440.01 LOAD LIMITS.

(a) `State Routes. No person shall operate or move a vehicle or combination of vehicles of a size or weight of vehicle or load exceeding the maximum specified in Ohio R.C. Chapter 5577, or otherwise not in conformity with Ohio R.C. Chapter 4513, upon any State route within the Municipality, except pursuant to special written permit issued by the Ohio Director of Transportation. Every such permit shall be carried in the vehicle or combination of vehicles to which it refers and shall be open to inspection by any police officer.

No holder of a permit issued by the Ohio Director of Transportation shall be required to obtain any local permit or license or pay any local fee or charge for movement on any State route within the Municipality. However, no person shall operate any such vehicle or combination of vehicles upon any roadway within the Municipality which is not a State route, except as may be otherwise provided in any local ordinance or regulation or elsewhere in this Traffic Code.

(ORC 4513.34)

(b) Local Streets. No person shall operate a vehicle exceeding a size as specified in Section 440.02 or exceeding a gross weight of five tons, upon any street in the Municipality other than State routes and County roads, except those local streets designated as a truck route and marked as such by appropriate signs, and except when such operation is necessary to load or unload property, to go to or from the usual place of storage of such vehicle or to perform any other legitimate business or act other than passage through the Municipality. Operators of vehicles so deviating from either a State route or a designated truck route within the Municipality shall confine such deviation to that required in order to accomplish the purpose of departure. No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be operated on any public roadway within the Municipality that exceeds the maximum weight limits specified in Ohio R.C. 5577.01 to 5577.09, inclusive.

(Ord. 1997-110. Passed 6-2-97.)

(c) Local Permit and Conditions. Upon application and for good cause, the Police Chief may issue a local permit authorizing an applicant to move an oversize or overweight vehicle or combination of vehicles upon local streets and highways.

No permittee shall be required to obtain a special permit from the Ohio Director of Transportation for the movement of the vehicle or combination of vehicles on streets or highways under local jurisdiction. However, the approval of the Ohio Director of Transportation shall be required for movement upon State routes as provided in subsection (a) hereof.

The Police Chief may grant a permit for a single or round trip, or for such period of time, not to exceed one year, as the Police Chief in his discretion deems advisable, or for the duration of any construction project. The Police Chief may limit or prescribe terms or conditions of operation for such vehicle or combination of vehicles by designating the route, hours, speed or such other restrictions as may be necessary for the preservation of the public peace, property, health and safety. The Police Chief may require the posting of bond or other security necessary to compensate for any damage to a roadway or road structure.

For each such permit, the Police Chief shall charge five dollars ($5.00), and for each hour of time or any part thereof spent by the Police Department in supervising the movement of such vehicle, the applicant shall pay the sum of ten dollars ($10.00).

Except as provided in subsections (a) and (b) hereof, streets and highways shall be posted with signs indicating "no thru trucks - gross weight 5 tons" or words of similar import to appraise drivers of the limitations imposed by this section. No driver shall disobey the instructions indicated on any such sign.

Violation of any of the limitations, terms or conditions of the permit granted by the Police Chief shall be cause for immediate revocation or suspension of such permit and denial of request for any future permit. Such violation shall also subject the violator to the penalties prescribed by Sections 408.01 and 408.02.

(A.O.)

(d) Statement of Gross Vehicle Weight.

(1) No person shall issue or aid in issuing any bill of lading or other document of like nature in lieu thereof, which bill or document is to accompany a shipment of goods or property by truck, trailer, semi-trailer, commercial tractor, or any other commercial vehicle used for the transportation of property the gross weight of which, with load, exceeds three tons, with intent to defraud by misrepresenting thereon the weight of such goods or property to be so transported.

(2) Any driver or operator of a commercial car, trailer or semitrailer may obtain from any person, firm, partnership, corporation or association, including the owner, lessee, or operator of such commercial car, trailer, or semi-trailer, owning and operating sealed scales in this state, a written "Statement of Gross Vehicle Weight" showing the gross weight of the vehicle including the cargo on the vehicle, the name and address of the person issuing the statement, and the date and place where the vehicle and its cargo were weighed. The driver or operator of the commercial car, trailer, or semi-trailer shall retain such statement of gross vehicle weight on his person, and any law enforcement officer of this City may request that such driver or operator exhibit it to him. If, upon examining the statement of gross vehicle weight, the law enforcement officer has reason to believe that the information contained therein is correct in every respect, he shall endorse it with his name and date, and place where it was exhibited to him. The law enforcement officer may then permit such driver or operator to proceed without weighing by a law enforcement officer of this City. No person shall willfully issue a written statement of gross vehicle weight and knowingly give any false information in such statement.

