Municipal Code
CHAPTER 420 Commercial and Heavy Vehicles
420.01 Weight limits.
420.99 Penalty.
CROSS REFERENCES
Authority of Village re motor vehicles - see CHTR. Ch.
II, §2(10), (11)
Recovery of costs for hazardous materials incidents -
see ADM. 244.01
Interference with motor vehicles by signs and outdoor
display structures -
see B. & H. 1474.03
420.01 WEIGHT LIMITS.
(a) Maximum Axle Load Defined. As used in this chapter,
"maximum axle load" means the gross weight over the axle
which includes vehicles and load.
(b) Maximum Loads.
(1) The maximum axle load shall not exceed the number of
pounds designated in the following provisions, which
prescribe the distance between axles:
A. When the axle spacing is nine feet or more between
axles, the maximum axle load shall be 18,000 pounds for
vehicles equipped with high-pressure pneumatic or
balloon tires.
B. When the axle spacing is less than nine feet between
two axles, but more than three and one-half feet, the
maximum axle load shall be 13,000 pounds for
high-pressure pneumatic or balloon tires.
C. When two axles are spaced less than three and
one-half feet apart, the maximum axle load shall not
exceed 9,000 pounds per axle.
Paragraphs (b)(1)A. to C. above shall be known as the
normal loading maximum.
(2) When normal loading is in effect, Council, with
respect to highways under the Village's jurisdiction,
may designate certain highways or sections thereof,
where bridges and road surfaces are adequate, for
heavier loading, which designation may be revised as
needed and on which the maximum tandem axle assembly
loading shall not exceed 16,000 pounds for any axle of
the assembly, if there is no other axle within nine feet
of any axle of the assembly.
(3) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(8) hereof, on a
legal combination of vehicles, only one tandem axle
assembly shall be permitted on the designated highways
at the gross permissible weight of 16,000 pounds per
axle, if there is no other axle within nine feet of any
axle of the assembly, and if no other tandem axle
assembly in the combination of vehicles exceeds a gross
weight of 13,000 pounds per axle. When the maximum gross
weight of a combination of vehicles with load does not
exceed 73, 280 pounds, two tandem axle assemblies shall
be permitted on the designated highways at a gross
permissible weight of 16,000 pounds per axle, if there
is no other axle within nine feet of any axle of the
assembly.
(4) The normal size of tires shall be the rated size as
published by the manufactures, and the maximum wheel
load permissible for any wheel shall not exceed 700
pounds per inch of width of tire.
(5) During the months of March, April and May in each
year, the maximum axle load allowable on concrete
pavements, or pavements with a concrete base, shall be
reduced by twenty-five percent from the maximum axle
load as specified in this section, and the maximum axle
loads allowable on all other types of roads during these
months shall be reduced by thirty-five percent from the
maximum axle loads specified. The maximum wheel load
shall not exceed 525 pounds per inch of tire width on
concrete and concrete base or 450 pounds per inch of
tire width on all other roads during the period the
seasonal road restrictions are in effect.
(6) The Road Administrator, or the Village President, in
his or her absence or disability, may, with respect to
highways under the Village's jurisdiction, suspend the
restrictions imposed by this section when and where, in
his or her discretion, conditions of the highways or the
public health, safety and welfare so warrant, and may
impose the restricted loading requirements of this
section on designated highways at any other time that
the conditions of the highway may require, or he or she
may prohibit the operation of trucks or other commercial
vehicles on designated roads, provided, however, that
such prohibitions shall be designated by appropriate
signs placed on such streets.
(7) For the purpose of enforcement of this section, the
gross vehicle weight of a single vehicle and load, or a
combination of vehicles and loads, shall be determined
by weighing individual axles or groups of axles, and the
total weight on all the axles shall be the gross vehicle
weight. In addition, the gross axle weight shall be
determined by weighing individual axles or by weighing a
group of axles and dividing the gross weight of the
group of axles by the number of axles in the group.
Pursuant to paragraph (b)(8) hereof, the overall gross
weight on a group of two or more axles shall be
determined by weighing individual axles or several
axles, and the total weight of all the axles in the
group shall be the overall weight of the group.
(8) The Road Administrator, or the Village President, in
his or her absence or disability, may, with respect to
highways under the Village's jurisdiction, designate a
highway, or a section of a highway, for the operation of
vehicles having a gross vehicle weight of not more than
80,000 pounds which are subject to the following load
maximums:
A. Twenty thousand pounds on any one axle, including all
enforcement tolerances.
