Wyoming Administrative Code
Agency 045 - Transportation, Dept. of
Sub-Agency 0004 - Motor Carrier
Chapter 5 - SIZE AND WEIGHT LIMITATIONS OF VEHICLES
Section 5-2 - Definitions

(a) "Agricultural operations" means the raising and harvesting of their own crops or livestock in this state by farmers or ranchers, their exchange between farmers or ranchers or the transportation of implements of husbandry to or from farmers or ranchers by persons engaged in the business of selling or repairing such implements. (s)

(b) "Agricultural products" means the produce of husbandry. (a)

(c) "Axle" means the common axis of rotation of one or more wheels, whether power driven or freely rotating, and whether in one or more segments, and regardless of the number of wheels carried thereon. (s)

(d) "Axle group" means an assemblage of 2 or more consecutive axles considered together in determining their combined load effect on a bridge or pavement structure. (s)

(e) "Axle load" means the total load transmitted to the road by an assembly of 2 or more wheels whose centers are in one transverse vertical plane or may be included between 2 parallel transverse vertical planes 40 inches apart extending across the full width of the vehicle. (s)

(f) "Axle measurement" means the distance between axles to the nearest foot. When fractional measurement is exactly one-half foot, the next larger whole number shall be used. (s)

(g) "Camp shack" means portable on-site living quarters. (a)

(h) "Cargo" means the items or freight to be moved, including items placed on or in a vehicle, towed by a vehicle or a vehicle itself (s)

(i) "Coarse aggregate" means material as retained on a No. 4 (4.75 mm) sieve. (a)

(j) "Commission" means the Transportation Commission of Wyoming. (s)

(k) "Connecting mechanism" means an arrangement of parts interconnecting 2 or more consecutive axles to a vehicle in such a manner as to equalize the load between axles. (s)

(l) "Construction or off-road machinery tires" means a minimum tire width of 18 inches (45.72 cm) as stamped on the tire by the manufacturer and a minimum rim diameter of 25 inches (63.5 cm). (a)

(m) "Daylight hours" means one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset. (a)

(n) "Department" means the Department of Transportation. (s)

(o) "Director" means the director of the Department of Transportation. (s)

(p) "Dromedary unit" means a box, deck, or plate mounted behind the cab and forward of the fifth wheel on the frame of a truck-tractor not to exceed 6 feet in length from the back of the cab or sleeper berth. (a)

(q) "Dunnage" means equipment strictly used for loading, unloading, blocking, bracing, and dropping the trailer for operation upon the highway. (a)

(r) "Emergency" means a condition vital to the national defense or an unforeseen circumstance, threatening life or property, and requiring prompt action. (a)

(s) "Escort" means a vehicle accompanying a movement displaying proper lights, signs, and equipment. (a)

(t) "Exchange" means not receiving funds for a service or product. (a)

(u) "Extended period permit" means a permit issued to cover a specific load, permitting movement for a specified period of time and over specified routes or statewide. (a)

(v) "Flags or flagged" means the display of red or fluorescent orange flags not less than 12 inches square. (a)

(w) "Forest products" means logs, poles, posts, rough lumber, wood chips, sawdust, and any other product of the forest which will require further processing. (s)

(x) "Gravel" means pit-run stone, coarse aggregate, and a product of screened stone, crushed stone, or a combination thereof. Materials not included in the definition of gravel are sand, silt, clay, and refined by-products that use gravel, such as plant-mixed asphalt, cement treated base, and Portland cement concrete. (a)

(y) "Gross weight" means the total weight of a vehicle and vehicle combinations including the weight of any load carried in or on the vehicle and vehicle combinations. (s)

(z) "Height" means the total vertical dimension of any vehicle above the ground surface including any load or load-holding device thereon. (s)

(aa) "Highway" means a public way maintained by the Department for the purpose of vehicular travel, including rights-of-way or other interests in land, embankments, retaining walls, culverts, sluices, drainage structures, bridges, railroad-highway crossings, tunnels, signs, guardrails and protective structures. (s)

(bb) "House trailer" means

(cc) "Implement of husbandry" means a vehicle or vehicles manufactured or designed and used exclusively for the conduct of agricultural operations and only incidentally operated on or moved on highways. (s)

(dd) "Indivisible load" please see "non-divisible load." When Wyoming statutes use the term indivisible load, that load will be considered as a "non-divisible load" for purposes of these rules. (a) (Please see definition [ll] and Section 4 [m].)

