highway system of this state shall have a semitrailer length in excess of twenty-eight feet or twenty-eight and one-half feet if the semitrailer was in actual and lawful operation in any state on December 1, 1982, operating in a truck-tractor semitrailer-semitrailer combination. The B-train assembly is excluded from the measurement of semitrailer length when used between the first and second semitrailer of a truck-tractor semitrailer-semitrailer combination, except that when there is no semitrailer mounted to the B-train assembly, it shall be included in the length measurement of the semitrailer.
10. The highways and transportation commission is authorized to designate routes on the state highway system other than the interstate system over which those combinations of vehicles of the lengths specified in subsections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of this section may be operated. Combinations of vehicles operated under the provisions of subsections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of this section may be operated at a distance not to exceed ten miles from the interstate system and such routes as designated under the provisions of this subsection.
11. Except as provided in subsections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of this section, no other combination of vehicles operated upon the primary or interstate highways of this state plus a distance of ten miles from a primary or interstate highway shall have an overall length, unladen or with load, in excess of sixty-five feet or in excess of fifty-five feet on any other highway, except the state highways and transportation commission may designate additional routes for use by sixty-five foot combinations, seventy-five foot stinger-steered combinations or seventy-five foot saddlemount combinations. Any vehicle or combination of vehicles transporting automobiles, boats or other motor vehicles may carry a load which extends no more than three feet beyond the front and four feet beyond the rear of the transporting vehicle or combination of vehicles.
12. (1) Except as hereinafter provided, these restrictions shall not apply to agricultural implements operating occasionally on the highways for short distances, or to self-propelled hay-hauling equipment or to implements of husbandry, or to vehicles temporarily transporting agricultural implements or implements of husbandry or roadmaking machinery, or road materials or towing for repair purposes vehicles that have become disabled upon the highways; or to implement dealers delivering or moving farm machinery for repairs on any state highway other than the interstate system.
(2) Implements of husbandry and vehicles transporting such machinery or equipment may be operated occasionally for short distances on state highways when operated between the hours of sunrise and sunset by a driver licensed as an operator or chauffeur.
13. As used in this chapter the term "implements of husbandry" means all self-propelled machinery operated at speeds of less than thirty miles per hour, specifically designed for, or especially adapted to be capable of, incidental over-the-road and primary offroad usage and used exclusively for the application of commercial plant food materials or agricultural chemicals, and not specifically designed or intended for transportation of such chemicals and materials. No implement of husbandry may exceed a width of eleven feet, six inches.
14. The purpose of this section is to permit a single trip per day by the implement of husbandry from the source of supply to a given farm.
15. Sludge disposal units may be operated on all state highways other than the interstate system. Such units shall not exceed one hundred thirty-eight inches in width and may be equipped with over-width tires. Such units shall observe all axle weight limits. The chief engineer of the state transportation department shall issue special permits for the movement of such disposal units and may by such permits restrict the movements to specified routes, days and hours.
304.180. 1. No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be moved or operated on any primary or interstate highway in this state plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such highways, having a greater weight than twenty thousand pounds on one axle, no combination of vehicles operated by transporters of general freight over regular routes as defined in section 390.020, RSMo, shall be moved or operated on any highway of this state having a greater weight than the vehicle manufacturer's rating on a steering axle with the maximum weight not to exceed twelve thousand pounds on a steering axle, and no vehicle shall be moved or operated on any primary or interstate highways of this state having a greater weight than thirty-four thousand pounds on any tandem axle; the term "tandem axle" shall mean a group of two or more axles, arranged one behind another, the distance between the extremes of which is more than forty inches and not more than ninety-six inches apart and further provided, however, that when any vehicle or combination of vehicles with six axles which includes a tandem axle group as above defined and a group of three axles which are fully equalized, automatically or mechanically, and the distance between the center of the extremes of which does not exceed one hundred ten inches, the chief engineer of the Missouri state transportation department shall issue a special permit for the movement thereof, as provided in section 304.200, for twenty thousand pounds for each axle of the tandem axle group and for sixteen thousand pounds for each axle of the group of three fully equalized axles which are equalized, automatically or mechanically, when said vehicle or combination of vehicles is used to transport excavation or construction machinery or equipment, roadbuilding machinery or farm implements over routes in the primary system and other routes that are not a part of the interstate system of highways; provided, further, that the chief engineer of the Missouri state transportation department may issue permits on the interstate system.
