(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) hereof, a vehicle unloaded or with a load shall not exceed a height of thirteen feet, six inches. The owner of a vehicle which collides with a lawfully established bridge or viaduct shall be liable for all damage and injury resulting from a collision caused by the height of the vehicle, whether the clearance of the bridge or viaduct is posted or not.
(b) A truck, truck tractor, semitrailer or trailer manufactured on or after July 27, 1978, shall not be used to transport flammable liquids, in bulk, having a flashpoint at or below seventy degrees Fahrenheit, if the truck, truck tractor, semitrailer or trailer exceeds eleven feet, eight and one-half inches in height. However, safety equipment and those appurtenances which are required by State law, when added to a vehicle, may cause the vehicle height to exceed eleven feet, eight and one-half inches, but shall not cause the vehicle height to exceed thirteen feet, six inches. A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to the penalty provided in Section 486.99(a).
(c) A vehicle, except a truck tractor, trailer or semitrailer, including load, or articulated buses operated by a local public transit system, shall not exceed a total length of forty feet. The total length of a semitrailer operating in a truck tractor and semitrailer combination shall not exceed fifty-three feet, including load. All semitrailers longer than fifty feet shall have a wheelbase of 40.5 feet, plus or minus 0.5 feet, measured from the kingpin coupling to the center of the rear axle or to the center of the tandem axle assembly, if equipped with two axles. Articulated buses operated by a local public transit system may operate with a maximum length of sixty-five feet. A combination of truck tractor, semitrailer and trailer or truck and semitrailer or trailer, or a combination of truck tractor and two semitrailers, including load, shall not exceed a total overall length of fifty-nine feet, except as provided for on routes designated and approved by the State Transportation Department and by local authorities with respect to highways under their jurisdiction on which a person may operate a combination of a truck tractor, semitrailer and trailer or a truck tractor and two semitrailers, with no limit on the overall combination length, if the length of each semitrailer or trailer, including load, does not exceed twenty-eight and one-half feet or the overall length of the semitrailer and trailer or two semitrailers, as measured from the front of the first towed unit to the rear of the second towed unit while the units are coupled together, does not exceed an overall length of fifty-eight feet, including load. The State Transportation Department and local authorities, with respect to highways under their jurisdiction, may designate highways where the overall length of a truck and trailer or semitrailer shall not exceed sixty-five feet. A truck tractor and semitrailer combination with a semitrailer length longer than fifty feet shall not be allowed to operate with more than two axles on the semitrailer. All truck tractor and semitrailer combinations with a semitrailer length longer than fifty feet shall travel exclusively on highways designated by the appropriate road authority. City authorities shall have the option of prohibiting stops within the jurisdiction of the City unless the stop occurs along appropriately designated routes, or is necessary for emergency purposes or to reach shippers, receivers, warehouses and terminals along designated routes. A truck tractor shall not haul more than one trailer and one semitrailer or more than two semitrailers in combination at any one time, except that a farm tractor shall haul two wagons or trailers, and garbage and refuse haulers may, during daylight hours, haul up to four trailers for garbage and refuse collection purposes, not exceeding in any combination a total length of fifty-five feet at a speed of not to exceed fifteen miles per hour. In determining the length of a vehicle or a vehicle combination under this subsection, the length shall not be considered to include safety and energy conservation devices, including, but not limited to, impact absorbing bumpers, rear view mirrors, turn signal lamps, marker lamps, steps and handholds for entry and egress, flexible fender extensions, mud flaps, or splash and spray suppressant devices; load induced tire bulge; refrigeration or heating units; or air compressors. A device shall be excluded from a determination of length only if it is not designed or used for the carrying of cargo. Semitrailers and trailers shall be measured from the front vertical plane of the foremost transverse load-supporting structure to the rear-most transverse load supporting structure.
(d) If a combination of two semitrailers is pulled by a truck tractor, a fifth wheel connecting assembly, which conforms with motor carrier safety rules promulgated by the Department of State Police, pursuant to the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1963, as amended, shall be used on each semitrailer.
(e) A train of vehicles or a vehicle operated alone shall not carry a load extending more than three feet beyond the front of the train of vehicles or vehicle.
