A vehicle, except a truck tractor, trailer or semitrailer,
including load, or articulated buses operated by a local public transit system
funded by Act No. 51 of the Public Acts of 1951, being §§ 247.651
to 247.675 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, shall not exceed a total length
of 40 feet. The total length of a semitrailer operating in a truck tractor
and semitrailer combination shall not exceed 53 feet, including load. All
semitrailers longer than 50 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 axles or to the center of the tandem axle assembly if equipped with two
axles. Articulated buses operated by a local public transit system funded
by Act No. 51 of the Public Acts of 1951 may operate with a maximum length
of 65 feet. A combination of truck tractor, semitrailer and trailer, or truck
and semitrailer or trailer, or combination of truck tractor and two semitrailers,
including load, shall not exceed a total overall length of 59 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 28 1/2 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 58 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 65 feet. A truck tractor and semitrailer combination
with a semitrailer length longer than 50 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 50 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 50 feet
shall travel exclusively on highways designated by the appropriate road authority.
City, village and county authorities shall have the option of prohibiting
stops within their jurisdiction 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 time, except that a farm tractor may haul
two wagons or trailers, or 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 44 feet at a speed of not
to exceed 15 mile 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 signals, lamps, marker lamps, steps and hand
holds 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 rearmost transverse load-supporting
structure.