2023 Tennessee Code › Title 55 - MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES (§§ 55-1-101 — 55-53-105) › Chapter 4 - REGISTRATION AND LICENSING OF MOTOR VEHICLES (§§ 55-4-NEW — 55-4-702) › Part 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§§ 55-4-NEW — 55-4-142) › Section 55-4-115 - "Temporary operation permits," "trip permit" and "temporary trailer permit" defined - Issuance - Fees

(a)
(1)
As used in this section, "temporary operation permit" means a permit which the commissioner or the commissioner's designee is authorized to issue to an applicant desiring to operate a motor vehicle, otherwise subject to registration in Tennessee, over the streets and highways of this state for a temporary period of thirty (30) days, where it appears that the proposed operation is actually temporary in character. The fee for this issuance shall be ten dollars ($10.00). The commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall also have the authority to issue one (1) additional temporary operation permit for a period of thirty (30) days upon payment of an additional fee of ten dollars ($10.00). The commissioner or the commissioner's designee is authorized to prescribe by regulation the method by which temporary operation permits shall be issued. In the event the permits are issued through the offices of the county clerks of the state, out of the ten-dollar issuance fee the clerks shall retain as compensation for services a fee of four dollars and fifty cents ($4.50) and shall remit the remaining five dollars and fifty cents ($5.50) to the commissioner or the commissioner's designee.
(2)
A temporary operation permit shall not be renewed or another permit issued to cover the operation of the same motor vehicle except upon the written authorization of the commissioner or the commissioner's designee. The commissioner or the commissioner's designee is authorized to refuse the issuance of a temporary operation permit when it appears that any owner of a motor vehicle is using the permit as a subterfuge to avoid registering the motor vehicle.
(3)
Any person operating a motor vehicle on a temporary operation permit which has expired or in violation of the terms thereof commits a Class C misdemeanor and, in addition, shall be required to register the vehicle concerned with the department, and the arresting officer shall not permit the vehicle to leave the officer's charge or custody until the proper registration thereof has been effected.
(4)
Any person who has properly registered a vehicle under §
55-4-113(a)(3)
, who shall desire to operate the vehicle within an increased gross weight class for the bona fide and actual seasonal or temporary transportation of horticultural, agricultural, dairy products or livestock, but not including manufactured products thereof, from the farm or point of production to the first market or for bringing seed, feed and fertilizer to the owner's farm may do so by obtaining a temporary operation permit for these operations.
(5)
The permit fees for the several gross weight classes shall be as follows:
16,000 lbs. ....................$2.75
20,000 lbs. ....................8.25
26,000 lbs. ....................11.00
32,000 lbs. ....................14.30
38,000 lbs. ....................16.50
44,000 lbs. ....................55.00
56,000 lbs. ....................71.50
66,000 lbs. ....................82.50
74,000 lbs. ....................99.00
80,000 lbs. ....................115.50
(6)
Each temporary operation permit shall be issued for a period of thirty (30) consecutive calendar days and shall be renewable to the permittee for the vehicle for which it was issued upon proper application with remittance for the permit. No permit shall be issued for any vehicle with three (3) or more axles, except that such vehicle shall be properly licensed for the maximum weight class in the special licensing classification described in §
55-4-113(a)(3)
. No permit shall be issued for a vehicle that would allow a gross weight exceeding the axle configuration allowance established by §
55-4-113(a)(7)(A)
.
(7)
Seasonal or temporary permits shall be issued by the commissioner or the commissioner's agents. The permit shall be issued on forms to be prescribed by the commissioner, and the permit shall authorize the owner to operate the motor vehicle in the weight class identified for the period of time therein prescribed; provided, that the person, owner or operator complies with all other requirements of law respecting the operation.
(8)
Five (5) permits may be issued for a vehicle during a twelve-month period.
(9)
If more than five (5) permits have been issued during a twelve-month period, as shown by the department's records, the commissioner shall immediately cause the vehicle for which the permits were issued to be reregistered in the highest weight class for which any permit was issued during the twelve-month period.
(10)
Any person operating under this section and §
55-4-113(a)(3)
, who is found to be in violation of load limits, may not purchase a permit, but shall reregister the vehicle in violation for the weight class, as established in §
55-4-113(a)(1)
, in which that person is operating at the time of the violation.
(11)
(A)
In lieu of or in addition to any other permit authorized by this section, to expedite and facilitate, during the harvesting season, the harvesting and marketing of farm products produced in this state, the department is authorized to issue to a nonresident owner a thirty-day temporary registration permit for any truck, truck tractor, trailer or semitrailer to be used in the movement of the farm commodities from the place of production to market, storage or railhead, not more than seventy-five (75) miles distant from the place of production, or to be used in the movement of machinery used to harvest any of the commodities named in this section.
