Md. Code Regs. 11.04.02.01-1

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 25, December 13, 2024

Section 11.04.02.01-1 - Miscellaneous Conditions

A. The conditions set forth in §§B-K of this regulation apply to each permit for an oversize or overweight vehicle.

B. Compliance.

(1) While making a move under the authority of any permit, the permittee or user shall comply with the vehicle laws of Maryland (except those general size and weight limits from which the permit authorizes departure), the regulations under COMAR 11.04.01-11.04.04, conditions, both general and specific, attached to the permit, and all updates posted on the Motor Carrier Division and CHART websites found at www.marylandroads.com.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of COMAR and absent an emergency declaration by the Governor, the Director, Office of Traffic and Safety may request and the Administrator may grant, reasonable exceptions of limited scope and duration to these conditions and any other requirements considered appropriate for reasons of public safety including, but not limited to, disaster relief outside the State and emergency response throughout the State.

C. Failure to Comply.

(1) Failure to comply with weight or dimension limits, or with other provisions (including restrictions, conditions, and notes) stated specifically in a permit or updates posted on the Motor Carrier Division and CHART websites found at www.marylandroads.com, renders the permit subject to immediate revocation and confiscation by any officer or authorized civilian employee of the Maryland State Police, any officer of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, or any other police officer.

(2) If a permit is revoked for failure to comply with weight or size limitations, the permittee or user of the permitted vehicle shall be cited for the weight in excess of the permitted weight and for size in excess of the permitted size.

(2-1) If the weight violation exceeds the allowable permit weight by more than 5,000 pounds, the permitted vehicle shall be subject to all weight limitations and tolerances otherwise specified by Transportation Article, Title 24, Annotated Code of Maryland.

(2-2) A weight violation of an exceptional hauling permit, voids the permit and the permitted vehicle shall be subject to all weight limitations and tolerances otherwise specified by Transportation Article, Title 24, Annotated Code of Maryland.

(3) A permitted vehicle may not go off the route specified on the permit by more than 1 mile to rest or to secure food, fuel, or repairs. Failure to comply subjects the permitted vehicle to all weight limitations and tolerances otherwise specified by Transportation Article, Title 24, Annotated Code of Maryland.

(4) If a permittee or user is cited only for permit violations, the citing officer or authorized civilian employee of the Maryland State Police, an officer of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, or other police officer may confiscate the permit.

(5) If a permit is revoked or confiscated, the permittee shall apply for a new permit.

(6) If a permit is revoked for failure to comply, the permittee shall obtain a new permit before moving the vehicle on any highway in the State.

(7) An officer or authorized civilian employee of the Maryland State Police, an officer of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, or another police officer who confiscates a permit shall immediately notify the Unit and return the confiscated permit to the Unit after it has been used as evidence in any law enforcement proceedings brought against the permittee or user.

D. The permit carried in a vehicle is open for inspection by, and the permittee or user shall exhibit it upon request to, any State, county, municipal, or other public official, including any officer or civilian employee of the Maryland State Police, any employee of the Maryland Transportation Authority, and any employee of the Administration, or to any person involved in an accident with that vehicle.

E. The permittee shall reduce each vehicle and load which together are overweight of as much excess weight as possible and each vehicle and load which together are oversized as much as possible, unless the vehicle or load is irreducible.

F. The applicant for an irreducible load permit has the burden of proof as to the number of hours required to dismantle the load. Irreducible is defined in Regulation .01B(5) of this chapter.

G. The Unit may issue a permit without an engineering structural review to a vehicle which weighs more than 80,000 pounds, but which does not exceed 120,000 pounds.

H. The Unit may require an applicant to provide certified weight measurements.

I. The permit does not authorize, and the permittee may not carry, a load which exceeds the tire manufacturer's weight rating.

J. Combination Vehicles.

(1) Size.

(a) Width of Load. Vehicles with buckets, blades, scoops, or other attachments over 12 feet wide measured perpendicular to the vehicle's longitudinal center line shall have the buckets, blades, scoops, or other attachments removed and transported on another vehicle.

(b) Height of Load. A pole vehicle escort shall accompany vehicles and loads exceeding a height of 14 feet 6 inches.

(2) Weight.

(a) Heavy Machinery. A permittee of a vehicle with a load of heavy machinery shall comply with the requirements of §E of this regulation.

(b) The Unit may not issue a permit authorizing a permittee to carry more than 27,000 pounds on any one axle of the permit vehicle except under the specific exceptions set forth in §J(3) of this regulation.

(c) An overweight combination vehicle using a semitrailer and manufactured and purchased after October 31, 1997, shall comply with the 27,000 pound per axle maximum load limit.

(d) The Unit may issue a permit to a vehicle or a vehicle and load weighing more than 150,000 pounds only after a valid engineering structural review.

(e) The Unit may issue a permit without an engineering structural review to a vehicle which weighs more than 120,000 pounds, but which does not exceed 150,000 pounds, if the Unit determines that the vehicle will travel only on roadways for which a review is not required and the applicant has reduced the vehicle load or increased the number of axles on the vehicle tractor or semitrailer, or on both, to bring the vehicle within the following per-axle weight limits and axle spacing requirements:

(i) Steering axle-20,000 pounds;

(ii) Single axle (axle spacing over 8 feet)-27,000 pounds;

(iii) Two (tandem) axles (axle spacing 4-8 feet)-26,000 pounds per axle;

(iv) Three (tri) axles (axle spacing 8-16 feet)-21,000 pounds per axle;

(v) Four or more axles (minimum axle spacing 4 feet)-18,000 pounds per axle;

(vi) Minimum inner bridge axle spacing is 30 feet.