(ee) "Interstate or National Defense Highway" means highways which are designated as part of the interstate system by the transportation commission which are signed and marked accordingly. (s)

(ff) "Jib boom extension," "Jib boom," or "boom extension" means the structure manufactured as original equipment (OEM), which is attached to the main boom of a crane and is intended to extend the length of the boom.

(gg) "Length" means the total longitudinal dimension of any vehicle or combination of vehicles, including any load or load-holding device thereon, but excluding any device or appurtenance attached to the front or rear of a semitrailer or trailer whose function is related to the safety of, or efficient operation of the unit or contents. Excluded devices include, but are not limited to: air hose glad hands, fifth wheel slide plates, dock bumpers, air deflectors and refrigeration units. No excluded devices shall be designed or used for carrying cargo. (s)

(hh) "Load" means a weight or quantity of anything resting upon something else regarded as its support. (s)

(ii) "Motor home" means a motor vehicle designed, constructed and equipped as a dwelling place, living abode or sleeping place, either permanently or temporarily, but excluding a motor vehicle carrying a camper. (s)

(jj) "Motor vehicle" means a vehicle which is self-propelled or propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operating on rails. (s)

(kk) "Nearest point of safekeeping" means towing a damaged, disabled, or abandoned vehicle, on a primary tow, to the towing vehicle's place of business or an applicable repair facility. However, in no event shall the distance towed exceed 150 miles as measured from the point of retrieving the vehicle to the termination of the tow. The mileage shall be measured in road miles using the most recent Official State Highway Map of Wyoming.

(ll) "Non-divisible load or vehicle" means any vehicle or load exceeding statutory size or weight limits (or both), and

(mm) "Overweight Loads Office" means the office within the Wyoming Highway Patrol responsible for processing requests to move loads exceeding normal oversize or overweight limits, administering the self-issuing permit program, and administering permits for exceeding 117,000 pounds gross weight (Class W permits). (a)

(nn) "Operational configuration" means that the vehicle or load's parts are arranged and attached in the manner that they will be used when being operated on site, for the purpose the equipment is designed. This exception in no way allows the transporting of commodities in or on the vehicle or load. (a)

(oo) "Oversize load" means a cargo, fixed or unfixed, that exceeds statutory size limits. (a)

(pp) Over-the-road bus" means a bus characterized by an elevated passenger deck located over a baggage compartment, and typically operating on the Intestate System or roads previously designated as making up the Federal-aid Primary System. (a)

(qq) "Overweight load" means a cargo fixed or unfixed that exceeds statutory weight limits. (a)

(rr) "Permit" means a written authorization to move or operate on a highway a vehicle or vehicle with a load of size or weight exceeding the limits as specified by statute, which are limited by this act [law] and regulations of the Department. (s)

(ss) "Permit-issuing authorities" means those people authorized under Section 4, Permit-issuing Authorities and Type of Permits Available, of these rules and regulations to issue oversize and/or overweight permits. (a)

(tt) "Pickup truck" means any motor vehicle, excluding multipurpose vehicles and passenger cars, designed, used or maintained for the transportation of property with an attached open cargo box directly behind the passenger compartment and designed to be equipped with a tailgate which can be lowered or opened to load or unload property or cargo. (s)

(uu) "Pneumatic tire" means every tire in which compressed air is designed to support the load. (s)

(vv) "Pole trailer" means every vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach, or pole, or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle, and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads as poles, pipes or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. (s)

(ww) "Primary and secondary highways" means highways which are designated as part of the primary or secondary system by the Transportation Commission which are signed and marked accordingly. (s)

(xx) "Primary tow" means the first time a vehicle is attached to the tow vehicle for removal. Once the towed vehicle has been disconnected or dropped from the tow vehicle, any subsequent tows shall be considered secondary tows and be subject to the provisions of W.S. W.S. W.S. 31-18-802 and W.S. W.S. W.S. 31-18-804. (a)

(yy) "Produce of husbandry" means the product of farming or ranching operation derived directly from the soil, including livestock, fish, and bee raising. (a)

(zz) "Public transit bus" means any vehicle that is regularly and exclusively used as an intrastate public agency transit passenger bus. (a)

