(a) Except as otherwise provided in this article, it shall be unlawful for any person to drive, operate or move, or to cause or permit to be driven, operated or moved, on any public street within the city, any commercial motor vehicle with or without load, contrary to any of the regulations contained in this section.
(b) Commercial motor vehicles shall be subject to the vehicle width, length and height limitations and restrictions which are delineated in V.T.C.S. Article 6701d-11, § 3.
(c) No commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor, trailer, semi-trailer nor combination of such vehicles shall be operated or caused or permitted to be operated upon any public street within the city having a weight in excess of any one or more of the following limitations:
(1) In no event shall the total gross weight, with load, of any vehicle or combination of vehicles, exceed 80,000 pounds;
(2) No axle shall carry a load in excess of 20,000 pounds. An
AXLE LOAD shall be defined as the total load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers may be included between two parallel transverse vertical planes 40 inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle;
(3) The total gross weight concentrated on the highway surface from any tandem axle group shall not exceed 34,000 pounds for each such tandem axle group.
TANDEM AXLE GROUP is defined to be two or more axles spaced 40 inches or more apart from center to center having at least one common point of weight suspension;
(4) Vehicles used exclusively to transport ready-mix concrete may be operated upon the public streets of the city with a tandem axle load not to exceed 44,000 pounds, a single axle load not to exceed 20,000 pounds and a gross load not to exceed 64,000 pounds. Before any vehicle used exclusively to transport ready-mixed concrete with a tandem axle load in excess of 34,000 pounds may be operated upon the public streets of the city, the owner thereof shall file with the office of consumer affairs a surety bond in the sum of $15,000. Such bond shall be conditioned that the owner of such vehicle will pay to the city all damages done to the public streets and highways by reason of the operation of such vehicle with a tandem axle load in excess of 34,000 pounds; and
(5) A limit is placed on the amount of load which may be carried by vehicle tires, according to the width in inches of the tires, as follows:
a. Six hundred and fifty pounds per inch for low pressure tires; and
b. Six hundred pounds per inch for high pressure tires.
(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
(1) Any person operating or causing to be operated a motor vehicle under a valid and subsisting permit for the operation of overweight or oversize equipment for the transportation of such commodities as cannot be reasonably dismantled issued by the state highway department under the provisions of Tex. Revised Civil Statutes Article 6701a as such Article now exists or might from time to time be amended;
(2) Emergency vehicles operating in response to any emergency call;
(3) Vehicles operated for the purpose of constructing or maintaining any public utility in the city.
(4) Vehicles used exclusively to transport solid wastes, as defined in Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, may be operated in accordance with V.T.C.S. Article 6701d-19a of that statute; and
(5) Vehicles used exclusively to transport milk may be operated in accordance with V.T.C.S. Article 6701d-12a of Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes.
(e) The permits referred to in subsection (d)(1) of this section shall be subject to the following.
(1) Upon written application timely made by any person who desires to operate or cause to be operated on the public streets within the city, overweight or oversize equipment for the transportation of such commodities as cannot be reasonably dismantled, where the total gross weight or size of the vehicle and its load exceed the limits allowed by this section, the office of consumer affairs, after consulting with the public works department, shall issue a permit for the operation of such equipment or fleets of equipment for a specified period of time, over a route or routes to be designated by the public works department, if such routes can be determined at the time application for the permit is made.
(2) The application for the permit provided for in this section shall be in writing and contain the following:
a. The kind of equipment to be operated, with a complete description of same and a statement as to its weight;
b. The kind of commodity to be transported and a certificate as to its weight;
c. The street or streets over which the equipment is to be operated, and the date or dates and the approximate time of the operation, and the number of trips to be made, except when the nature, route, time or frequency of operation cannot be determined at the time the permit is issued; and
d. The application shall be dated and signed by the applicant.
(3) Before a permit is issued under this section, the applicant for the same shall file with the office of consumer affairs a bond in an amount to be set and approved by the public works department. The amount of such bond shall not exceed the product of the number of vehicles for which a permit is sought multiplied by $15,000, which bond shall be payable to the city and conditioned that the applicant will pay to the city the sum of money necessary to repair any damage which might be occasioned to any public street or publicly owned fixture appurtenant to such street by virtue of operation of any commercial vehicle under such permit. Venue of any suit for recovery upon the bond shall be in the county and any bond issued hereunder shall contain an unambiguous contractual provision to that effect.
(4) A fee shall be charged for each permit as follows:
Oversize load | |
Single-trip | $20 |
Not to exceed 30 days | $45 |
Not to exceed 60 days | $60 |
Not to exceed 90 days | $75 |
Overweight load, single-trip permit only | $20 |
(5) Any permit issued hereunder shall include at least the following:
a. The name of the applicant, the date, a description of the equipment is to be operated and a description of the commodity to be transported;
b. The signature of an authorized member of the police department and the public works department;
c. The time for which the permit is issued; and
d. The specified street or streets over which the equipment is to be operated, insofar as it can be determined at the time the permit is issued.
(1964 Code, § 26-80) (Ord. 7887, § 1, passed 2-27-1979; Ord. 9983, §§ 1—6, passed 10-13-1987; Ord. 10012, § 1, passed 11-24-1987)