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92_HB2252 LRB9200709ARcd 1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by 5 changing Section 15-111 as follows: 6 (625 ILCS 5/15-111) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 15-111) 7 Sec. 15-111. Wheel and axle loads and gross weights. 8 (a) No vehicle or combination of vehicles equipped with 9 pneumatic tires shall be operated, unladen or with load, upon 10 the highways of this State when the gross weight on the road 11 surface through any single axle thereof exceeds 18,000 12 pounds, except when a different limit is established and 13 posted in accordance with Section 15-316 and except any 14 single axle of a 2 axle motor vehicle weighing 36,000 pounds 15 or less and not a part of a combination of vehicles, shall 16 not exceed 20,000 pounds. Provided, however, that any single 17 axle of a 2 axle motor vehicle equipped with a personnel lift 18 or digger derrick, weighing 36,000 pounds or less, owned and 19 operated by a public utility, shall not exceed 20,000 pounds. 20 No vehicle or combination of vehicles equipped with other 21 than pneumatic tires shall be operated, unladen or with load, 22 upon the highways of this State when the gross weight on the 23 road surface through any wheel thereof exceeds 800 pounds per 24 inch width of tire tread or when the gross weight on the road 25 surface through any axle thereof exceeds 16,000 pounds. The 26 gross weight transmitted to the road surface through tandem 27 axles shall not exceed 32,000 pounds and no axle of the 28 series shall exceed the maximum weight permitted under this 29 Section for a single axle. Provided that on a 4 axle vehicle 30 or on a 5 or more axle combination of vehicles the weight on 31 a series of 3 axles whose centers are more than 96 inches -2- LRB9200709ARcd 1 apart, measured between extreme axles in the series, shall 2 not exceed those allowed on 3 axles in the table contained in 3 subsection (f) of this Section and no axle or tandem axle of 4 the series shall exceed the maximum weight permitted under 5 this Section for a single or tandem axle. Provided also that 6 a 3 axle vehicle or 3 axle truck mixer registered as a 7 Special Hauling Vehicle, used exclusively for the mixing and 8 transportation of concrete, specially equipped with a road 9 surface engaging mixer trailing 4th axle, manufactured 10 prior to or in the model year of 2004 and first registered in 11 Illinois prior to January 1, 2005, with a distance greater 12 than 72 inches but not more than 96 inches between any series 13 of 2 axles may transmit to the road surface a maximum weight 14 of 18,000 pounds on each of these axles with a gross weight 15 on these 2 axles not to exceed 36,000 pounds. Any such 16 vehicle manufactured in the model year of 2004 or thereafter 17 or first registered in Illinois after December 31, 2004 may 18 transmit to the road surface a maximum of 32,000 pounds 19 through these 2 axles and none of the axles shall exceed 20 18,000 pounds. 21 A truck, not in combination and specially equipped with a 22 selfcompactor, or an industrial roll-off hoist and roll-off 23 container, used exclusively for garbage or refuse operations, 24 and a truck used exclusively for the collection of rendering 25 materials may, however, when laden, transmit upon the road 26 surface of any highway except when part of the National 27 System of Interstate and Defense Highways, a gross weight 28 upon a single axle not more than 22,000 pounds, and upon a 29 tandem axle not more than 40,000 pounds. During the high 30 precipitation months of December, April, May, June, July, and 31 August, the gross weight upon a single axle or upon a tandem 32 axle may not exceed 35% above these weights. When unladen, 33 however, those trucks shall comply with the axle limitations 34 applicable to all other trucks. -3- LRB9200709ARcd 1 A 2 axle truck specially equipped with a front loading 2 compactor used exclusively for garbage, refuse, or recycling 3 may transmit 20,000 pounds per axle provided that the gross 4 weight of the vehicle does not exceed 40,000 pounds. 