LB785 LB785
2020 2020
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED SIXTH LEGISLATURE
SECOND SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 785
Introduced by Friesen, 34.
Read first time January 08, 2020
Committee: Transportation and Telecommunications
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Nebraska Rules of the Road; to amend
2 sections 60-6,294 and 60-6,297, Revised Statutes Cumulative
3 Supplement, 2018, and section 60-6,290, Revised Statutes Supplement,
4 2019; to change provisions relating to vehicle size, weight, and
5 load; to provide for stinger-steered automobile transporters,
6 towaway trailer transporter combinations, and emergency vehicles; to
7 provide duties for the Department of Transportation; to define a
8 term; and to repeal the original sections.
9 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 60-6,290, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2019, is
2 amended to read:
3 60-6,290 (1)(a) No vehicle shall exceed a length of forty feet,
4 extreme overall dimensions, inclusive of front and rear bumpers including
5 load, except that:
6 (i) A bus or a motor home, as defined in section 71-4603, may exceed
7 the forty-foot limitation but shall not exceed a length of forty-five
8 feet;
9 (ii) A truck-tractor may exceed the forty-foot limitation;
10 (iii) A semitrailer operating in a truck-tractor single semitrailer
11 combination, which semitrailer was actually and lawfully operating in the
12 State of Nebraska on December 1, 1982, may exceed the forty-foot
13 limitation;
14 (iv) A semitrailer operating in a truck-tractor single semitrailer
15 combination, which semitrailer was not actually and lawfully operating in
16 the State of Nebraska on December 1, 1982, may exceed the forty-foot
17 limitation but shall not exceed a length of fifty-three feet including
18 load;
19 (v) A semitrailer operating in a truck-tractor single semitrailer
20 combination, while transporting baled livestock forage, may exceed the
21 forty-foot limitation but shall not exceed a length of fifty-nine feet
22 six inches including load; and
23 (vi) An articulated bus vehicle operated by a transit authority
24 established under the Transit Authority Law or regional metropolitan
25 transit authority established pursuant to section 18-804 may exceed the
26 forty-foot limitation. For purposes of this subdivision (vi), an
27 articulated bus vehicle shall not exceed sixty-five feet in length.
28 (b) No combination of vehicles shall exceed a length of sixty-five
29 feet, extreme overall dimensions, inclusive of front and rear bumpers and
30 including load, except:
31 (i) One truck and one trailer, loaded or unloaded, used in
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1 transporting implements of husbandry to be engaged in harvesting, while
2 being transported into or through the state during daylight hours if the
3 total length does not exceed seventy-five feet including load;
4 (ii) A truck-tractor single semitrailer combination;
5 (iii) A truck-tractor semitrailer trailer combination, but the
6 semitrailer trailer portion of such combination shall not exceed sixty-
7 five feet inclusive of connective devices; and
8 (iv) A driveaway saddlemount vehicle transporter combination and
9 driveaway saddlemount with fullmount vehicle transporter combination, but
10 the total overall length shall not exceed ninety-seven feet; .
11 (v) A stinger-steered automobile transporter, but the total overall
12 length shall not exceed eighty feet, inclusive of a front overhang of
13 less than four feet and a rear overhang of less than six feet. For
14 purposes of this subdivision, automobile transporter means any vehicle
15 combination designed and used for the transport of assembled highway
16 vehicles, including truck camper units. An automobile transporter shall
17 not be prohibited from the transport of cargo or general freight on a
18 backhaul, so long as it is in compliance with weight limitations for a
19 truck-tractor and semitrailer combination; and
20 (vi) A towaway trailer transporter combination, but the total
21 overall length shall not exceed eighty-two feet. For purposes of this
22 subdivision, towaway trailer transporter combination means a combination
23 of vehicles consisting of a trailer transporter towing unit and two
24 trailers or semitrailers with a total weight that does not exceed twenty-
25 six thousand pounds, and in which the trailers or semitrailers carry no
26 property and constitute inventory property of a manufacturer,
27 distributor, or dealer of such trailers or semitrailers.
28 (c) A truck shall be construed to be one vehicle for the purpose of
29 determining length.
30 (d) A trailer shall be construed to be one vehicle for the purpose
31 of determining length.