(Ord. 1997-110. Passed 6-2-97.)

440.02 MAXIMUM WIDTH, HEIGHT AND LENGTH.

(a) No vehicle shall be operated upon the public highways, streets, bridges and culverts within the Municipality, whose dimensions exceed those specified in this section.

(b) No such vehicle shall have a width in excess of:

(1) 104 inches for passenger bus type vehicles operated exclusively within municipal corporations;

(2) 102 inches, excluding such safety devices as are required by law, for passenger bus type vehicles operated over freeways, and such other State roads with minimum pavement widths of twenty-two feet, except those roads or portions of roads over which operation of 102-inch buses is prohibited by order of the Ohio Director of Transportation;

(3) 132 inches for traction engines;

(4) 102 inches for recreational vehicles, excluding safety devices and retracted awnings and other appurtenances of six inches or less in width and except that the Director may prohibit the operation of 102-inch recreational vehicles on designated State highways or portions of highways;

(5) 102 inches, including load, for all other vehicles, except that the Director may prohibit the operation of 102-inch vehicles on such State highways or portions of State highways as the Director designates.

(1) 66 feet for passenger bus type vehicles and articulated passenger bus type vehicles operated by a regional transit authority pursuant to Ohio R.C. 306.30 to 306.54;

(2) 45 feet for all other passenger bus type vehicles;

(3) 53 feet for any semitrailer when operated in a commercial tractor-semitrailer combination, with or without load, except that the Director may, by journal entry, prohibit the operation of any such commercial tractor-semitrailer combination on such State highways or portions of State highways as the Director designates;

(4) 28.5 feet for any semitrailer or trailer when operated in a commercial tractor-semitrailer-trailer or commercial tractor-semitrailer-semitrailer combination, except that the Director may prohibit the operation of any such commercial tractor-semitrailer-trailer or commercial tractor-semitrailer-semitrailer combination on such State highways or portions of State highways as the Director designates;

(5) A. 97 feet for drive-away saddlemount vehicle transporter combinations and drive-away saddlemount with fullmount vehicle transporter combinations when operated on any interstate, United States route, or State route, including reasonable access travel on all other roadways for a distance not to exceed one road mile from any interstate, United States route, or State route, not to exceed three saddlemounted vehicles, but which may include one fullmount;

B. 75 feet for drive-away saddlemount vehicle transporter combinations and drive-away saddlemount with fullmount vehicle transporter combinations, when operated on any roadway not designated as an interstate, United States route, or State route, not to exceed three saddlemounted vehicles, but which may include one fullmount;

(6) 65 feet for any other combination of vehicles coupled together, with or without load, except as provided in subsections (c)(3) and (4) and in subsection (e) hereof;

(7) 45 feet for recreational vehicles.

(8) 50 feet for all other vehicles except trailers and semitrailers, with or without load.

(d) No such vehicle shall have a height in excess of thirteen feet six inches, with or without load.

(e) An automobile transporter or boat transporter shall be allowed a length of sixty-five feet and a stinger-steered automobile transporter or stinger-steered boat transporter shall be allowed a length of seventy-five feet, except that the load thereon may extend no more than four feet beyond the rear of such vehicles and may extend no more than three feet beyond the front of such vehicles, and except further that the Director may prohibit the operation of any stinger-steered automobile transporter or stinger-steered boat transporter or a B-train assembly on any State highway or portion of any State highway that the Director designates.

(f) The widths prescribed in subsection (b) shall not include side mirrors, turn signal lamps, marker lamps, handholds for cab entry and egress, flexible fender extensions, mud flaps, splash and spray suppressant devices, and load-induced tire bulge.

The width prescribed in subsection (b)(5) shall not include automatic covering devices, tarp and tarp hardware, and tiedown assemblies, provided these safety devices do not extend more than three inches from each side of the vehicle.