5 (b) The gross weight of vehicles and combination of 6 vehicles including the weight of the vehicle or combination 7 and its maximum load shall be subject to the foregoing 8 limitations and further shall not exceed the following gross 9 weights dependent upon the number of axles and distance 10 between extreme axles of the vehicle or combination measured 11 longitudinally to the nearest foot. 12 VEHICLES HAVING 2 AXLES ....................... 36,000 pounds 13 VEHICLES OR COMBINATIONS 14 HAVING 3 AXLES 15 With Tandem With or 16 Axles Without 17 Tandem Axles 18 Minimum Minimum 19 distance to Maximum distance to Maximum 20 nearest foot Gross nearest foot Gross 21 between Weight between Weight 22 extreme axles (pounds) extreme axles (pounds) 23 10 feet 41,000 16 feet 46,000 24 11 42,000 17 47,000 25 12 43,000 18 47,500 26 13 44,000 19 48,000 27 14 44,500 20 49,000 28 15 45,000 21 feet or more 50,000 29 VEHICLES OR COMBINATIONS 30 HAVING 4 AXLES 31 Minimum Minimum 32 distance to Maximum distance to Maximum 33 nearest foot Gross nearest foot Gross -4- LRB9200709ARcd 1 between Weight between Weight 2 extreme axles (pounds) extreme axles (pounds) 3 15 feet 50,000 26 feet 57,500 4 16 50,500 27 58,000 5 17 51,500 28 58,500 6 18 52,000 29 59,500 7 19 52,500 30 60,000 8 20 53,500 31 60,500 9 21 54,000 32 61,500 10 22 54,500 33 62,000 11 23 55,500 34 62,500 12 24 56,000 35 63,500 13 25 56,500 36 feet or more 64,000 14 In applying the above table to a vehicle having more than 15 4 axles that is not in combination, only 4 axles shall be 16 considered in determining the maximum gross weights. 17 COMBINATIONS HAVING 5 OR MORE AXLES 18 Minimum distance to Maximum 19 nearest foot between Gross Weight 20 extreme axles (pounds) 21 42 feet or less 72,000 22 43 73,000 23 44 feet or more 73,280 24 VEHICLES OPERATING ON CRAWLER TYPE TRACKS ..... 40,000 pounds 25 TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH SELFCOMPACTORS 26 OR ROLL-OFF HOISTS AND ROLL-OFF CONTAINERS FOR GARBAGE 27 OR REFUSE HAULS ONLY AND TRUCKS USED FOR 28 THE COLLECTION OF RENDERING MATERIALS 29 On Highway Not Part of National System 30 of Interstate and Defense Highways 31 with 2 axles 36,000 pounds 32 with 3 axles 54,000 pounds 33 TWO AXLE TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH -5- LRB9200709ARcd 1 A FRONT LOADING COMPACTOR USED EXCLUSIVELY 2 FOR THE COLLECTION OF GARBAGE, REFUSE, OR RECYCLING 3 with 2 axles 40,000 pounds 4 (c) Cities having a population of more than 50,000 may 5 permit by ordinance axle loads on 2 axle motor vehicles 33 6 1/2% above those provided for herein, but the increase shall 7 not become effective until the city has officially notified 8 the Department of the passage of the ordinance and shall not 9 apply to those vehicles when outside of the limits of the 10 city, nor shall the gross weight of any 2 axle motor vehicle 11 operating over any street of the city exceed 40,000 pounds. 12 (d) Weight limitations shall not apply to vehicles 13 (including loads) operated by a public utility when 14 transporting equipment required for emergency repair of 15 public utility facilities or properties or water wells. 16 A combination of vehicles, including a tow truck and a 17 disabled vehicle or disabled combination of vehicles, that 18 exceeds the weight restriction imposed by this Code, may be 19 operated on a public highway in this State provided that 20 neither the disabled vehicle nor any vehicle being towed nor 21 the tow truck itself shall exceed the weight limitations 22 permitted under this Chapter. During the towing operation, 23 neither the tow truck nor the vehicle combination shall 24 exceed the following axle weight limitations: 25 A. 24,000 pounds - Single rear axle; 26 B. 44,000 pounds - Tandem rear axle; 27 Gross weight limits shall not apply to