(a)
Except as otherwise provided herein, it shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any person to drive, operate or move and/or cause or permit to be driven, operated, or moved on a public street, other than a state or federal highway within the corporate limits of the town, any motor vehicle, with or without load, contrary to any of the regulations contained in this section.
(b)
(1)
No vehicle shall exceed a total outside width, including any load thereon, of 96 inches except that the width of a farm tractor shall not exceed nine feet, excepting further that the limitations as to size of vehicle shall not apply to implements of husbandry, machinery used solely for the purpose of drilling water wells regardless of whether it is a unit in itself or is a unit mounted on a conventional vehicle or chassis, and highway building and maintenance machinery temporarily propelled or moved upon the public highways, excepting further, that the limitations as to size of vehicles stated in this section shall not apply to vehicles on which implements of husbandry are being carried or moved provided such vehicles are being moved by the owner thereof or his agent or employee for the purpose of carrying on agricultural operations, and provided further that such implements are being moved or carried a distance of not more than 50 miles.
(2)
No vehicle unladen or with load shall exceed a height of 13 feet six inches including load.
(3)
No motor vehicle shall exceed a length of 45 feet. It shall be unlawful for any combination of vehicles to be coupled together, including, but not limited to, a truck and semitrailer, truck and trailer, truck-trailer and semitrailer and trailer, truck-tractor and two trailers, to exceed a length of 65 feet, if such combination of vehicles is operated exclusively within the town limits; provided further that the above limitations shall not apply to any mobile home and a motor vehicle, but no mobile home and motor vehicle combination shall exceed a total length of 55 feet. No mobile home, as the same is defined herein, shall be entitled to the exception contained in this subsection unless the owner thereof shall have paid all taxes, including ad valorem taxes, and fees due and payable under the laws of this state, levied on said mobile home.
No passenger car, regardless of weight, nor any other motor vehicle with an unloaded weight of less than 2,500 pounds, may be coupled with more than one other vehicle or towing device at one time, provided that this section does not apply to the towing of a disabled vehicle to the nearest intake place for repairs.
If a passenger or other motor vehicle has an unloaded weight of 2,500 pounds or more, it may be coupled with a towing device and one other vehicle.
(4)
No combination of vehicles or vehicle operated alone shall carry any load extending more than three feet beyond the front thereof, nor, except as hereinabove provided, more than four feet beyond the rear thereof.
(5)
No passenger vehicle shall carry any load extending more than three (3) inches beyond the line of the fenders on the left side of such vehicle, nor extending more than six inches beyond the line of the fenders on the right side thereof; provided, that the total overall width of such passenger vehicle shall in no event exceed 96 inches, including any and all such load.
(c)
No motor vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be operated or caused or permitted to be operated upon any public street within the corporate limits of the town 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)
"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" is defined as 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 town with a tandem-axle load not to exceed 36,000 pounds; a single axle load not to exceed 12,000 pounds; and a gross load not to exceed 48,000 pounds.
(5)
Vehicles used exclusively to transport milk may be operated upon the public streets of the town if 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)
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 oversized equipment for the transportation of such commodities as cannot be reasonably dismantled issued by the State Department of Transportation under the provisions of V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, § 623.011.
(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 town.
(e)
Any peace officer having reason to believe that the gross weight or axle load of a loaded motor vehicle is unlawful is authorized to weigh the same by means of portable or stationary scales, or cause the same to be weighed by any public weigher, and to require that such vehicle be driven to the nearest available scales for the purpose of weighing. In the event the gross weight of such vehicle be found to exceed the maximum gross weight authorized by law, plus a tolerance allowance of five percent of the gross weight authorized by law, such peace officer shall issue an appropriate citation, unless the operator possesses a valid overweight permit.
(Ordinance 85-19, § 9, adopted 9/13/1985)