The lengths prescribed in subsections (c)(2) to (8) hereof shall not include safety devices, bumpers attached to the front or rear of such bus or combination, nonproperty carrying devices or components that do not extend more than twenty-four inches beyond the rear of the vehicle and are needed for loading or unloading, B-train assembly used between the first and second semitrailer of a commercial tractor-semitrailer-semitrailer combination, energy conservation devices as provided in any regulations adopted by the Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation, or any noncargo-carrying refrigeration equipment attached to the front of trailers and semitrailers. In special cases, vehicles whose dimensions exceed those prescribed by this section may operate in accordance with rules adopted by the Ohio Director of Transportation.

(g) This section does not apply to fire engines, fire trucks or other vehicles or apparatus belonging to any municipal corporation or to the volunteer fire department of any municipal corporation or used by such department in the discharge of its functions. This section does not apply to vehicles and pole trailers used in the transportation of wooden and metal poles, nor to the transportation of pipes or well-drilling equipment, nor to farm machinery and equipment. The owner or operator of any vehicle, machinery or equipment not specifically enumerated in this section but the dimensions of which exceed the dimensions provided by this section, when operating the same on the highways and streets of this State shall comply with the rules of the Director governing such movement, that the Director may adopt. Ohio R.C. 119.01 to 119.13 apply to any rules the Director adopts under this section, or the amendment or rescission of the rules, and any person adversely affected shall have the same right of appeal as provided in those sections.

This section does not require the State, the Municipality, County, township or any railroad or other private corporation to provide sufficient vertical clearance to permit the operation of such vehicle, or to make any changes in or about existing structures now crossing streets, roads and other public thoroughfares in the Municipality.

(h) As used in this section, "recreational vehicle" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 4501.01.
(ORC 5577.05)

(i) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense; on a second offense or subsequent offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(ORC 5577.99)

440.03 WHEEL PROTECTORS.

No person shall drive or operate, or cause to be driven or operated, any commercial car, trailer, or semitrailer, used for the transportation of goods or property, the gross weight of which, with load, exceeds three tons, upon the streets, bridges and culverts within this Municipality unless such vehicle is equipped with suitable metal protectors or substantial flexible flaps on the rearmost wheels of such vehicle or combination of vehicles to prevent, as far as practicable, the wheels from throwing dirt, water or other materials on the windshields of following vehicles. Such protectors or flaps shall have a ground clearance of not more than one-third of the distance from the center of the rearmost axle to the center of the flaps under any conditions of loading of the vehicle, and they shall be at least as wide as the tires they are protecting. If the vehicle is so designed and constructed that such requirements are accomplished by means of fenders, body construction or other means of enclosure, then no such protectors or flaps are required. Rear wheels not covered at the top by fenders, bodies or other parts of the vehicle shall be covered at the top by protective means extending at least to the centerline of the rearmost axle.

(ORC 5577.11; Ord. 1969-54. Passed 7-7-69.)

440.04 VEHICLES TRANSPORTING EXPLOSIVES.

Any person operating any vehicle transporting explosives upon a street or highway shall at all times comply with the following requirements:

(a) Such vehicle shall be marked or placarded on each side and on the rear with the word "EXPLOSIVES" in letters not less than eight inches high, or there shall be displayed on the rear of such vehicle a red flag not less than twenty-four inches square marked with the word "DANGER" in white letters six inches high, or shall be marked or placarded in accordance with Section 177.823 of the United States Department of Transportation Regulations.

(b) Such vehicle shall be equipped with not less than two fire extinguishers, filled and ready for immediate use, and placed at convenient points on such vehicle.

(ORC 4513.29)

Disclaimer: This Code of Ordinances and/or any other documents that appear on this site may not reflect the most current legislation adopted by the Municipality. American Legal Publishing provides these documents for informational purposes only. These documents should not be relied upon as the definitive authority for local legislation. Additionally, the formatting and pagination of the posted documents varies from the formatting and pagination of the official copy. The official printed copy of a Code of Ordinances should be consulted prior to any action being taken. For further information regarding the official version of any of this Code of Ordinances or other documents posted on this site, please contact the Municipality directly or contact American Legal Publishing toll-free at 800-445-5588.

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