the combination of 28 the tow truck and vehicles being towed. The tow truck 29 license plate must cover the operating empty weight of the 30 tow truck only. The weight of each vehicle being towed shall 31 be covered by a valid license plate issued to the owner or 32 operator of the vehicle being towed and displayed on that 33 vehicle. If no valid plate issued to the owner or operator of 34 that vehicle is displayed on that vehicle, or the plate -6- LRB9200709ARcd 1 displayed on that vehicle does not cover the weight of the 2 vehicle, the weight of the vehicle shall be covered by the 3 third tow truck plate issued to the owner or operator of the 4 tow truck and temporarily affixed to the vehicle being towed. 5 In addition, the following conditions must be met: 6 (1) the towing vehicle must be: 7 a. specifically designed as a tow truck having 8 a gross vehicle weight rating of at least 18,000 9 lbs. and equipped with air brakes provided that air 10 brakes shall be required only if the towing vehicle 11 is towing a vehicle, semitrailer, or tractor-trailer 12 combination that is equipped with airbrakes; 13 b. equipped with flashing, rotating or 14 oscillating amber lights, visible for at least 500 15 feet in all directions; and 16 c. capable of utilizing the lighting and 17 braking systems of the disabled vehicle or 18 combination of vehicles. 19 (2) The towing of the vehicles on the highways of 20 this State shall not exceed 20 miles from the initial 21 point of wreck or disablement. Any additional movement of 22 the vehicles shall only occur upon issuance of 23 authorization for that movement under the provisions of 24 Sections 15-301 through 15-319 of this Chapter. 25 The Department may by rule or regulation prescribe 26 additional requirements. However, nothing in this Code shall 27 prohibit a tow truck under instructions of a police officer 28 from legally clearing a disabled vehicle, that may be in 29 violation of weight limitations of this Chapter, from the 30 roadway to the berm or shoulder of the highway. 31 For the purpose of this subsection, gross vehicle weight 32 rating, or GVWR, shall mean the value specified by the 33 manufacturer as the loaded weight of the tow truck. 34 (e) No vehicle or combination of vehicles equipped with -7- LRB9200709ARcd 1 pneumatic tires shall be operated, unladen or with load, upon 2 the highways of this State in violation of the provisions of 3 any permit issued under the provisions of Sections 15-301 4 through 15-319 of this Chapter. 5 (f) Notwithstanding any other provision in this Code, 6 except for those provisions of subsection (d) of this Section 7 relating to emergency operations of public utilities and tow 8 trucks while actually engaged in the towing of a disabled 9 vehicle, and those vehicles for which the Department issues 10 overweight permits under authority of Section 15-301 of this 11 Code, the weight limitations contained in this subsection 12 shall apply to the National System of Interstate and Defense 13 Highways and other highways in the system of State highways 14 that have been designated by the Department as Class I, II, 15 or III. No vehicle shall be operated on the highways with a 16 weight in excess of 20,000 pounds carried on any one axle or 17 with a tandem axle weight in excess of 34,000 pounds, or a 18 gross weight in excess of 80,000 pounds for vehicle 19 combinations of 5 axles or more, or a gross weight on a group 20 of 2 or more consecutive axles in excess of that weight 21 produced by the application of the following formula: 22 W = 500 times the sum of (LN divided by N-1) + 12N + 36 23 Where "W" equals overall gross weight on any group of 2 or 24 more consecutive axles to the nearest 500 pounds; "L" equals 25 the distance measured to the nearest foot between extremes of 26 any group of 2 or more consecutive axles; and "N" equals the 27 number of axles in the group under consideration, except that 28 2 consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of 29 34,000 pounds each, provided the overall distance between the 30 first and last axles of the consecutive sets of tandem axles 31 is 36 feet or more. Provided also that a 3-axle vehicle 32 registered as a Special Hauling Vehicle manufactured prior to 33 or in the model year of 2004, and first registered in 34 Illinois prior to January 1, 2005, with a distance greater -8- LRB9200709ARcd 1 than 72 inches but not more than 96 inches between the 2 rear 2 axles may transmit to the road surface a maximum weight of 3 18,000 pounds on each of the 2 rear axles with a gross weight 4 on these 2 axles not to exceed 36,000 pounds. Any vehicle 5 registered as a Special Hauling Vehicle manufactured prior to 6 or in the model year of 2004 or thereafter or first 7 registered in Illinois after December 31, 2004, may transmit 8 to the road surface a maximum of 34,000 pounds through the 2 9 rear axles and neither of the rear axles shall exceed 20,000 10 pounds. 11 The above formula when expressed in tabular form results 12 in allowable loads as follows: 13 Distance measured 14 to the nearest 15 foot between the 16 extremes of any Maximum load in pounds 17 group of 2 or carried on any group of 18 more consecutive 2 or more consecutive axles 19 axles 20 feet 2 axles 3 axles 4 axles 5 axles 6 axles 21 4 34,000 22 5 34,000 23 6 34,000 24 7 34,000 25 8 38,000* 42,000 26 9 39,000 42,500 27 10 40,000 43,500 28 11 44,000 29 12 45,000 50,000 30 13 45,500 50,500 31 14 46,500 51,500 32 15 47,000 52,000 33 16 48,000 52,500 58,000 34 17 48,500 53,500 58,500 -9- LRB9200709ARcd 1 18 49,500 54,000 59,000 2 19 50,000 54,500 60,000 3 20 51,000 55,500 60,500 66,000 4 21 51,500 56,000 61,000 66,500 5 22 52,500 56,500 61,500 67,000 6 23 53,000 57,500 62,500 68,000 7 24 54,000 58,000 63,000 68,500 8 25 54,500 58,500 63,500 69,000 9 26 55,500 59,500 64,000 69,500 10 27 56,000 60,000 65,000 70,000 11 28 57,000 60,500 65,500 71,000 12 29 57,500 61,500 66,000 71,500 13 30 58,500 62,000 66,500 72,000 14 31 59,000 62,500 67,500 72,500 15 32 60,000 63,500 68,000 73,000 16 33 64,000 68,500 74,000 17 34 64,500 69,000 74,500 18 35 65,500 70,000 75,000 19 36 66,000 70,500 75,500 20 37 66,500 71,000 76,000 21 38 67,500 72,000 77,000 22 39 68,000 72,500 77,500 23 40 68,500 73,000 78,000 24 41 69,500 73,500 78,500 25 42 70,000 74,000 79,000 26 43 70,500 75,000 80,000 27 44 71,500 75,500 28 45 72,000 76,000 29 46 72,500 76,500 30 47 73,500 77,500 31 48 74,000 78,000 32 49 74,500 78,500 33 50 75,500 79,000 34 51 76,000 80,000 -10- LRB9200709ARcd 1 52 76,500 2 53 77,500 3 54 78,000 4 55 78,500 5 56 79,500 6 57 80,000 7 *If the distance between 2 axles is 96 inches or less, the 2 8 axles are tandem axles and the maximum load permitted is 9 34,000 pounds, notwithstanding the higher limit resulting 10 from the application of the formula. 11 In applying the above formula to a vehicle having more 12 than 4 axles that is not a combination, only 4 axles shall be 13 considered in determining the maximum gross weight, and for a 14 combination of vehicles having more than 6 axles, only 6 15 axles shall be considered in determining the maximum gross 16 weight. 17 Notwithstanding the above table, 2 consecutive sets of 18 tandem axles may carry a gross weight of 34,000 pounds each 19 if the overall distance between the first and last axles of 20 the consecutive sets of tandem axles is 36 feet or more. 21 Local authorities and road district highway 22 commissioners, with respect to streets and highways under 23 their jurisdiction, without additional fees, may also by 24 ordinance or resolution allow the weight limitations of this 25 subsection, provided the maximum gross weight on any one axle 26 shall not exceed 20,000 pounds and the maximum gross weight 27 on any tandem axle shall not exceed 34,000 pounds, on 28 designated highways when appropriate regulatory signs giving 29 notice are erected upon the street or highway or portion of 30 any street or highway affected by the ordinance or 31 resolution. 