(f) A motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer whose frame or body extends more than thirty-six inches beyond the rear of its rear axle and is more than thirty inches above the roadway shall not be operated on the highways of the City unless equipped with a fender or bumper on the extreme rear of the frame or body. The bumper shall extend downward from the rear of the frame or body to within thirty inches of the roadway and be of substantial construction. In addition to the requirements of subsection (g) hereof, no vehicle which is required by Federal law to have an underride guard of not more than twenty-two inches above the roadway shall be operated upon the highways of the City without such an underride guard.
(g) A truck tractor and semitrailer combination with a semitrailer length longer than fifty feet, whose frame or body extends more than thirty-six inches beyond the rear of its rear axle and is more than thirty inches above the roadway, shall not be operated on the highways of the City unless equipped with an underride guard on the extreme rear of the frame or body. The underride guard shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1) Provide a continuous horizontal beam having a maximum ground clearance of twenty-two inches, as measured with the vehicle empty and on level ground.
(2) Extend to within four inches of the lateral extremities of the trailer on both left and right sides.
(h) A truck and semitrailer combination with a semitrailer length longer than fifty feet shall not be operated on the highways of this City at the times specified in M.C.L.A. 257.684, M.S.A. 9.2384, unless equipped with all of the following lamps and reflectors, in addition to any other lamps and reflectors required under the Act:
(1) Two side marker lamps which display an amber light, one on each side of the semitrailer, located at one-half the distance from the front to the rear of the semitrailer.
(2) Two reflectors which reflect an amber light, one on each side of the semitrailer, located at one-half the distance from the front to the rear of the semitrailer.
(3) Two clearance lamps, one on each side of the semitrailer, located at one-half the distance from the front to the rear and as near to the top of the semitrailer as practicable.
(i) A lamp required under subsection (h) hereof shall be lighted at the times specified in M.C.L.A. 257.684, M.S.A. 9.2384, and shall be visible when lighted at a distance of 500 feet from the side of the semitrailer on which it is mounted. A reflector required under subsection (h) hereof shall be visible at the times specified in M.C.L.A. 257.684, M.S.A. 9.2384, from all distances from fifty to 500 feet from the semitrailer when directly in front of lawful upper beams of headlamps.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a person may operate a combination of truck tractor, semitrailer and trailer, or truck tractor and semitrailer or trailer designed and used exclusively to transport assembled motor vehicles or bodies, recreational vehicles or boats, which does not exceed a total length of sixty-five feet. Stinger-steered combinations of truck tractor and semitrailer shall not exceed a total length of seventy-five feet. The load on the combination of vehicles may extend an additional three feet beyond the front and four feet beyond the rear of the combination of vehicles. Retractable extensions used to support and secure the load that do not extend beyond the allowable overhang for the front and rear shall not be included in determining the length of a loaded vehicle or combination of vehicles. As used in this subsection, "stinger-steered" means a semitrailer combination in which the fifth wheel is located on a drop frame located behind and below the rearmost axle of the power unit.
(k) A combination of vehicles shall not have more than eleven axles.
(l) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, a number of motor vehicles, wholly or partially assembled, may be transported over the highways of this City in combination, utilizing one tow bar or three saddle mounts with full mount mechanisms and utilizing the motive power of one of the vehicles in combination. The combination may not exceed the maximum length of sixty-five feet for the transportation of assembled motor vehicles, and the vehicles in the combination shall be adequately and securely fastened together in compliance with regulations of the State and of any Federal agency having jurisdiction over the transportation. If motor vehicles are towed by means of triple-saddle mounts, the towed vehicles shall have brakes acting on all wheels which are in contact with the roadway. A combination exceeding fifty-five feet in length may be operated only on highways and routes approved and designated for that operation by the State Transportation Commission and by the City Engineer.
(m) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, a person may operate a truck and semitrailer or trailer, designed and used to transport saw logs, pulpwood and tree-length poles, that does not exceed an overall length of seventy feet, including load. These combinations of vehicles shall only be operated upon highways designated by the State Transportation Department or the City Engineer with respect to highways under their jurisdiction.
(n) The total gross weight of a truck tractor, semitrailer and trailer combination or a truck tractor and two semitrailers in combination which exceeds fifty-nine feet in length shall not exceed a ratio of 400 pounds per engine net horsepower delivered to clutch or its equivalent specified in the SAE handbook published by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. (1977).
(o) Except as provided in subsection (b) hereof, a person who violates this section is responsible for a civil infraction.
(Res. 93-512. Passed 7-26-93.)