Code of Maryland Regulations
Title 11 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Subtitle 04 - STATE HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION
Chapter 11.04.02 - General Conditions for Movement of Oversize and Overweight Vehicles
Section 11.04.02.01-1 - Miscellaneous Conditions
Universal Citation: MD Code Reg 11.04.02.01-1
Current through Register Vol. 52, No. 6, March 21, 2025
A. The conditions set forth in §§B-K of this regulation apply to each permit for an oversize or overweight vehicle.
B. Compliance.
(1) While making a move under the authority
of any permit, the permittee or user shall comply with the vehicle laws of
Maryland (except those general size and weight limits from which the permit
authorizes departure), the regulations under COMAR 11.04.01-11.04.04,
conditions, both general and specific, attached to the permit, and all updates
posted on the Motor Carrier Division and CHART websites found at
www.marylandroads.com.
(2)
Notwithstanding any other provision of COMAR and absent an emergency
declaration by the Governor, the Director, Office of Traffic and Safety may
request and the Administrator may grant, reasonable exceptions of limited scope
and duration to these conditions and any other requirements considered
appropriate for reasons of public safety including, but not limited to,
disaster relief outside the State and emergency response throughout the
State.
C. Failure to Comply.
(1) Failure to comply with weight or
dimension limits, or with other provisions (including restrictions, conditions,
and notes) stated specifically in a permit or updates posted on the Motor
Carrier Division and CHART websites found at www.marylandroads.com, renders the
permit subject to immediate revocation and confiscation by any officer or
authorized civilian employee of the Maryland State Police, any officer of the
Maryland Transportation Authority Police, or any other police
officer.
(2) If a permit is revoked
for failure to comply with weight or size limitations, the permittee or user of
the permitted vehicle shall be cited for the weight in excess of the permitted
weight and for size in excess of the permitted size.
(2-1) If the weight violation exceeds the allowable permit weight by more than 5,000 pounds, the permitted vehicle shall be subject to all weight limitations and tolerances otherwise specified by Transportation Article, Title 24, Annotated Code of Maryland.
(2-2) A weight violation of an exceptional hauling permit, voids the permit and the permitted vehicle shall be subject to all weight limitations and tolerances otherwise specified by Transportation Article, Title 24, Annotated Code of Maryland.
(3) A permitted vehicle may not go off the
route specified on the permit by more than 1 mile to rest or to secure food,
fuel, or repairs. Failure to comply subjects the permitted vehicle to all
weight limitations and tolerances otherwise specified by Transportation
Article, Title 24, Annotated Code of Maryland.
(4) If a permittee or user is cited only for
permit violations, the citing officer or authorized civilian employee of the
Maryland State Police, an officer of the Maryland Transportation Authority
Police, or other police officer may confiscate the permit.
(5) If a permit is revoked or confiscated,
the permittee shall apply for a new permit.
(6) If a permit is revoked for failure to
comply, the permittee shall obtain a new permit before moving the vehicle on
any highway in the State.
(7) An
officer or authorized civilian employee of the Maryland State Police, an
officer of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, or another police
officer who confiscates a permit shall immediately notify the Unit and return
the confiscated permit to the Unit after it has been used as evidence in any
law enforcement proceedings brought against the permittee or user.
D. The permit carried in a vehicle is open for inspection by, and the permittee or user shall exhibit it upon request to, any State, county, municipal, or other public official, including any officer or civilian employee of the Maryland State Police, any employee of the Maryland Transportation Authority, and any employee of the Administration, or to any person involved in an accident with that vehicle.
E. The permittee shall reduce each vehicle and load which together are overweight of as much excess weight as possible and each vehicle and load which together are oversized as much as possible, unless the vehicle or load is irreducible.
F. The applicant for an irreducible load permit has the burden of proof as to the number of hours required to dismantle the load. Irreducible is defined in Regulation .01B(5) of this chapter.
G. The Unit may issue a permit without an engineering structural review to a vehicle which weighs more than 80,000 pounds, but which does not exceed 120,000 pounds.
H. The Unit may require an applicant to provide certified weight measurements.
I. The permit does not authorize, and the permittee may not carry, a load which exceeds the tire manufacturer's weight rating.
J. Combination Vehicles.
(1) Size.
(a) Width of Load. Vehicles with buckets,
blades, scoops, or other attachments over 12 feet wide measured perpendicular
to the vehicle's longitudinal center line shall have the buckets, blades,
scoops, or other attachments removed and transported on another
vehicle.
(b) Height of Load. A pole
vehicle escort shall accompany vehicles and loads exceeding a height of 14 feet
6 inches.
(2) Weight.
(a) Heavy Machinery. A permittee of a vehicle
with a load of heavy machinery shall comply with the requirements of §E of
this regulation.
(b) The Unit may
not issue a permit authorizing a permittee to carry more than 27,000 pounds on
any one axle of the permit vehicle except under the specific exceptions set
forth in §J(3) of this regulation.
(c) An overweight combination vehicle using a
semitrailer and manufactured and purchased after October 31, 1997, shall comply
with the 27,000 pound per axle maximum load limit.
(d) The Unit may issue a permit to a vehicle
or a vehicle and load weighing more than 150,000 pounds only after a valid
engineering structural review.
(e)
The Unit may issue a permit without an engineering structural review to a
vehicle which weighs more than 120,000 pounds, but which does not exceed
150,000 pounds, if the Unit determines that the vehicle will travel only on
roadways for which a review is not required and the applicant has reduced the
vehicle load or increased the number of axles on the vehicle tractor or
semitrailer, or on both, to bring the vehicle within the following per-axle
weight limits and axle spacing requirements:
(i) Steering axle-20,000 pounds;
(ii) Single axle (axle spacing over 8
feet)-27,000 pounds;
(iii) Two
(tandem) axles (axle spacing 4-8 feet)-26,000 pounds per axle;
(iv) Three (tri) axles (axle spacing 8-16
feet)-21,000 pounds per axle;
(v)
Four or more axles (minimum axle spacing 4 feet)-18,000 pounds per
axle;
(vi) Minimum inner bridge
axle spacing is 30 feet.