2. An "axle load" is defined as the total load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers are included between two parallel transverse vertical planes forty inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.
3. Subject to the limit upon the weight imposed upon a primary or interstate highway through any one axle or on any tandem axle, the total gross weight with load imposed upon a primary or interstate highway, plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such highways, by any group of two or more consecutive axles of any vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed the maximum load in pounds as set forth in the following table:
Distance in feet
between the extremes
of any group of two or more
consecutive axles, measured
to the nearest foot,
except where indicated
otherwise
Maximum load in pounds
feet 2 axles 3 axles 4 axles 5 axles 6 axles
4 34,000
5 34,000
6 34,000
7 34,000
8 34,000 34,000
More than 8 38,000 42,000
9 39,000 42,500
10 40,000 43,500
11 40,000 44,000
12 40,000 45,000 50,000
13 40,000 45,500 50,500
14 40,000 46,500 51,500
15 40,000 47,000 52,000
16 40,000 48,000 52,500 58,000
17 40,000 48,500 53,500 58,500
18 40,000 49,500 54,000 59,000
19 40,000 50,000 54,500 60,000
20 40,000 51,000 55,500 60,500 66,000
21 40,000 51,500 56,000 61,000 66,500
22 40,000 52,500 56,500 61,500 67,000
23 40,000 53,000 57,500 62,500 68,000
24 40,000 54,000 58,000 63,000 68,500
25 40,000 54,500 58,500 63,500 69,000
26 40,000 55,500 59,500 64,000 69,500
27 40,000 56,000 60,000 65,000 70,000
28 40,000 57,000 60,500 65,500 71,000
29 40,000 57,500 61,500 66,000 71,500
30 40,000 58,500 62,000 66,500 72,000
31 40,000 59,000 62,500 67,500 72,500
32 40,000 60,000 63,500 68,000 73,000
33 40,000 60,000 64,000 68,500 74,000
34 40,000 60,000 64,500 69,000 74,500
35 40,000 60,000 65,500 70,000 75,000
36 60,000 66,000 70,500 75,500
37 60,000 66,500 71,000 76,000
38 60,000 67,500 72,000 77,000
39 60,000 68,000 72,500 77,500
40 60,000 68,500 73,000 78,000
41 60,000 69,500 73,500 78,500
42 60,000 70,000 74,000 79,000
43 60,000 70,500 75,000 80,000
44 66,000 71,500 75,500 80,000
45 60,000 72,000 76,000 80,000
46 60,000 72,500 76,500 80,000
47 60,000 73,500 77,500 80,000
48 60,000 74,000 78,000 80,000
49 60,000 74,500 78,500 80,000
50 60,000 75,500 79,000 80,000
51 60,000 76,000 80,000 80,000
52 60,000 76,500 80,000 80,000
53 60,000 77,500 80,000 80,000
54 60,000 78,000 80,000 80,000
55 60,000 78,500 80,000 80,000
56 60,000 79,500 80,000 80,000
57 60,000 80,000 80,000 80,000
Notwithstanding the above table, two consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of thirty-four thousand pounds each if the overall distance between the first and last axles of such consecutive sets of tandem axles is thirty-six feet or more.