(3) Exceptions.

(a) An overweight combination vehicle using a semitrailer and registered, manufactured, or in the inventory of a licensed dealer on or before October 31, 1997, and sold before June 30, 1998, shall comply with the 27,000 pounds per axle maximum load limit after June 30, 2012.

(b) An existing overweight combination vehicle using a semitrailer may continue to be operated with axle loads not exceeding 30,000 pounds until October 31, 2012, if it complies with the permit regulations in effect on January 1, 1997, and, if the gross vehicle weight exceeds 110,000 pounds (55 tons), pays the fees set forth in COMAR 11.04.01 for any required engineering structural reviews.

(4) Load Reduction-Construction Equipment.

(a) A weight of a permitted vehicle of up to and including 27,000 pounds per axle shall be considered as irreducible if the vehicle is in compliance with the requirements of §J of this regulation.

(b) A weight of a permitted vehicle over 27,000 pounds and up to 30,000 pounds per axle shall be considered as irreducible if the vehicle is in compliance with the requirements of §J(1) of this regulation.

(5) Maximum Axle Weight.

(a) A vehicle that has reduced the load as much as possible and that has added as many axles as possible, but still is not able to achieve the 27,000 pound maximum axle weight limit, may still qualify for a permit.

(b) After the permittee demonstrates that axle weights have been reduced as much as possible, the Administration's Office of Bridge Development shall perform a bridge review and analysis on an individual basis.

(c) A combination vehicle seeking this maximum axle weight exception shall have a minimum of 15 axles on the entire combination vehicle, and any axle weighing more than 27,000 pounds shall have a minimum of eight tires and be at least 10 feet wide.

(d) An axle on a combination vehicle may not weigh more than 36,000 pounds.

K. Self-Propelled Vehicles.

(1) Size.

(a) Width of Load. Vehicles with buckets, blades, scoops, or other attachments over 12 feet wide measured perpendicular to the vehicle's longitudinal center line shall have the buckets, blades, scoops, or other attachments removed and transported on another vehicle.

(b) Height of Load. A pole vehicle escort shall accompany vehicles and loads exceeding a height of 14 feet 6 inches.

(2) Weight.

(a) The Unit may not issue a permit authorizing a permittee to carry more than 27,000 pounds on any one axle of the permit vehicle except under the specific exceptions set forth in §K(3) of this regulation.

(b) A self-propelled truck crane manufactured and purchased after October 31, 1997, shall comply with the 27,000 pound per axle maximum load limit.

(c) A self-propelled vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of 120,000 pounds or less which meets the requirements of this chapter and COMAR 11.04.01, 11.04.03, and 11.04.04 may obtain a permit from the Unit without an engineering structural review by the Administration's Office of Bridge Development.

(d) The Unit may issue a permit for a self-propelled crane (hydraulic or lattice boom) with a gross vehicle weight in excess of 120,000 pounds without requiring a bridge review for each move after the Administration's Office of Bridge Development performs an initial special bridge analysis and, as necessary or prudent, subsequent special bridge analyses for each self-propelled truck crane configuration if the:

(i) Maryland State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section has certified the axle weight and axle spacings of the applicant's vehicle before the application is submitted for a bridge analysis; and

(ii) Crane configuration has a maximum axle weight of 27,000 pounds, and a minimum of five axles.

(e) The Unit shall keep a file of approved self-propelled crane configurations and any restrictions for them.

(3) Exceptions-Self-Propelled Truck Cranes (Hydraulic and Lattice Boom).

(a) A self-propelled truck crane owned, manufactured, or in the inventory of a licensed dealer on or before October 31, 1997, and sold before October 31, 1998, shall comply with the 27,000 pounds per axle maximum load limit after October 31, 2012.

(b) To bring this vehicle into compliance with the 27,000 pound per axle maximum load limit, the use of boom dollies, the addition of booster axles, or other comparable measures are allowed.

(c) A self-propelled truck crane may continue to be operated with axle loads not exceeding 30,000 pounds until October 31, 2012, if it complies with the permit regulations in effect on January 1, 1997, and, if the gross vehicle weight exceeds 110,000 pounds (55 tons), pays the fees set forth in COMAR 11.04.01 for any required engineering structural reviews.

(4) Load Reduction.

(a) A weight of a permitted vehicle of up to and including 27,000 pounds per axle shall be considered as irreducible.

(b) A permittee of a vehicle with a weight over 27,000 pounds and up to 30,000 pounds per axle shall remove counterweights as necessary.

(5) Maximum Axle Weight.

(a) A vehicle that has reduced the load as much as possible and that has added as many axles as possible, but still is not able to achieve the 27,000 pound maximum axle weight limit, may still qualify for a permit.

(b) After the permittee demonstrates that axle weights have been reduced as much as possible, the Administration's Office of Bridge Development shall perform a bridge review and analysis on an individual basis.

(c) A self-propelled vehicle seeking this maximum axle weight exception shall have a minimum of seven axles.

(d) An axle on a self-propelled vehicle may not weigh more than 32,000 pounds.

Md. Code Regs. 11.04.02.01-1

Regulation .01-1 amended effective February 1, 1998 (25:2 Md. R. 76); December 22, 2003 (30:25 Md. R. 1849); March 22, 2010 (37:6 Md. R. 479)
Regulation .01-1A amended effective June 11, 1990 (17:11 Md. R. 1344)