2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 90 - Motor Vehicles and Aircraft › Section 19f - Vehicles Authorized to Operate on National Network

Section 19F. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the following vehicles may operate on the National Network, as hereinafter defined, and for the purpose of travel to a terminal or services for food, fuel, repair or rest, on any public way for a distance of one road-mile from the National Network, except on individual ways declared unavailable by the department for specific safety reasons, and on routes of reasonable access authorized under the provisions of section nineteen G: motor buses not exceeding forty-five feet in length; articulated buses not exceeding sixty feet in length; semi-trailers not exceeding 53 feet in length when operating in semi-trailer units; semi-trailers and trailers not exceeding twenty-eight feet in length when operating in tandem units; and semi-trailers and trailers not exceeding twenty-eight and one-half feet in length in tandem units; provided however, that such semi-trailer or trailer was in actual and lawful operation on December first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two. No overall length limitations shall apply to motor vehicles comprised of semi-trailers or trailer of lengths operating as specified above.
The National Network shall consist of the Interstate System of Massachusetts and of the following portions of the Federal–Aid Primary System: Route 2 from I–190 in Leominster to I–495 in Littleton; U.S. Route 3 from I–95 in Burlington to the New Hampshire State Line; Route 24 from I–I95 in Fall River to I–93 in Randolph; Route 140 from I–I95 in New Bedford to Route 24 in Taunton. Temporary restrictions may be applied to portions of the National Network during actual construction in accordance with the provisions of 23 Code of Federal Regulations 658.11(d)(4).
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the following specialized vehicles may operate on the National Network, as herein defined, and for the purpose of travel to a terminal or services for food, fuel repair or rest, on any public way for a distance of one road-mile from the National Network, except on individual ways declared unavailable by the department for specific safety reasons, and on routes of reasonable access authorized under the provisions of section nineteen G: automobile transporters, boat transporters, driveway saddlemount vehicle transporter combinations, including both double and triple saddlemount combinations, and driveway saddlemount with fullmount vehicle transporter combinations, and B–train assembly units; provided, however, that traditional automobile and boat transporters such as those with the fifth wheel located on a tractor frame over the rear axle, including low-boy automobile and boat transporters and truck-trailer boat transporters, shall not exceed sixty-five feet in overall length, and stinger-steered automobile and boat transporters, shall not exceed seventy-five feet in length, such lengths being exclusive of front and rear overhang, not to exceed three feet in front or four feet in the rear; provided, further, that driveway saddlemount vehicle transporter combinations and fullmount vehicle transporter combinations conforming to safety regulations at 49 CFR 393.71 shall not exceed seventy-five feet in overall length; provided, further, that in B–train assembly units the semi-trailer length shall not exceed twenty-eight feet, or twenty-eight and one-half feet, if the semi-trailer was in legal operation on December first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two, in a B–train assembly unit, both lengths being exclusive of the B–train assembly when being used between the first and second semi-trailer in the B-train assembly unit, but the B–train assembly is to be included in the length measurement of the semi-trailer when no second semi-trailer is mounted on the B–train assembly, the length limitation of the trailer to be forty-eight feet in that instance.
The length limitations described in this section shall be inclusive of loads and load-holding devices, but shall be exclusive of safety and energy conservation devices, such as refrigeration and air compressors, heating units, wind deflectors, flexible fender extensions, mudflaps and splash and spray suppressant devices, and other devices which the department may determine are necessary for safe and efficient operation of commercial motor vehicles; provided, however, that no device excluded under this section shall have by its design or use the capability to carry cargo. Any other safety or conservation devices shall be allowed only in such manner and to such extent as may be determined by the department.
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, household goods carriers may operate on public ways between the National Network and points of loading or unloading without the need of any permit to so operate.
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, vehicles with dimensions which were legal in the commonwealth on December first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two, may, with such dimension, and tractors containing a dromedary box, deck or plate in legal operation on December first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two, may, during their useful existence, operate on the National Network, and, for the purpose of travel to a terminal or services for food, fuel, repair or rest, on any public way for a distance of one road-mile from the National Network, except on individual ways declared unavailable by the department for specific safety reasons, and on routes of reasonable access as designated by the department under the provisions of section nineteen G.