32 Combinations of vehicles, registered as Special Hauling 33 Vehicles that include a semitrailer manufactured prior to or 34 in the model year of 2004, and first registered in Illinois -11- LRB9200709ARcd 1 prior to January 1, 2005, having 5 axles with a distance of 2 42 feet or less between extreme axles shall be limited to the 3 weights prescribed in subsections (a) and (b) of this Section 4 and not subject to the bridge formula on the National System 5 of Interstate and Defense Highways and other highways in the 6 system of State highways designated by the Department. For 7 all those combinations of vehicles, that include a 8 semitrailer manufactured after the effective date of this 9 amendatory Act of 1986, the overall distance between the 10 first and last axles of the 2 sets of tandems must be 18 feet 11 6 inches or more. All combinations of vehicles registered as 12 Special Hauling Vehicles that include a semitrailer 13 manufactured prior to or in the model year of 2004 or 14 thereafter or first registered in Illinois after December 31, 15 2004, or that has had its cargo container replaced in its 16 entirety after December 31, 2004, are limited to the gross 17 weight allowed by the above formula. 18 A truck not in combination, equipped with a self 19 compactor or an industrial roll-off hoist and roll-off 20 container, used exclusively for garbage or refuse operations, 21 shall be allowed the weights as prescribed in subsections (a) 22 and (b) of this Section and not subject to the bridge 23 formula, provided they are not operated on a highway that is 24 part of the Interstate and Defense Highway System. 25 Vehicles operating under this subsection shall have 26 access for a distance of one highway mile to or from a Class 27 I highway on any street or highway, unless there is a sign 28 prohibiting the access, or 5 highway miles to or from either 29 a Class I, II, or III highway on a street or highway included 30 in the system of State highways and upon any street or 31 highway designated by local authorities or road district 32 commissioners to points of loading and unloading and to 33 facilities for food, fuel, repairs and rest. 34 Section 5-35 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act -12- LRB9200709ARcd 1 relating to procedures for rulemaking shall not apply to the 2 designation of highways under this subsection. 3 (g) No person shall operate a vehicle or combination of 4 vehicles over a bridge or other elevated structure 5 constituting part of a highway with a gross weight that is 6 greater than the maximum weight permitted by the Department, 7 when the structure is sign posted as provided in this 8 Section. 9 (h) The Department upon request from any local authority 10 shall, or upon its own initiative may, conduct an 11 investigation of any bridge or other elevated structure 12 constituting a part of a highway, and if it finds that the 13 structure cannot with safety to itself withstand the weight 14 of vehicles otherwise permissible under this Code the 15 Department shall determine and declare the maximum weight of 16 vehicles that the structures can withstand, and shall cause 17 or permit suitable signs stating maximum weight to be erected 18 and maintained before each end of the structure. No person 19 shall operate a vehicle or combination of vehicles over any 20 structure with a gross weight that is greater than the posted 21 maximum weight. 22 (i) Upon the trial of any person charged with a 23 violation of subsections (g) or (h) of this Section, proof of 24 the determination of the maximum allowable weight by the 25 Department and the existence of the signs, constitutes 26 conclusive evidence of the maximum weight that can be 27 maintained with safety to the bridge or structure. 28 (Source: P.A. 89-117, eff. 7-7-95; 89-433, eff. 12-15-95; 29 90-89, eff. 1-1-98; 90-330, eff. 8-8-97; 90-655, eff. 30 7-30-98.)