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1 (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to:
2 (a) Extra-long vehicles which have been issued a permit pursuant to
3 section 60-6,292;
4 (b) Vehicles which have been issued a permit pursuant to section
5 60-6,299;
6 (c) The temporary moving of farm machinery during daylight hours in
7 the normal course of farm operations;
8 (d) The movement of unbaled livestock forage vehicles, loaded or
9 unloaded;
10 (e) The movement of public utility or other construction and
11 maintenance material and equipment at any time;
12 (f) Farm equipment dealers or their representatives as authorized
13 under section 60-6,382 driving, delivering, or picking up farm equipment
14 or implements of husbandry within the county in which the dealer
15 maintains his or her place of business, or in any adjoining county or
16 counties, and return;
17 (g) The overhang of any motor vehicle being hauled upon any lawful
18 combination of vehicles, but such overhang shall not exceed the distance
19 from the rear axle of the hauled motor vehicle to the closest bumper
20 thereof;
21 (h) The overhang of a combine to be engaged in harvesting, while
22 being transported into or through the state driven during daylight hours
23 by a truck-tractor semitrailer combination, but the length of the
24 semitrailer, including overhang, shall not exceed sixty-three feet and
25 the maximum semitrailer length shall not exceed fifty-three feet;
26 (i) Any self-propelled specialized mobile equipment with a fixed
27 load when the requirements of subdivision (2)(i) of section 60-6,288 are
28 met; or
29 (j) One truck-tractor two trailer combination or one truck-tractor
30 semitrailer trailer combination used in transporting equipment utilized
31 by custom harvesters under contract to agricultural producers to harvest
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1 wheat, soybeans, or milo during the months of April through November but
2 the length of the property-carrying units, excluding load, shall not
3 exceed eighty-one feet six inches.
4 (3) The length limitations of this section shall be exclusive of
5 safety and energy conservation devices such as rearview mirrors,
6 turnsignal lights, marker lights, steps and handholds for entry and
7 egress, flexible fender extensions, mudflaps and splash and spray
8 suppressant devices, load-induced tire bulge, refrigeration units or air
9 compressors, and other devices necessary for safe and efficient operation
10 of commercial motor vehicles, except that no device excluded from the
11 limitations of this section shall have by its design or use the
12 capability to carry cargo.
13 Sec. 2. Section 60-6,294, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
14 2018, is amended to read:
15 60-6,294 (1) Every vehicle, whether operated singly or in a
16 combination of vehicles, and every combination of vehicles shall comply
17 with subsections (2) and (3) of this section except as provided in
18 sections 60-6,294.01, 60-6,297, and 60-6,383. The limitations imposed by
19 this section shall be supplemental to all other provisions imposing
20 limitations upon the size and weight of vehicles.
21 (2) No wheel of a vehicle or trailer equipped with pneumatic or
22 solid rubber tires shall carry a gross load in excess of ten thousand
23 pounds on any highway nor shall any axle carry a gross load in excess of
24 twenty thousand pounds on any highway. An axle load shall be defined as
25 the total load transmitted to the highway by all wheels the centers of
26 which may be included between two parallel transverse vertical planes
27 forty inches apart extending across the full width of the vehicle.
28 (3) No group of two or more consecutive axles shall carry a load in
29 pounds in excess of the value given in the following table corresponding
30 to the distance in feet between the extreme axles of the group, measured
31 longitudinally to the nearest foot, except that the maximum load carried
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1 on any group of two or more axles shall not exceed eighty thousand pounds
2 on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways unless the
3 Director-State Engineer pursuant to section 60-6,295 authorizes a greater
4 weight.
