Pennsylvania Code › Title 67 - TRANSPORTATION › Part I - Department of Transportation › Subpart A - Vehicle Code Provisions › Article VII - Vehicle Characteristics › Chapter 179 - OVERSIZE AND OVERWEIGHT LOADS AND VEHICLES › Section 179.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
						have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
						otherwise:
AASHTO
-The American Association of State
						Highway and Transportation Officials, located at 444 North Capitol Street, N.
						W., Washington, D. C. 20001.
Across
-From one side to the opposite
						side of a vehicle or highway.
Act
-75 Pa.C.S. §§ 101-9910
						(relating to the Vehicle Code).
Along
-In a line parallel with the length
						or direction of a vehicle or highway.
Axle
-Load-bearing wheels in a transverse
						line across the full width of a vehicle.
Axle group
-A group of axles in which
						every axle is located within 8 feet of another axle.
Base of operations
-A temporary location
						at or near the job site used for the storage of equipment and materials for the
						job.
Brake retarder
-A mechanical device which
						is designed to supplement a vehicle's service brakes by producing a retarding
						torque about one of the rotating components in a vehicle, converting kinetic
						energy to heat and thereby retarding the forward motion of a vehicle.
(i) An engine-brake retarder converts a
					 diesel engine from a power-producing motor to a power-expending air compressor
					 by changing the timing of the opening of the engine exhaust valves.
(ii) An exhaust-brake retarder constricts the
					 flow of exhaust gases through the manifold, increasing the system back pressure
					 and keeping the engine exhaust valves from closing at designed
					 intervals.
(iii) An hydraulic brake
					 retarder converts kinetic energy to heat by shearing a liquid with a rotating
					 component inside a chamber.
Central Permit Office
-The office which
						administers this chapter, located at:
Department of Transportation
Central Permit Office
400 North Street, 6th Floor
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120-0041
Combination
-Two or more vehicles
						physically interconnected in tandem.
Commonwealth
-The Commonwealth of
						Pennsylvania.
County office
-Any of the various
						maintenance district offices of the Department.
Department
-The Department of
						Transportation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
District office
-Any of the various
						engineering district offices of the Department.
Escort
-A convoying vehicle or vehicles
						manned by the Department personnel, uniformed Pennsylvania State Police or
						local police which accompanies a permitted vehicle.
Gross weight
-The combined weight of a
						vehicle or combination of vehicles and its load and driver.
Highway
-The entire width between the
						boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open
						to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. The term includes a
						roadway open to the use of the public for vehicular travel on grounds of a
						college or university or public or private school or public or historical
						park.
House trailer
-Includes the
						following:
(i) A trailer which is
					 designed, constructed and equipped as a dwelling place, living abode or
					 sleeping place, either permanently or temporarily, and is equipped for use as a
					 conveyance on streets and highways.
(ii) A trailer containing a chassis and
					 exterior shell designed and constructed for use as a house trailer, as defined
					 in subparagraph (i), but which is used permanently or temporarily for
					 advertising, sales, display or promotion of merchandise or services, or for
					 another commercial purpose except the transportation of property.
Implement of husbandry
-A vehicle
						designed or adapted and determined by the Department to be used exclusively for
						agricultural operations and only incidentally operated or moved upon
						highways.
Mobile home
-A trailer designed and used
						exclusively for living quarters or commercial purposes which exceeds the
						maximum size limitations prescribed by the act for operation on a highway and
						is only incidentally operated on a highway.
Nondivisible
-Incapable of being divided
						into parts or dismembered without substantially damaging its usefulness or
						value.
Operating rating
-The absolute maximum
						permissible load level to which a structure may be subjected under normal
						circumstances without exceeding its structural capacity.
Oversize
-The length, width or height of
						a mobile home or vehicle or combination of vehicles, including the load or
						loads carried thereon, excluding mirrors or sunshades, which exceeds the
						applicable maximum length, width or height specified in Chapter 49, Subchapter
						B of the act (relating to width, height and length).
Overweight
-The gross weight of a mobile
						home or vehicle or combination of vehicles, including the load carried thereon,
						which exceeds the applicable maximum gross weights specified in Chapter 49,
						Subchapter C of the act (relating to maximum weights of vehicles).
Permit
-
(i) A special hauling permit issued by the
					 Department under Chapters 19, Subchapter C and 49 of the act (relating to
					 permits; and size, weight and load) and this chapter, for the movement of a
					 mobile home or oversize or overweight vehicle, or combination, including the
					 load thereon, on State highways under the Department's jurisdiction.
