KRS § 189.222 — KY Code / Title XVI / Chapter 189 / Section 189.222
189.222 Increased height, length, and weight limits on designated highways -- Exceptions -- Cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations to implement federal regulations -- Restriction of cabinet's enforcement powers on locally maintained roads
Status: in_force

189.222 Increased height, length, and weight limits on designated highways --

Exceptions -- Cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations to

implement federal regulations -- Restriction of cabinet's enforcement powers

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-

maintained system, by official order, may increase on designated highways or

portions thereof, the maximum height, length, and gross weight prescribed in KRS

189.221, if in the opinion of the secretary, the increased height, length, and weight

designated by him or her are justified by the strength, safety, and durability of the

designated highways, and the highways do not appear susceptible to unreasonable

and unusual damage by reason of the increases and the secretary may establish

reasonable classification of state maintained roads and fix a different maximum for

each classification. Any increase in the height, length, or width of any motor truck

or tractor semitrailer combinations or any other vehicle combinations including any

part of the body or load or designation of highways to be used by the vehicles, shall

not, in any way, exceed the federal law or regulations thereunder or jeopardize the

allotment or qualification for federal aid funds of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

or exceed the following dimensions and weights:

(a) 1. Height, for vehicles transporting motor vehicles, fourteen (14) feet; and

2. Height, for all other vehicles, thirteen and one-half (13-1/2) feet;

(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

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

thousand (34,000) pounds on two (2) axles in tandem arrangement which are

spaced forty-two (42) inches or more apart and less than ninety-six (96)

inches apart; forty-eight thousand (48,000) pounds on three (3) axles which

are spaced forty-two (42) inches or more apart and less than one hundred

twenty (120) inches apart. No single axle in any arrangement shall exceed

twenty thousand (20,000) pounds or seven hundred (700) pounds per inch of

the aggregate width of all the tires on a single axle, whichever is less. The

total gross weight of the vehicle and load shall not exceed eighty thousand

(80,000) 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

have violated paragraph (c) of this subsection. The gross weight shall not

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

operated only on the interstate system and on those parts of the federal aid

highway system and the state-maintained system which have been designated

by the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet by official order as safely

allowing same; and

(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)

pounds may be driven on any state highway, for a distance of up to fifteen

(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

Commonwealth without obtaining a special permit, if the weight does not exceed

any limits mandated by federal law or regulation, any posted bridge weight limit, or

the weight limits for the size and type of vehicle established under subsection (1)(c)

of this section, and if the vehicle is transporting any of the following:

(a) Meats or agricultural crop products originating from a farm to first market;

(b) Livestock or poultry from their point of origin to first market. As used in this

paragraph and in paragraph (d) of this subsection, "livestock" means cattle,

sheep, swine, goats, horses, alpacas, llamas, buffaloes, or any other animals of

the bovine, ovine, porcine, caprine, equine, or camelid species;

(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

poultry.

(3) The following vehicles registered under KRS 186.050 may exceed the gross weight

provisions set forth in subsection (1)(c) of this section by a weight tolerance of ten

percent (10%), except on the interstate highway system:

(a) Vehicles that are engaged exclusively in the transportation of items listed in

subsection (2)(a), (b), and (c) of this section; and

(b) Vehicles that are engaged exclusively in the transportation of feed for

livestock or poultry.

(4) Vehicles exclusively engaged in the transportation of motor vehicles,

unmanufactured tobacco, or unmanufactured tobacco products may, on those

highways which are a part of the state-maintained system and which have been

designated by the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet by official order as safely

allowing same, attain the maximum lengths as provided by subsection (1)(b) of this

section, excluding the usual and ordinary bumper overhang of the transported

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

exclusively in the transportation of ready-mixed concrete shall be excluded from

the axle weight provisions, except on interstate highways, and subject only to total

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

transporting sawdust, wood chips, bark, slabs, or logs, may exceed the axle, or

gross weight provisions as set forth in accordance with subsection (1)(c) of this

section by 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

weight provisions, except when in operation on the federal interstate system, and

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

exclusively on roads or highways being constructed, reconstructed, or repaired

under contract with the Transportation Cabinet by the contractor or subcontractor,

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,

upon any part of the federal aid highway system or state parkway system, which

exceeds the following dimensions and weights:

(a) Width, one hundred two (102) inches, including any part of the body or load;

or

(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

thousand (34,000) pounds on two (2) axles in tandem arrangement which are

spaced forty-two (42) inches or more apart and less than ninety-six (96)

inches apart; forty-eight thousand (48,000) pounds on three (3) axles which

are spaced forty-two (42) inches or more apart and less than one hundred

twenty (120) inches apart. The total gross weight of the vehicle and load shall

not exceed eighty thousand (80,000) pounds. If any federal law or laws or

regulations thereunder are hereafter enacted authorizing weights and

dimensions in excess of those set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this

subsection, the secretary of the Transportation Cabinet may by official order

increase the maximum weights and dimensions but the increased weights and

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

muck, asphalt, concrete, solid waste, tankage or animal residues, livestock, feed for

livestock or poultry, and agricultural products shall be permitted a tolerance of ten

percent (10%) of the axle weight provisions before a carrier is deemed to have

violated subsection (1)(c) of this section.

(11) For any vehicle which is equipped with an auxiliary power unit, the weight limits

set forth in this section shall be increased by four hundred (400) pounds.

(12) The Transportation Cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations pursuant to

KRS Chapter 13A, relating to the implementation of 23 C.F.R. pt. 658 as it relates

to state-maintained or locally maintained roads. The enforcement of the provisions

of KRS 189.221 and this section on locally maintained roads shall not be the

responsibility of the law enforcement officers of the Transportation Cabinet, unless

the head of the corresponding local government unit has requested, in writing,

enforcement assistance from the Transportation Cabinet.