5 Distance in feet Maximum load in pounds carried
6 between the on any group of two or more
7 extremes of consecutive axles
8 any group of
9 two or more
10 consecutive Two Three Four Five Six Seven
11 axles Axles Axles Axles Axles Axles Axles
12 4 34,000
13 5 34,000
14 6 34,000
15 7 34,000
16 8 34,000 42,000
17 9 39,000 42,500
18 10 40,000 43,500
19 11 44,000
20 12 45,000 50,000
21 13 45,500 50,500
22 14 46,500 51,500
23 15 47,000 52,000
24 16 48,000 52,500 58,000
25 17 48,500 53,500 58,500
26 18 49,500 54,000 59,000
27 19 50,000 54,500 60,000
28 20 51,000 55,500 60,500
29 21 51,500 56,000 61,000
30 22 52,500 56,500 61,500
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1 23 53,000 57,500 62,500
2 24 54,000 58,000 63,000
3 25 54,500 58,500 63,500 69,000
4 26 55,500 59,500 64,000 69,500
5 27 56,000 60,000 65,000 70,000
6 28 57,000 60,500 65,500 71,000
7 29 57,500 61,500 66,000 71,500
8 30 58,500 62,000 66,500 72,000
9 31 59,000 62,500 67,500 72,500
10 32 60,000 63,500 68,000 73,000
11 33 64,000 68,500 74,000
12 34 64,500 69,000 74,500
13 35 65,500 70,000 75,000
14 36 66,000 70,500 75,500
15 37 66,500 71,000 76,000 81,500
16 38 67,500 72,000 77,000 82,000
17 39 68,000 72,500 77,500 82,500
18 40 68,500 73,000 78,000 83,500
19 41 69,500 73,500 78,500 84,000
20 42 70,000 74,000 79,000 84,500
21 43 70,500 75,000 80,000 85,000
22 44 71,500 75,500 80,500 85,500
23 45 72,000 76,000 81,000 86,000
24 46 72,500 76,500 81,500 87,000
25 47 73,500 77,500 82,000 87,500
26 48 74,000 78,000 83,000 88,000
27 49 74,500 78,500 83,500 88,500
28 50 75,500 79,000 84,000 89,000
29 51 76,000 80,000 84,500 89,500
30 52 76,500 80,500 85,000 90,500
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1 53 77,500 81,000 86,000 91,000
2 54 78,000 81,500 86,500 91,500
3 55 78,500 82,500 87,000 92,000
4 56 79,500 83,000 87,500 92,500
5 57 80,000 83,500 88,000 93,000
6 58 84,000 89,000 94,000
7 59 85,000 89,500 94,500
8 60 85,500 90,000 95,000
9 (4) The distance between axles shall be measured to the nearest
10 foot. When a fraction is exactly one-half foot, the next larger whole
11 number shall be used, except that:
12 (a) Any group of three axles shall be restricted to a maximum load
13 of thirty-four thousand pounds unless the distance between the extremes
14 of the first and third axles is at least ninety-six inches in fact; and
15 (b) The maximum gross load on any group of two axles, the distance
16 between the extremes of which is more than eight feet but less than eight
17 feet six inches, shall be thirty-eight thousand pounds.
18 (5) The limitations of subsections (2) through (4) of this section
19 shall apply as stated to all main, rural, and intercity highways but
20 shall not be construed as inhibiting heavier axle loads in metropolitan
21 areas, except on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways,
22 if such loads are not prohibited by city ordinance.
23 (6) The weight limitations of wheel and axle loads as defined in
24 subsections (2) through (4) of this section shall be restricted to the
25 extent deemed necessary by the Department of Transportation for a
26 reasonable period when road subgrades or pavements are weak or are
27 materially weakened by climatic conditions.
28 (7) Two consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of
29 thirty-four thousand pounds each when the overall distance between the
30 first and last axles of such consecutive sets of tandem axles is thirty-
31 six, thirty-seven, or thirty-eight feet except as provided in section
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1 60-6,297. Such vehicles shall be subject to section 60-6,301.
2 (8) If any vehicle crosses a bridge with a total gross load in
3 excess of the posted capacity of such bridge and as a result of such
4 crossing any damage results to the bridge, the owner of such vehicle
5 shall be responsible for all of such damage.
6 (9) Vehicles equipped with a greater number of axles than provided
7 in the table in subsection (3) of this section shall be legal if they do
8 not exceed the maximum load upon any wheel or axle, the maximum load upon
9 any group of two or more consecutive axles, and the total gross weight,
10 or any of such weights as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this
11 section.
12 (10) Subsections (1) through (9) of this section shall not apply to
13 a vehicle which has been issued a permit pursuant to section 60-6,299,
14 self-propelled specialized mobile equipment with a fixed load when the
15 requirements of subdivision (2)(i) of section 60-6,288 are met, or an
16 emergency vehicle when the r