(ii) An oversize or overweight permit issued
					 by another State authorizing movement along Pennsylvania State highways under
					 terms and conditions outlined in an executed multistate permit
					 agreement.
(iii) An oversize or
					 overweight permit issued by the Department authorizing movement along another
					 State's highways under terms and conditions outlined in an executed multistate
					 permit agreement.
Permit service
-A commercial enterprise
						that makes application for a permit for another person, firm, copartnership,
						association or corporation.
Person
-A natural person, proprietorship,
						firm, partnership, association or corporation.
Pilot car
-A convoying vehicle provided
						by the permittee, in order to warn the traveling public of an oversize vehicle
						or slow moving overweight vehicle, in accordance with §
											179.10 (relating to general
						conditions).
Registered gross weight
-The maximum
						gross weight at which a vehicle or combination is registered in this
						Commonwealth to operate upon a highway.
Registered person
-A person registered
						with the Department under the provisions of §
											179.4 (relating to registration;
						surety bond and registration agreement).
Registration
-A registration under the
						provisions of § 179.4, which shall be in addition to the registration
						requirements of the act.
Roadway
-That portion of a highway
						improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the
						sidewalk or shoulder.
Responsible motor carrier
-An owner,
						lessee or sublessee of a motor vehicle.
Revocation
-Revocation of the
						registration agreement.
Semitrailer
-A trailer so constructed
						that some part of its weight rests upon or is carried by the towing
						vehicle.
Shoulder
-The portion of the highway,
						contiguous to the roadway, for accommodation of stopped vehicles, for emergency
						use and for lateral support of the roadway.
Single axle
-An axle located over 8 feet
						from another axle.
Single-trip special hauling book permit
or
book permit
-A permit which is validated by the district
						office by telephone and completed, prior to movement, by the permittee
						according to §
											179.14 (relating to single-trip
						special hauling book permits for oversize movements).
Special mobile equipment
-Vehicles not
						designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and
						only incidentally operated or moved over a highway, including but not limited
						to: ditchdigging apparatus; well boring apparatus; earth moving and road
						construction and maintenance machinery, such as asphalt spreaders, bituminous
						mixers, bucket loaders, snowplows, ditchers, graders, finishing machines, road
						rollers, scarifiers, earth moving carryalls, scrapers, power shovels and drag
						lines; and self-propelled cranes and tractors, other than truck tractors. The
						term does not include house trailers; dump trucks; truck-mounted transit
						mixers, cranes or shovels; or other vehicles designed for the transportation of
						persons or property to which machinery has been attached.
Structure
-A tunnel, bridge or culvert
						including supports, which spans or provides passage over or under a waterway, a
						railroad or other obstruction.
Sunrise
-The time designated by the
						National Weather Service at which the sun can first be seen on the
						horizon.
Sunset
-The time designated by the
						National Weather Service at which the sun can last be seen on the
						horizon.
Super load
-A vehicle or combination or
						load having a gross weight exceeding 201,000 pounds, a total length exceeding
						160 feet, or a total width exceeding 16 feet; except that the following shall
						not be considered a super load:
(i) A
					 building moved under §
											179.11(b)
					 (relating to special vehicle-load restrictions).
(ii) A vehicle or combination moved across
					 the highway under sections 4965 or 4966 of the act (relating to single permits
					 for multiple highway crossings and permit for movement of quarry
					 equipment).
(iii) A dragline moved
					 across the highway under the permit.
Supplement
-An amendment to a special
						hauling permit.
Suspension
-Refusal by the Department to
						issue a permit or to authorize continued operation under authority of the
						permit for a prescribed period of time, including a penalty prescribed by
						§
											179.14(m) and
						§§
											179.16(a) and
						179.18 (relating to penalties and
						enforcement; and sanctions for violations).
Traffic protector guide rail device
-An
						instrument approved by the Department, which is placed around the extremities
						of a protruding dozer blade, as specified in § 179.11.
Trailer
-A vehicle designed to be towed
						by a motor vehicle.
Urbanized area
-A location, identified on
						Department Form M-938, in which travel under permit is restricted, as specified
						in §
											179.10(7)(ii)
						when highways are congested with traffic.
Vehicle
-Every device which is or may be
						moved or drawn upon a highway, except devices used exclusively upon rails or
						tracks.