Bill > SF390

Introduced Session

This bill relates to vehicles operating with a permit for excessive size or weight (permit). Permits are generally issued by the authority responsible for the maintenance of the system of highways or streets on which the permitted vehicles are authorized to travel. One such permit is an all-systems permit that may be issued by the department of transportation (DOT) to authorize movement on most paved highways or streets, excluding the interstate road system and any highway or street under local authority where the permit is not valid, as determined by the local authority, if indicated to the DOT. Despite local authority determinations, permitted vehicles may still travel the shortest route between loading and unloading sites and valid highways. The bill makes an all-systems permit valid for movement on all primary and secondary roads, including roads designated by a local authority as a truck route, subject to the exceptions for the interstate road system and roads deemed not valid by a local authority. Under the bill, a road designated as not valid is subject to DOT review. If the DOT disagrees with the justification, the dispute must be resolved in accordance with DOT rules. The bill requires a local authority to cooperate with the DOT to find alternate routes if all roads leading to a loading and unloading location used by a permitted vehicle are designated as not valid. Current law authorizes the DOT to issue an all-systems permit valid for the movement of vehicles with a total gross weight not to exceed the gross weight authorized under Code section 321.463 (maximum gross weight), which varies based on the number of axles and distance between the axles, by more than 12 percent. The bill increases the allowable weight variance for such permitted vehicles to not more than 12.5 percent. Under current law, containers for international shipment must be considered an indivisible load when transported under a single-trip permit if the vehicle combination does not exceed maximum dimensions, the container is sealed for international shipment and is either being exported or arriving from a foreign country, specified documentation is carried in the vehicle, and the container holds only raw forest products. The bill strikes the requirement that the container hold only raw forest products. Under current law, the DOT and local authorities are authorized to issue single-trip permits for the movement of vehicles that exceed established dimensions and weight limits (Code section 321E.9). A vehicle traveling under an oversize or overweight permit is required to be registered for the gross weight of the vehicle and load. The owner of a commercial vehicle, which is properly registered and licensed in some other jurisdiction and also operated occasionally in Iowa, who pays the $10 trip permit fee that otherwise authorizes a commercial vehicle not registered in Iowa to be operated in Iowa for up to 72 hours, in accordance with Code section 326.23, cannot use that trip permit in lieu of the oversize or overweight vehicle registration requirements. The bill authorizes a vehicle traveling under a single-trip permit to be registered with the DOT on a single-trip basis for the combined gross weight of the vehicle and load. The fee for single-trip registration is $4 per ton exceeding 40 tons. The bill strikes the prohibition on using a Code section 326.23 trip permit in lieu of registration.

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No sponsors listed

Other Sponsors (1)

Subcommittee: Dickey, Dotzler, and Gruenhagen. S.J. 393. (on 03/03/2025)

Official Document