(B)
To expedite and facilitate, during the harvesting season, the harvesting and movement of farm products produced outside of Tennessee but marketed or processed in Tennessee or moved to points in Tennessee for shipment, the department is authorized to issue to a nonresident owner a thirty-day temporary registration permit for any truck, truck tractor, trailer or semitrailer to be used in the movement of the farm commodities from the point of entry into Tennessee to market, storage, processing plant or railhead not more than eighty (80) miles distant from the point of entry into Tennessee. All mileages and distances referred to in this subdivision (a)(11) are state highway mileages.
(C)
The department is authorized to prescribe the form of the application and the information to be furnished in the application for the temporary registration permits. If the application is granted, the department shall issue a special distinguishing insignia which must be attached to the vehicle in lieu of the regular registration plates. The special insignia shall show its expiration date. The temporary registration permit fee shall be one-twelfth (
1
/
12
) of the annual registration fee for the vehicle for which the special permit is secured.
(D)
The temporary permits authorized in this section shall be issued only when the vehicle for which the permit is issued is legally registered in the nonresident owner's home state or county for the current registration year; and the temporary registration permit will remain valid only so long as the home state or county registration is valid; but in any event the temporary registration permit will expire thirty (30) days from the date of issuance. No more than three (3) temporary registration permits may be issued to a nonresident owner during any one (1) vehicle registration year. A vehicle registered under the terms of this subsection (a) may not be operated after the expiration of the temporary permit, unless the nonresident owner secures a second temporary permit as provided above, or unless the nonresident owner registers the vehicle under the appropriate vehicular registration statutes, applicable to residents, for the remainder of the registration year.
(E)
Any person who transports any of the commodities described in this subsection (a), under a temporary permit provided for in this section, to a market, place of storage, processing plant or railhead that is a greater distance from the place of production of the commodity in this state, or the point of entry into the state than is provided for the temporary permit, or follows a route other than that prescribed by the commissioner, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than two hundred dollars ($200).
(b)
(1)
As used in this section, "trip permit" means a permit that the commissioner or the commissioner's designee is authorized to issue to a person desiring to operate a freight motor vehicle over the streets and highways of this state, registered in a state, province or foreign country that imposes upon freight motor vehicles registered in this state, a tax, fee or toll for the privilege of operating the vehicles upon the highways of that state, province or foreign country, in addition to a registration fee and any tax, fee or toll imposed upon gasoline or other motor fuel purchased within that state, province or foreign country. A trip permit shall authorize one (1) trip into this state and shall become invalid either upon exiting this state or upon the expiration of seventy-two (72) hours after entry into this state, whichever occurs first. The fee for the issuance of trip permits shall be either fifteen dollars ($15.00) or a fee equivalent to and computed and applied in the same manner as the tax, fee or toll of the other state, province or foreign country so long as the tax, fee or toll imposed by the other state, province or foreign country shall remain in force. This requirement for a trip permit shall not be construed to be in lieu of the temporary operation permit provided in subsection (a). The trip permit may be issued in addition to the temporary operation permit when the latter is necessary for licensing the movement of an otherwise unlicensed vehicle. This requirement for a trip permit shall apply only with respect to freight motor vehicles having a gross weight of twenty-six thousand pounds (26,000 lbs.) or more.
(2)
The commissioner is authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements with appropriate officials of any other state, province or foreign country wherein such commissioner may agree to and waive all or any part of the tax, fee or toll herein imposed for the issuance of a trip permit in consideration of a similar waiver by such state, province or foreign country.
(c)
Any revenue generated from the increase in fees pursuant to chapter 418 of the of the Public Acts of 1985 shall be deposited in the state general fund.
(d)
"Temporary trailer permit" means a permit that the commissioner is authorized to issue to an applicant desiring to operate a motor vehicle using a trailer that is not subject to registration in this state, over the streets and highways of this state for a temporary period of no more than five (5) days, where it appears that the proposed operation is actually temporary in character. The fee for this issuance shall be nine dollars ($9.00).
Acts 1939, ch. 105, § 8; 1941, ch. 66, § 3; mod. C. Supp. 1950, § 2680.77 (Williams, § 1166.35); Acts 1957, ch. 408, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1959, ch. 9, § 14; Acts 1969, ch. 105, §§ 1, 2; 1970, ch. 478, § 1; 1972, ch. 822, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 134, §§ 22, 36; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 59-425; Acts 1983, ch. 206, § 2; 1985, ch. 418, §§ 1, 2, 4; 1988, ch. 815, § 1; 1994, ch. 879, § 20; 2001, ch. 233, §§ 5, 6; 2002, ch. 856, §§ 8j, 8k; 2007 , ch. 484, § 37; 2008 , ch. 924, § 6; 2008 , ch. 1007, § 2; 2008 , ch. 1144, § 1.