§ 33-150.4. Height, length; combinations; connecting assemblies, lighting devices; weight; violations.

(a)

A vehicle either unloaded or with load, shall not exceed a height of thirteen (13) feet six (6) inches. The owner of a vehicle that collides with a lawfully established bridge or viaduct is liable for all damage and injury resulting from a collision caused by the height of the vehicle, whether the clearance of the bridge or viaduct is posted or not.

(b)

Lengths described in this section shall be known as the normal length maximum. Except as provided in subsection (c) below, the following vehicles and combinations of vehicles shall not be operated on a highway in this city in excess of these lengths:

(1)

Subject to subsection (h) below, any single vehicle—Forty (40) feet; a crib vehicle on which logs are loaded lengthwise of the vehicle—Forty-two and one-half (42.5) feet; any single bus or motor home—Forty-five (45) feet.

(2)

Articulated buses—Sixty-five (65) feet.

(3)

Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a combination of a truck and semitrailer or trailer, or a truck tractor, semitrailer, and trailer, or truck tractor and semitrailer or trailer, designated and used exclusively to transport assembled motor vehicles or bodies, recreational vehicles, or boats—Sixty-five (65) feet. Stinger-steered combinations—Seventy-five (75) feet. The load on the combinations of vehicles described in this section may extend an additional three (3) feet beyond the front and four (4) feet beyond the rear of the combinations of vehicles. Retractable extensions used to support and secure the load that do not extend beyond the allowable overhang for the front and rear shall not be included in determining length of a loaded vehicle or vehicle combination.

(4)

Truck tractor and semitrailer combinations—No overall length, but the semitrailer shall not exceed fifty (50) feet.

(5)

Truck and semitrailer or trailer—Fifty-nine (59) feet.

(6)

Except as provided in subsection (7) below, a combination of a truck tractor, semitrailer, and trailer, or truck tractor and two (2) semitrailers—Fifty-nine (59) feet.

(7)

A truck tractor, semitrailer, and trailer, or a truck tractor and two (2) semitrailers, in which no semitrailer or trailer is more than twenty-eight and one-half (28½) feet long—Sixty-five (65) feet. This section only applies while the vehicle is being used for a business purpose that is reasonably related to picking up or delivering a load and only if each semitrailer or trailer is equipped with a device or system capable of mechanically dumping construction materials or dumping construction materials by force of gravity.

(8)

More than one (1) motor vehicle, wholly or partially assembled, in combination, utilizing one (1) tow bar or three (3) saddle mounts with full mount mechanisms and utilizing the motive power of one (1) of the vehicles in combination—Fifty-five (55) feet.

(c)

The normal length maximums, as set forth in subsection (b) above, may be exceeded for the following vehicles and combinations of vehicles, but they shall comply with the following:

(1)

Truck tractor and semitrailer combinations—No overall length limit, but the semitrailer shall not exceed fifty-three (53) feet. All semitrailers longer than fifty (50) feet shall have a wheelbase of thirty-seven and one-half (37.5) to forty and one-half (40.5) feet, plus or minus one-half (0.5) foot, measured from the kingpin coupling to the center of the rear axle or the center or the rear axle assembly. A semitrailer with a length longer than fifty (50) feet shall not operate with more than three (3) axles on the semitrailer. Vehicles with a semitrailer longer than fifty (50) feet may be prohibited from stopping in the city unless the stop occurs along appropriately designated routes, or is necessary for emergency purposes or to reach shippers, receivers, warehouses, and terminals along designated routes.

(2)

Truck and semitrailer or trailer combinations—Sixty-five (65) feet, except that a person may operate a truck and semitrailer or trailer designed and used to transport saw logs, pulpwood, and tree length poles that does not exceed an overall length of seventy (70) feet or a crib vehicle and semitrailer or trailer designated and used to transport saw logs that does not exceed an overall length of seventy-five (75) feet. A crib vehicle and semitrailer or trailer designed for and used to transport saw logs shall not exceed a gross vehicle weight of one hundred sixty-four thousand (164,000) pounds. A person may operate a truck tractor and semitrailer designed for and used to transport saw logs, pulpwood, and tree length wooden poles with a load overhang to the rear of the semitrailer which does not exceed six (6) feet if the semitrailer does not exceed fifty (50) feet in length.