(3) Exceptions.
(a) An overweight combination vehicle using a
semitrailer and registered, manufactured, or in the inventory of a licensed
dealer on or before October 31, 1997, and sold before June 30, 1998, shall
comply with the 27,000 pounds per axle maximum load limit after June 30,
2012.
(b) An existing overweight
combination vehicle using a semitrailer may continue to be operated with axle
loads not exceeding 30,000 pounds until October 31, 2012, if it complies with
the permit regulations in effect on January 1, 1997, and, if the gross vehicle
weight exceeds 110,000 pounds (55 tons), pays the fees set forth in COMAR
11.04.01 for any required engineering structural reviews.
(4) Load Reduction-Construction Equipment.
(a) A weight of a permitted vehicle of up to
and including 27,000 pounds per axle shall be considered as irreducible if the
vehicle is in compliance with the requirements of §J of this
regulation.
(b) A weight of a
permitted vehicle over 27,000 pounds and up to 30,000 pounds per axle shall be
considered as irreducible if the vehicle is in compliance with the requirements
of §J(1) of this regulation.
(5) Maximum Axle Weight.
(a) A vehicle that has reduced the load as
much as possible and that has added as many axles as possible, but still is not
able to achieve the 27,000 pound maximum axle weight limit, may still qualify
for a permit.
(b) After the
permittee demonstrates that axle weights have been reduced as much as possible,
the Administration's Office of Bridge Development shall perform a bridge review
and analysis on an individual basis.
(c) A combination vehicle seeking this
maximum axle weight exception shall have a minimum of 15 axles on the entire
combination vehicle, and any axle weighing more than 27,000 pounds shall have a
minimum of eight tires and be at least 10 feet wide.
(d) An axle on a combination vehicle may not
weigh more than 36,000 pounds.
K. Self-Propelled Vehicles.
(1) Size.
(a) Width of Load. Vehicles with buckets,
blades, scoops, or other attachments over 12 feet wide measured perpendicular
to the vehicle's longitudinal center line shall have the buckets, blades,
scoops, or other attachments removed and transported on another
vehicle.
(b) Height of Load. A pole
vehicle escort shall accompany vehicles and loads exceeding a height of 14 feet
6 inches.
(2) Weight.
(a) The Unit may not issue a permit
authorizing a permittee to carry more than 27,000 pounds on any one axle of the
permit vehicle except under the specific exceptions set forth in §K(3) of
this regulation.
(b) A
self-propelled truck crane manufactured and purchased after October 31, 1997,
shall comply with the 27,000 pound per axle maximum load limit.
(c) A self-propelled vehicle with a gross
vehicle weight of 120,000 pounds or less which meets the requirements of this
chapter and COMAR 11.04.01, 11.04.03, and 11.04.04 may obtain a permit from the
Unit without an engineering structural review by the Administration's Office of
Bridge Development.
(d) The Unit
may issue a permit for a self-propelled crane (hydraulic or lattice boom) with
a gross vehicle weight in excess of 120,000 pounds without requiring a bridge
review for each move after the Administration's Office of Bridge Development
performs an initial special bridge analysis and, as necessary or prudent,
subsequent special bridge analyses for each self-propelled truck crane
configuration if the:
(i) Maryland State
Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section has certified the axle weight and
axle spacings of the applicant's vehicle before the application is submitted
for a bridge analysis; and
(ii)
Crane configuration has a maximum axle weight of 27,000 pounds, and a minimum
of five axles.
(e) The
Unit shall keep a file of approved self-propelled crane configurations and any
restrictions for them.
(3) Exceptions-Self-Propelled Truck Cranes
(Hydraulic and Lattice Boom).
(a) A
self-propelled truck crane owned, manufactured, or in the inventory of a
licensed dealer on or before October 31, 1997, and sold before October 31,
1998, shall comply with the 27,000 pounds per axle maximum load limit after
October 31, 2012.
(b) To bring this
vehicle into compliance with the 27,000 pound per axle maximum load limit, the
use of boom dollies, the addition of booster axles, or other comparable
measures are allowed.
(c) A
self-propelled truck crane may continue to be operated with axle loads not
exceeding 30,000 pounds until October 31, 2012, if it complies with the permit
regulations in effect on January 1, 1997, and, if the gross vehicle weight
exceeds 110,000 pounds (55 tons), pays the fees set forth in COMAR 11.04.01 for
any required engineering structural reviews.
(4) Load Reduction.
(a) A weight of a permitted vehicle of up to
and including 27,000 pounds per axle shall be considered as
irreducible.
(b) A permittee of a
vehicle with a weight over 27,000 pounds and up to 30,000 pounds per axle shall
remove counterweights as necessary.
(5) Maximum Axle Weight.
(a) A vehicle that has reduced the load as
much as possible and that has added as many axles as possible, but still is not
able to achieve the 27,000 pound maximum axle weight limit, may still qualify
for a permit.
(b) After the
permittee demonstrates that axle weights have been reduced as much as possible,
the Administration's Office of Bridge Development shall perform a bridge review
and analysis on an individual basis.
(c) A self-propelled vehicle seeking this
maximum axle weight exception shall have a minimum of seven axles.
(d) An axle on a self-propelled vehicle may
not weigh more than 32,000 pounds.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Maryland may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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