4. Subject to the limit upon the weight imposed upon a supplementary highway through any one axle which shall not have a weight greater than eighteen thousand pounds or on any tandem axle which shall not have a weight greater than thirty-two thousand pounds, the total gross weight with load imposed upon the supplementary highway by any vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed the gross weight given for the respective distance between the first and last axle of a single motor vehicle or by the first axle of a motor vehicle and the last axle of the last vehicle in any combination of vehicles measured longitudinally to the nearest foot as set forth in the following table:
Distance in feet
between the Maximum load in
extreme axles pounds
4 32,000
5 32,000
6 32,000
7 32,000
8 33,200
9 34,400
10 35,600
11 36,800
12 38,000
13 39,200
14 40,400
15 41,600 16 42,800
17 44,000
18 45,200
19 46,400
20 47,600
21 48,800
22 50,000
23 51,000
24 52,000
25 53,000
26 54,000
27 55,000
28 56,000
29 57,000
30 58,000
31 59,000
32 60,000
33 61,100
34 62,200
35 63,500
36 64,600
37 65,900
38 67,100
39 68,300
40 69,700
41 70,800
42 72,000
43 or over 73,280
5. Provided, however, subject to the limit upon the weight imposed through any one axle, through any tandem axle, as provided in subsection 4 of this section, the total gross weight with load imposed upon any bridges generally considered by the state highways and transportation commission to be on the supplementary system or upon any bridges which are under the jurisdiction of and maintained by counties, townships or cities shall not exceed the gross weight given for the respective distance between the first and last axle of the total group of axles measured longitudinally to the nearest foot as set forth in the following table:
Distance in feet
between the Maximum load in
extreme axles pounds
4 32,000
5 32,000
6 32,000
7 32,000
8 32,610
9 33,580
10 34,550
11 35,510
12 36,470
13 37,420
14 38,360
15 39,300
16 40,230
17 41,160
18 42,080
19 42,990
20 43,900
21 44,800
22 45,700
23 46,590
24 47,470
25 48,350
26 49,220
27 50,090
28 50,950
29 51,800
30 52,650
31 53,490
32 54,330
33 55,160
34 55,980
35 56,800
36 57,610
37 58,420
38 59,220
39 60,010
40 60,800
41 61,580
42 62,360
43 63,130
44 63,890
45 or over 64,650
The state highways and transportation commission, with respect to bridges on the supplementary system, or the person in charge of supervision or maintenance of the bridges on the county, township or city roads and streets may determine and by official order declare that certain designated bridges do not appear susceptible to unreasonable and unusual damage by reason of such higher weight limits and may legally be subjected to the higher limits in this section.
6. Nothing in this section shall be construed as permitting lawful axle loads, tandem axle loads or gross loads in excess of those permitted under the provisions of Section 127 of Title 23 of the United States Code.
7. Additional routes may be designated by the state highways and transportation commission for movement or operation by vehicles or combinations of vehicles having the weights described in subsections 1 and 3 of this section.
8. Notwithstanding the weight limitations contained in this section, any vehicle or combination of vehicles operating on highways other than the interstate highway system may exceed single axle, tandem axle and gross weight limitations in an amount not to exceed two thousand pounds. However, total gross weight shall not exceed eighty thousand pounds.
9. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the department of transportation shall issue a single-use special permit, or upon request of the owner of the truck or equipment, shall issue an annual permit, for the transporting of any concrete pump truck or well-drillers equipment. The department of transportation shall set fees for the issuance of permits pursuant to this subsection. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 301.133, RSMo, concrete pump trucks or well-drillers equipment may be operated on state maintained roads and highways at any time on any day.
304.200. 1. The chief engineer of the state department of transportation, for good cause shown and when the public safety or public interest so justifies, shall issue special permits for vehicles or equipment exceeding the limitations on width, length, height and weight herein specified, or which are unable to maintain minimum speed limits. Such permits shall be issued only for a single trip or for a definite period, not beyond the date of expiration of the vehicle registration, and shall designate the highways and bridges which may be used [under] pursuant to the authority of such permit.
2. The chief engineer of the state department of transportation shall upon proper application issue a special permit to any person allowing the movement on state and federal highways of farm products not in excess of fourteen feet in width. Special permits allowing movement of oversize loads of farm products shall allow for movement between sunset and sunrise, subject to appropriate requirements for safety lighting on the load, appropriate limits on load dimensions and appropriate consideration of high traffic density between sunset and sunrise on the route to be traveled. The chief engineer may also issue upon proper application a special permit to any person allowing the movement on the state and federal highways of vehicles hauling lumber products and earth moving equipment not in excess of fourteen feet in width. The chief engineer may also issue upon proper application a special permit to any person allowing the movement on the state and federal highways of concrete pump trucks or well-drillers equipment.
3. Rules and regulations for the issuance of special permits shall be prescribed by the state highways and transportation commission and filed with the secretary of state. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated [under] pursuant to the authority of section 304.010 and this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of [section 536.024] chapter 536, RSMo.
4. The officer in charge of the maintenance of the streets of any municipality may issue such permits for the use of the streets by such vehicles within the limits of such municipalities.
5. In order to transport manufactured homes, as defined in section 700.010, RSMo, on the roads, highways, bridges and
other thoroughfares within this state, only the applicable permits required by this section shall be obtained.
Missouri House of Representatives