2023 Kansas Statutes › Chapter 8 - Automobiles And Other Vehicles › Article 19 - Uniform Act Regulating Traffic; Size, Weight And Load Of Vehicles › 8-1904 Height and length of vehicles and loads; exceptions to maximums.

8-1904. Height and length of vehicles and loads; exceptions to maximums.
(a) No vehicle including any load thereon shall exceed a height of 14 feet, except that a vehicle transporting cylindrically shaped bales of hay as authorized by K.S.A. 8-1902(e), and amendments thereto, may be loaded with such bales secured to a height not exceeding 141/2 feet. Should a vehicle so loaded with bales strike any overpass or other obstacle, the operator of the vehicle shall be liable for all damages resulting therefrom. The secretary of transportation may adopt rules and regulations for the movement of such loads of cylindrically shaped bales of hay.
(b) No motor vehicle including the load thereon shall exceed a length of 45 feet extreme overall dimension, excluding the front and rear bumpers, except as provided in subsection (d).
(c) Except as otherwise provided in K.S.A. 8-1914 and 8-1915, and amendments thereto, and subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j), no combination of vehicles coupled together shall exceed a total length of 65 feet.
(d) The length limitations in subsection (b) shall not apply to a truck tractor. No semitrailer which is being operated in combination with a truck tractor shall exceed 591/2 feet in length. No semitrailer or trailer which is being operated in a combination consisting of a truck tractor, semitrailer and trailer shall exceed 281/2 feet in length.
(e) The limitations in this section governing maximum length of a semitrailer or trailer shall not apply to vehicles operating in the daytime when transporting poles, pipe, machinery or other objects of a structural nature which cannot readily be dismembered, except that it shall be unlawful to operate any such vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds a total length of 85 feet unless a special permit for such operation has been issued by the secretary of transportation or by an agent or designee of the secretary pursuant to K.S.A. 8-1911, and amendments thereto. For the purpose of authorizing the issuance of such special permits at motor carrier inspection stations, the secretary of transportation may contract with the superintendent of the Kansas highway patrol for such purpose, and in such event, the superintendent or any designee of the superintendent may issue such special permit pursuant to the terms and conditions of the contract. The limitations in this section shall not apply to vehicles transporting such objects operated at nighttime by a public utility when required for emergency repair of public service facilities or properties or when operated under special permit as provided in K.S.A. 8-1911, and amendments thereto, but in respect to such night transportation every such vehicle and the load thereon shall be equipped with a sufficient number of clearance lamps on both sides and marker lamps upon the extreme ends of any projecting load to clearly mark the dimensions of such load.
(f) The limitations of this section governing the maximum length of combinations of vehicles shall not apply to a combination of vehicles consisting of a truck tractor towing a house trailer, if such combination of vehicles does not exceed an overall length of 97 feet.
(g) The length limitations of this section shall not apply to stinger-steered automobile or boat transporters or one truck and one trailer vehicle combination, loaded or unloaded, used in transporting a combine, forage cutter or combine header to be engaged in farm custom harvesting operations, as defined in K.S.A. 8-143j(d), and amendments thereto. A stinger-steered boat transporter or one truck and one trailer vehicle combination, loaded or unloaded, used in transporting a combine, forage cutter or combine header to be engaged in farm custom harvesting operations, as defined in K.S.A. 8-143j(d), and amendments thereto, shall not exceed an overall length limit of 75 feet, exclusive of front and rear overhang. A stinger-steered automobile transporter shall not exceed an overall length limit of 80 feet, exclusive of front and rear overhang.
(h) The length limitations of this section shall not apply to drive-away saddlemount or drive-away saddlemount with fullmount vehicle transporter combination. A drive-away saddlemount or drive-away saddlemount with fullmount vehicle transporter combination shall not exceed an extreme overall dimension of 97 feet.
(i) The length limitations of this section shall not apply to a one truck-tractor two trailer combination or one truck-tractor semitrailer trailer combination used in transporting equipment utilized by custom harvesters under contract to agricultural producers to harvest wheat, soybeans or milo, during the months of April through November, but the length of the property-carrying units, excluding load, shall not exceed 811/2 feet.
(j) The length limitations of this section shall not apply to a towaway trailer transporter combination consisting of a trailer transporter towing unit and two trailers or semitrailers with a total weight not exceeding 26,000 pounds and in which the trailers or semitrailers carry no property and constitute inventory property of a manufacturer, distributor or dealer of such trailers or semitrailers. Such towaway trailer transporter combination shall not exceed a length of 82 feet. As used in this subsection, "a trailer transporting towing unit" means a power unit that is not used to carry property when operating in a towaway trailer transporter combination.
History:
L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1904; L. 1975, ch. 41, § 1; L. 1975, ch. 427, § 46; L. 1977, ch. 304, § 16; L. 1978, ch. 42, § 1; L. 1981, ch. 47, § 1; L. 1983, ch. 41, § 2; L. 1986, ch. 44, § 1; L. 1988, ch. 266, § 1; L. 1989, ch. 44, § 1; L. 1990, ch. 50, § 3; L. 1994, ch. 194, § 2; L. 2000, ch. 22, § 1; L. 2006, ch. 6, § 1; L. 2015, ch. 49, § 5; L. 2016, ch. 44, § 1; L. 2018, ch. 72, § 5; July 1.