(3)

Notwithstanding subsection (d)(4), a truck tractor with a log slasher unit and a log saw unit—No maximum length limit if the length of each unit does not exceed twenty-eight and one-half (28½) feet, or the overall length of the log slasher unit and the log saw unit, as measured from the front of the first towed unit to the rear of the second towed unit while the units are coupled together, does not exceed fifty-eight (58) feet. The coupling devices of the truck tractor and units set forth in this section shall meet the requirements established under the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1963, 1963 PA 181, MCL 480.11 to MCL 480.25.

(4)

Truck tractor and two (2) semitrailers, or truck tractor, semitrailer, and trailer combinations—No overall length limit, as long as the length of each semitrailer or trailer does not exceed twenty-eight and one-half (28½) feet each, or the overall length of the semitrailer and trailer, or two (2) semitrailers, as measured from the front of the first towed unit to the rear of the second towed unit while the units are coupled together, does not exceed fifty-eight (58) feet.

(5)

More than one (1) motor vehicle, wholly or partially assembled, in combination, utilizing one (1) tow bar or three (3) saddle mounts with full mount mechanisms and utilizing the motive power of one (1) of the vehicles in combination—Maximum seventy-five (75) feet.

(d)

The following combinations and movements are prohibited:

(1)

A truck shall not haul more than one (1) trailer or semitrailer, and a truck tractor shall not haul more than two (2) semitrailers or one (1) semitrailer and one (1) trailer in combination at any one (1) time, except that a farm tractor may haul two (2) wagons or trailers, or garbage and refuse haulers may, during daylight hours, haul up to four (4) trailers for garbage and refuse collection purposes, as long as the total length of any combination does not exceed fifty-five (55) feet and the vehicles are operated at a speed limit of fifteen (15) miles per hour or less.

(2)

A combination of vehicles or a vehicle shall not have more than eleven (11) axles, except when operating under a valid permit issued by the Michigan Department of Transportation or the Road Commission of Shiawassee County under MCL 257.725 on highways under its jurisdiction.

(3)

Any combination of vehicles not specifically authorized under this section is prohibited.

(4)

Except as provided in subsection (c)(3) a combination of two (2) semitrailers pulled by a truck tractor, unless each semitrailer uses a fifth wheel connection assembly that conforms to the requirements of the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1963, 1963 PA 181, MCL 480.11 to MCL 480.25.

(5)

A vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not carry a load extending more than three (3) feet beyond the front of the lead vehicle.

(6)

A vehicle described in subsections (b)(5) and (c)(5) employing triple saddle mounts, unless all wheels that are in contact with the roadway have operating brakes.

(e)

All combinations of vehicles under this section shall employ connecting assemblies and lighting devices that are in compliance with the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1963, 1963 PA 181, MCL 480.11 to MCL 480.25.

(f)

The total gross weight of a truck tractor, semitrailer, and trailer combination or a truck tractor and two (2) semitrailers combination that exceeds fifty-nine (59) feet in length shall not exceed a ratio of four hundred (400) pounds per engine net horsepower delivered to clutch or its equivalent, as specified in the handbook published by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. (SAE), 1977 edition.

(g)

A person who violates this section is responsible for a civil infraction. The owner of the vehicle may be charged with a violation of this section.

(h)

The provisions in subsections (b)(1) and (c)(2) prescribing the length of a crib vehicle on which logs are loaded lengthwise do not apply unless section 127(d) of Title 23 of the United States Code, 23 USC 127, is amended to allow crib vehicles carrying logs to be loaded as described in this section.

(i)

As used in this section:

(1)

"Designated highway" means a highway under the jurisdiction of the City of Owosso and approved by the State of Michigan as a highway.

(2)

"Length" means the total length of a vehicle, or combination of vehicles, including any load the vehicle is carrying. Length does not include devices described in 23 CFR 658.16 and 23 CFR part 658, appendix D, 23 CFR 658.16 and 23 CFR part 658, appendix D, as on file with the Michigan Secretary of State and as adopted by reference. A safety or energy conservation device shall be excluded from a determination of length only if it is not designed or used for the carrying of cargo, freight, or equipment. Semitrailers and trailers shall be measured from the front vertical plane of the foremost transverse load supporting the structure to the rear-most transverse load supporting the structure. Vehicle components not excluded by law shall be included in the measurement of the length, height, and width of the vehicle.

(3)

"Stinger-steered combinations" means a truck tractor and semitrailer combination in which the fifth wheel is located on a drop frame located behind and below the rear-most axle of the power unit.

(Ord. No. 746, § 2, 9-3-13)