(A) Except as otherwise provided herein, it shall be unlawful and in violation of this Code for any person to drive, operate or move, or to cause or permit to be driven, operated or moved on public property, public sidewalks or a public street other than a state or federal highway within the corporate limits of the city, any commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor, trailer or semi-trailer or combination of such vehicles having a weight in excess of one or more of the following limitations.
(1) No such vehicle or combination of vehicles shall have a greater weight than 20,000 pounds carried on any one axle; or with a tandem-axle weight in excess of 34,000 pounds; or with an overall gross weight on a group of two or more consecutive axles calculated by application of the following formula.
W = 500 (LN + 12N + 36)
N-1
N-1
Where:
W = Overall gross weight on any group of two or more consecutive axles to the nearest 500 pounds.
L = Distance in feet between the extreme of any group of two or more consecutive axles.
N = Number of axles in group under consideration, except that two consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of 34,000 pounds each, providing the overall distance between the first and last axles of such consecutive sets of tandem axles is 36 feet or more; provided, that such overall gross weight may not exceed 80,000 pounds.
(B) Vehicles used exclusively to transport ready-mixed concrete shall be operated in accordance with the following rules and regulations governing the operation of vehicles to transport ready-mixed concrete over public highways maintained by the city.
(1) No single axle load shall exceed 20,000 pounds.
(2) No tandem-axle load shall exceed 36,000 pounds.
(3) No gross load shall exceed 48,000 pounds.
(4) No such vehicle shall be operated unless it shall be equipped with a functioning device attached to the concrete chute which is designed to trap concrete and which is in proper position to trap concrete at all times when the vehicle is operated on a public street within the city.
(C) Vehicles used exclusively to transport milk may be operated if the distance between the front wheel of the forward tandem axle and the rear wheel of the rear tandem axle, measured longitudinally, is at least 28 feet, and the maximum load carried on any group of axles does not exceed 68,000 pounds.
(D) Vehicles used exclusively to transport solid waste (except hazardous waste), as defined in the Solid Waste Disposal Act, Tex. Health & Safety Code §§ 361.001 et seq., may be operated upon the public streets of the city with a tandem-axle gross load not to exceed 44,000 pounds, a single-axle gross load not to exceed 20,000 pounds and a gross load for the vehicle not to exceed 64,000 pounds, provided that where the vehicle is to be operated with a tandem-axle load in excess of 34,000 pounds, the owner shall have first filed with the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation a surety bond as required by Tex. Transp. Code § 623.163.
(E) No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall have a greater weight than 600 pounds per inch width of tire upon any wheel concentrated upon the surface of the highway and using high-pressure tires, and a greater weight than 650 pounds per inch width of tire upon any wheel concentrated upon the surface of the highway and using low-pressure tires, and no wheel shall carry a load in excess of 8,000 pounds on high-pressure tires and 10,000 pounds on low-pressure tires, nor any axle load in excess of 16,000 pounds on high-pressure tires and 20,000 pounds on low-pressure tires.
(F) In this section, an axle load is 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. Tandem-axle group is defined as two or more axles spaced 40 inches or more apart from center to center having at least one common point of weight suspension.
('78 Code, § 16-26) (Ord. 182, passed 10-12-65; Ord. 498, passed 7-11-83; Ord. 709, passed 11-24-86) Penalty, see § 70.99