(aaa) "Recreational vehicle" means a vehicle designed primarily as living quarters for recreational, camping, vacation or travel use which has an electrical system which operates above 12 volts and has a plumbing and heating system. (s)

(bbb) "Registered vehicle" means a vehicle designed to be operated primarily upon the highway and that requires licensing in Wyoming. (a)

(ccc) "Resident" means any individual, partnership, or corporation having a principle place of business in Wyoming for a period of one year or more. (a)

(ddd) "Roadway" means that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the sidewalk, berm or shoulder. In the event a highway includes 2 or more separate roadways the term "roadway" as used herein shall refer to any such roadway separately but not to all such roadways collectively. (s)

(eee) "Saddlemount" means a vehicle combination designed and specifically used to tow no more than 3 trucks or truck tractors, each connected by a saddle to the frame or fifth wheel of the truck or truck tractor in front of it. (a)

(fff) "Safety device" means any piece of equipment or mechanism, including rear view mirrors, pin pockets not to exceed 3 inches on each side and other devices designated by the Director, attached to a vehicle to assure its safe operation and to assure the safe movement of a load hauled by the vehicle. (s)

(ggg) "Self-issuing permits" means a permit issued and completed by qualified Wyoming resident applicants. (a)

(hhh) "Semi-trailer" means every vehicle of a trailer type not equipped with propelling power so designed for carrying property and used in conjunction with a motor vehicle that some part of its own weight and load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle. (s)

(iii) "Separate movement" means each movement of a vehicle or load to a specified location. Round trip movements may be allowed when the entire move from origin to destination(s) and return shall be completed in the same calendar day. Permits are vehicle, load, and route specific. (a)

(jjj) "Single axle" means an assemblage of 2 or more wheels, whose centers are in one transverse vertical plane or may be included between 2 parallel transverse vertical planes 40 inches apart extending across the full width of the vehicle. (s)

(kkk) "Single unit" means one vehicle or the combination of all trailing components in a heavy haul configuration (jeep, trailer, booster, or push truck), including any front or rear overhang. (a)

(lll) "Slow-moving vehicle emblem" means the Standard American Society of Agricultural Engineers emblem designating a vehicle designed to operate at speeds of 25 miles per hour or less. (a)

(mmm) "Statutory limits" means those size and weight limits, established by Wyoming law, under which a load can be moved over the highways without having to secure a permit. (a)

(nnn) "Super load" means a load that exceeds Class B or C limits. (a)

(ooo) "Tandem axle" means any 2 or more consecutive load bearing axles whose centers are more than 40 inches, but not more than 96 inches apart and articulate from an attachment to the vehicle including a variable load suspension or connecting mechanism designed to distribute the load between axles. (s)

(ppp) "Tire width" means the width stamped on the tire by the manufacturer. (a)

(qqq) "Trailer" means every vehicle not equipped with propelling power, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle which carries no part of the weight and load of a trailer on its own wheels. (s)

(rrr) "Transportable home" means and includes the following as defined:

(sss) "Triple axle" means any 3 consecutive load bearing axles whose centers are more than 96 inches, and not more than 102 inches, apart and that articulate from an attachment to the vehicle including a connecting mechanism or variable load suspension axle to keep all axles at or below legal limits. (a)

(ttt) "Truck" means a motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. (s)

(uuu) "Truck camper" means a portable unit constructed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, travel or camping use, consisting of a roof, floor and sides, designed to be loaded onto and unloaded from the bed of a pickup truck. (s)

(vvv) "Truck-tractor" means a motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles but not for loads other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load drawn. For the purpose of this article [rule], a truck-tractor equipped with a dromedary unit shall be considered a part of the weight of the vehicle and not a load thereon and a truck-tractor and semi-trailer engaged in the transportation of automobiles may transport motor vehicles on part of the power unit. (s)

(www) "Variable load suspension axle" means an axle that may be adjusted to vary the weight carried by the axle. (s)

(xxx) "Vehicle" means a device in, upon or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon rails or tracks. (s)

(yyy) "Vehicle combination" means any connected assemblage of a motor vehicle and one or more other vehicles. (s)

(zzz) "Width" means the total outside transverse dimension of a vehicle including any load or load-holding devices thereon, but excluding approved safety devices and tire bulge due to load. (s)

Exclusions to width measurement include the following: