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CHAPTER 339
Commercial and Heavy Vehicles
339.01   Oversize or overweight vehicle operation on State routes; State permit.
339.02   Use of local streets; local permit and conditions.
339.03   Maximum width, height and length.
339.04   Route and load information.
339.05   Wheel protectors.
339.06   Vehicles transporting explosives.
339.07   Towing requirements.
339.08   Loads dropping or leaking; removal required; tracking mud.
339.09   Shifting load; loose loads.
339.10   Vehicles with spikes, lugs and chains.
339.11   Use of studded tires and chains.
339.12   Special weight and tire restrictions.
CROSS REFERENCES
   See sectional histories for similar State law
   Weighing vehicle; removal of excess load - see Ohio R.C. 4513.33
   Arrest notice of driver - see Ohio R.C. 5577.14
   Slower moving vehicles to be driven in right-hand lane - see TRAF. 331.01(b)
339.01 OVERSIZE OR OVERWEIGHT VEHICLE OPERATION ON STATE ROUTES; STATE PERMIT.
   (a)   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. 5577.01 to 5577.09, inclusive, or otherwise not in conformity with Ohio R.C. 4513.01 to 4513.37, inclusive, upon any State route within the Municipality, except pursuant to special written permit issued by the Ohio Director of Transportation, or upon any local truck route. 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, it shall be unlawful to operate any such vehicle or combination of vehicles upon any roadway within the Municipality which is not a State route, except as provided in Section 339.02. (ORC 4513.34)
   (b)   (1)   No person shall violate the terms of a permit issued under this section that relate to gross load limits.
      (2)   No person shall violate the terms of a permit issued under this section that relate to axle load by more than 2000 pounds per axle or group of axles.
      (3)   No person shall violate the terms of a permit issued under this section that relate to an approved route except upon order of a law enforcement officer.
   (c)   Whoever violates any provision of this section for which no other penalty is provided is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. (ORC 4513.99)
339.02 USE OF LOCAL STREETS; LOCAL PERMIT AND CONDITIONS.
   (a)    Use of Local Streets. No person shall operate a vehicle exceeding a size as specified in Section 339.03 or exceeding a gross weight of eight tons, upon any street in the Municipality other than a State route, 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. 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 the departure.
   (b)   Local Permit and Conditions. Upon application and for good cause, the Service-Safety Director may issue a local permit authorizing an applicant to move an oversize or overweight vehicle or combination of vehicles upon local streets.
   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 Section 339.01.
   The Service-Safety Director may grant a permit for a single or round trip, or for such period of time, not to exceed one year, as the Service-Safety Director in his discretion deems advisable, or for the duration of any construction project. The Service-Safety Director 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 Service-Safety Director 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 Service-Safety Director shall charge ten dollars ($10.00), and for each hour of time or any part thereof spent by each police officer in supervising the movement of such vehicle, the applicant shall pay the sum of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per hour per officer. The charge can be prorated into fifteen minute increments.
   Signs shall be posted indicating "no thru trucks - gross weight 8 tons" or words of similar 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 Service-Safety Director 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)   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.
339.03 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.
   (c)   No such vehicle shall have a length in excess of:
      (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)
339.04 ROUTE AND LOAD INFORMATION.
   Drivers of vehicles described in this chapter shall be required, upon request by a police officer, to give full and true information as to the route they are following and the name of the consignor and consignee and place of delivery or removal and the location of any consignment being hauled or goods being removed, and upon a designation by such police officer of a route to be followed, shall immediately adopt and pursue such route.
339.05 WHEEL PROTECTORS.
   (a)   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 center line of the rearmost axle.
(ORC 5577.11)
   (b)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
339.06 VEHICLES TRANSPORTING EXPLOSIVES.
   (a)   Any person operating any vehicle transporting explosives upon a street or highway shall at all times comply with the following requirements:
      (1)   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.
      (2)   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)
   (b)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 4513.99)
339.07 TOWING REQUIREMENTS.
   (a)   When one vehicle is towing another vehicle, the drawbar or other connection shall be of sufficient strength to pull all weight towed thereby, and such drawbar or other connection shall not exceed fifteen feet from one vehicle to the other, except the connection between any two vehicles transporting poles, pipe, machinery or other objects of structural nature which cannot readily be dismembered.
   (b)   When one vehicle is towing another and the connection consists only of a chain, rope or cable, there shall be displayed upon such connection a white flag or cloth not less than twelve inches square.
   (c)   In addition to such drawbar or other connection, each trailer and each semitrailer which is not connected to a commercial tractor by means of a fifth wheel shall be coupled with stay chains or cables to the vehicle by which it is being drawn. The chains or cables shall be of sufficient size and strength to prevent the towed vehicle's parting from the drawing vehicle in case the drawbar or other connection should break or become disengaged. In case of a loaded pole trailer, the connecting pole to the drawing vehicle shall be coupled to the drawing vehicle with stay chains or cables of sufficient size and strength to prevent the towed vehicle's parting from the drawing vehicle.
   (d)   Every trailer or semitrailer, except pole and cable trailers and pole and cable dollies operated by a public utility, as defined in Ohio R.C. 5727.01, shall be equipped with a coupling device which shall be so designed and constructed that the trailer will follow substantially in the path of the vehicle drawing it, without whipping or swerving from side to side. Vehicles used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production materials between a local place of storage and supply and the farm, when drawn or towed on a street or highway at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less, and vehicles designed and used exclusively to transport a boat between a place of storage and a marina, or in and around a marina, when drawn or towed on a street or highway for a distance of no more than ten miles and at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less shall have a drawbar or other connection, including the hitch mounted on the towing vehicle, which shall be of sufficient strength to pull all the weight towed thereby. Only one such vehicle used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production materials as provided in this section may be towed or drawn at one time, except as follows:
      (1)   An agricultural tractor may tow or draw more than one such vehicle;
      (2)   A pickup truck or straight truck designed by the manufacturer to carry a load of not less than one-half ton and not more than two tons may tow or draw not more than two such vehicles that are being used to transport agricultural produce from the farm to a local place of storage. No vehicle being so towed by such a pickup truck or straight truck shall be considered to be a motor vehicle. (ORC 4513.32)
   (e)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 4513.99)
339.08 LOADS DROPPING OR LEAKING; REMOVAL REQUIRED; TRACKING MUD.
   (a)   No vehicle shall be driven or moved on any street, highway or other public place unless such vehicle is so constructed, loaded or covered as to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping therefrom, except that sand or other substances may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or other substances may be sprinkled on a roadway in cleaning or maintaining such roadway.
   (b)   Except for a farm vehicle used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production materials or a rubbish vehicle in the process of acquiring its load, no vehicle loaded with garbage, swill, cans, bottles, waste paper, ashes, refuse, trash, rubbish, waste, wire, paper, cartons, boxes, glass, solid waste or any other material of an unsanitary nature that is susceptible to blowing or bouncing from a moving vehicle shall be driven or moved on any street, highway or other public place unless the load is covered with a sufficient cover to prevent the load or any part of the load from spilling onto the street, highway or other public place.
(ORC 4513.31)
   (c)   No person shall operate any vehicle so as to track or drop mud, stones, gravel or other similar material on any street, highway or other public place.
   (d)   It shall be the duty of the driver of a vehicle who unlawfully drops or deposits mud, stones, gravel or other similar material or permits the load or any portion thereof to be dropped or deposited upon any street, highway or other public place to immediately remove the same or cause it to be removed. (ORC 4513.31)
   (e)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 4513.99)
339.09 SHIFTING LOAD; LOOSE LOADS.
   (a)   In addition to any other lawful requirements of load distribution, no person shall operate any vehicle upon a street or highway unless such vehicle is so laden as to prevent its contents from shifting or otherwise unbalancing the vehicle to such an extent as to interfere with the safe operation of the same.
   (b)   No motor vehicle or trailer shall be driven unless the tailboard or tailgate, tarpaulins, chains (except ground or contact chains), ropes, stakes, poles, and the like, or any part of the load, are securely fastened to prevent dangling, flapping, swinging or falling from the side, end or top of the load or body. All projecting cargo shall be properly guarded by a red flag or cloth or a red light or lantern as required by Section 337.08.
   (c)   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.
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