440.005 DEFINITIONS.

(a) "Motor vehicle" means any vehicle, including mobile homes and recreational vehicles, propelled or drawn by power, other than muscular power or power collected from overhead electric trolley wires. "Motor vehicle" does not include motorized bicycles, road rollers, traction engines, power shovels, power cranes and other equipment used in construction work and not designed for or employed in general highway transportation, well drilling machinery, ditch digging machinery, farm machinery, trailers used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production materials between a local place of storage or supply and the farm when drawn or towed on a public road or highway at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less, threshing machinery, hay baling machinery, corn sheller, hammermill arid agricultural tractors and machinery used in the production of horticultural, agricultural and vegetable products.
(ORC 4501.01(B))

(b) "Agricultural tractor and traction engine" means any self-propelling vehicle designed or used for drawing other vehicles or wheeled machinery but having no provisions for carrying loads independently of such other vehicles, and used principally for agricultural purposes.

(ORC 4501.01 (C))

(c) "Commercial tractor" except as defined in subsection (b) hereof, means any motor vehicle having motive power designed or used for drawing other vehicles, or designed or used for drawing another motor vehicle while carrying a portion of such other vehicle or its load, or both.

(ORC 4501.01(D))

(d) "Trailer" means any vehicle without motive power designed or used for carrying persons or property wholly on its own structure and for being drawn by a motor vehicle, and includes any such vehicle when formed by or operated as a combination of a semitrailer and a vehicle of the dolly type such as that commonly known as a trailer dolly, and a vehicle used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production materials between a local place of storage or supply and the farm when drawn or towed on a public road or highway at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour, except a house trailer and travel trailer.

(ORC 4501.01(M))

(e) "Semitrailer" means any vehicle of the trailer type without motive power so designed or used with another and separate motor vehicle that in operation, a part of its own weight or that of its load or both, rests upon and is carried by such other vehicle furnishing the motive power for propelling itself and the vehicle referred to in this subsection, and includes, for the purpose only of registration and taxation under those chapters of the Ohio Revised Code listed in Section 4501.01, any vehicle of the dolly type, such as a trailer dolly, designed or used for the con version of a semitrailer into a trailer.
(ORC 4501.01(P))

(f) "Commercial truck" means every motor vehicle, except trailers and semitrailers, designed and used to carry property and having more than two axles or more than six tires or wheels.

(g) "Farm machinery" means all machines and tools used in the production, harvesting and care of farm products, including trailers used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production materials between a local place of storage or supply and the farm when drawn or towed on a public road or highway at a speed of twenty- five miles per hour, or less.

(ORC 4501.01 (U))

(h) "Operator" includes any person who drives or operates a motor vehicle upon the public highways.
(ORC 4501.01 (X))

(i) "Public roads and highways" for vehicles includes all public thoroughfares, bridges, and culverts.
(ORC 4501.01 (AA))

(j) "State route" means every highway which is designed with an official State route number and so marked.
(ORC 4511.01 (JJ))

(k) "Tow truck” means any vehicle equipped with a crane-type device for and ordinarily used to tow disabled motor vehicles by means of lifting at least one axle off of the ground. (A.O.)

(l) "Axle" means one or more load-carrying wheels mounted in a single transverse vertical plane.

(m) "Spacing between axles" means the distance between any two successive such planes.

(n) "Maximum axle load" means the gross weight of vehicle and load imposed by any axle upon the road surface.

(o) "Maximum wheel load" means the proportionate gross weight of vehicle and load imposed by any wheel upon the road surface.

(p) "Vehicle" means any single vehicle when not in combination, or any combination of vehicles.

(Ord. 85-87. Passed 10-26-87.)

440.01 LOAD LIMITS.

(a) State Routes.

(1) The municipality, with respect to highways under its jurisdiction, upon application in writing and for good cause shown, may issue a special permit in writing authorizing the applicant to 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. 5577.01 through 5577.09, or otherwise not in conformity with Ohio R.C. 4513.01 through 4513.37, upon any highway under its jurisdiction.

(2) Notwithstanding Ohio R.C. 715.22 and 723.01, the holder of a special permit issued by the Director of Transportation under Ohio R.C. 4513.34 may move the vehicle or combination of vehicles described in the special permit on any highway that is a part of the state highway system when the movement is partly within and partly without the corporate limits of the municipality. No local authority shall require any other permit or license or charge any license fee or other charge against the holder of a permit for the movement of a vehicle or combination of vehicles on any highway which is a part of the state highway system. The Ohio Director of Transportation shall not require the holder of a permit issued by the municipality to obtain a special permit for the movement of vehicles or combination of vehicles on highways within the jurisdiction of the municipality. Permits may be issued for any period of time not to exceed one year, as the local authority in its discretion determines advisable or for the duration of any public construction project.

(3) The application for a permit shall be in the form that the municipality prescribes. The municipality may prescribe a permit fee to be imposed and collected when any permit described in this section is issued. The permit fee may be in an amount sufficient to reimburse the municipality for the administrative costs incurred in issuing the permit, and also to cover the cost of normal and expected damage caused to the roadway or a street or highway structure as the result of the operation of the nonconforming vehicle or combination of vehicles. For the purposes of this section and of rules adopted by the Director under Ohio R.C. 4513.34, milk transported in bulk by vehicle is deemed a nondivisible load.

(4) The municipality may issue or withhold a permit. If a permit is to be issued, the municipality may limit or prescribe conditions of operation for the vehicle and may require the posting of a bond or other security conditioned upon the sufficiency of the permit fee to compensate for damage caused to the roadway or a street or highway structure. In addition, the municipality, as a condition of issuance of an overweight permit, may require the applicant to develop and enter into a mutual agreement with the municipality to compensate for or to repair excess damage caused to the roadway by travel under the permit.

(5) Every 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 or authorized agent of any authority granting the permit. No person shall violate any of the terms of a permit.

(ORC 4513.34)

(b) Truck Traffic on Local Streets. No person shall operate a commercial tractor, bus, trailer, semitrailer or commercial truck as defined in Section 440.005 (c), (d), (e) and (f) upon any street in the Municipality other than State routes except those local streets designated as a truck route and marked as such by appropriate traffic 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.

(Ord. 10-81. Passed 5-11-81.)

(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 he 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 Division of Police in supervising the movement of such vehicle, the applicant shall pay the sum of five dollars ($5.00).

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 singular import to apprise 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 penalty prescribed by subsection (c) hereof.

(c) Penalty. Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense; on a second offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree; on each subsequent offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

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 OPERATION OF VEHICLE ON HIGHWAYS IN EXCESS OF PRESCRIBED WEIGHTS FORBIDDEN.

(a) No trackless trolley, traction engine, steam roller or other vehicle, load, object or structure, whether propelled by muscular or motor power, not including vehicles run upon stationary rails or tracks, garbage trucks under contract with the City, fire engines, fire trucks or other vehicles or apparatus belonging to or used by any Municipal or volunteer fire department in the discharge of its functions, shall be operated or moved over or upon the improved public streets, highways, bridges or culverts in this City, upon wheels, rollers, or otherwise, weighing in excess of the weights prescribed in Section 440.005 to 440.18, inclusive, of the Codified Ordinances, including the weight of vehicle, object, structure, or contrivance and load.

(Ord. 95-87. Passed 10-26-87.)

(b) Whoever violates any provision of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense; on a second offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree; on each subsequent offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

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.

Hosted by: American Legal Publishing

Back to Code Library

Previous Doc

Next Doc