B. A tandem axle weight of 34,000 pounds, including all
enforcement tolerances.
C. An overall gross weight on a group of two or more
consecutive axles equaling:
W = 500(LN/(N-1)) (12N + 36)
Where W = overall gross weight on a group of two or more
consecutive axles to the nearest 500 pounds; L =
distance in feet between the extreme of a group of two
or more consecutive axles; and N = number of axles in
the group under consideration, except that two
consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load
of 34,000 pounds each if the first and last axles of the
consecutive sets of tandem axles are not less than
thirty-six feet apart. The gross vehicle weight shall
not exceed 80,000 pounds, including all enforcement
tolerances. Except for five axle truck tractors,
semitrailer combinations having two consecutive sets of
tandem axles, vehicles having a gross weight in excess
of 80,000 pounds or in excess of the vehicle gross
weight determined by application of the formula in this
paragraph shall be subject to the maximum axle loads of
paragraphs (b)(1) to (3) hereof. As used in this
paragraph, "tandem axle weight" means the total weight
transmitted to the road by two or more consecutive
axles, the centers of which may be included between
parallel transverse vertical planes spaced more than
forty inches, but not more than ninety-six inches,
apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.
(c) Information on Vehicles.
(1) All motor trucks or truck tractors, except as
provided in paragraph (c)(3) hereof, of more than 5,000
pounds registered weight and all towing or platform bed
wrecker road service vehicles in operation upon the
public highways of the State shall have the name, city
and state or the registered logo or emblem of the
registered owner of the vehicle, and the lessee of the
vehicle if the vehicle is being operated under lease,
painted or permanently attached on each side of the cab
on a motor truck or truck tractor in letters of not less
than three inches in height, not lower than the bottom
edge of the door, except that motor trucks with closed
van bodies may place the information on each side of the
van body not lower than the bottom edge of the cab door.
This information shall be in sharp color contrast to the
background.
(2) Except for towing or platform bed wrecker road
service vehicles, the identification requirements of
paragraph (c)(1) hereof, may be met through the use of
removable devices which meet the requirements of
paragraph (c)(1) hereof. These devices shall be of
durable construction and securely attached to each side
of the motor truck or truck tractor. The removable
devices shall be attached so that the identification is
in a horizontal position.
(3) This section shall not apply to trucks eligible for
and equipped with farm license plates.
(d) Authority to Require Weighing of Vehicles.
(1) Any public safety officer of the Village, having
reason to believe that the weight of a vehicle and load
is unlawful, may require the driver to stop and submit
to a weighing of the vehicle by means of either portable
or stationary scales approved and sealed by the Michigan
Department of Agriculture as a legal weighing device,
and may require that such vehicle be driven to the
nearest weighing station of the State Department of
Transportation or the Village for the purpose of
allowing said officer to determine whether such
conveyance is loaded in conformity with the provisions
of this chapter.
(2) Whenever the officer, upon weighing a vehicle and
load, determines that the weight is unlawful, the
officer may require the driver to stop the vehicle in a
suitable place and remain standing until that portion of
the load is shifted or removed as necessary to reduce
the gross axle load weight of the vehicle to the limit
permitted under this chapter. All material unloaded as
provided under this subsection shall be cared for by the
owner or operator of the vehicle at the risk of the
owner or operator.
(e) Special Permits.
(1) The Road Administrator may, in his or her
discretion, upon application in writing and good cause
being shown therefor, issue a special permit, in
writing, authorizing the applicant to operate upon or
remove from a highway maintained by the Village a
vehicle or combination of vehicles of a size, weight or
load exceeding the maximum specified in this chapter or
which otherwise is not in conformity with this chapter.
(2) The application for any special permit shall be on a
form prescribed by the Road Administrator and shall
specifically describe the vehicle or vehicles and load
to be operated or moved and the particular highways upon
which the special permit to operate is requested.
(3) A special permit shall specify the trip(s) and
date(s) for which it is valid and the special permit may
restrict or prescribe conditions of operation of a
vehicle or vehicles, if necessary, to protect the safety
of the public or to ensure against undue damage to the
road foundations, surfaces, structures or installations,
and may require a reasonable inspection fee and other
security as the Village determines necessary to
compensate for damage caused by the movement. A special
permit may be issued on an annual basis. Except as
otherwise provided in this section, the fee charged by
the Village for an intrastate or an out-of-state vehicle
for a single trip shall be not more than fifty dollars
($50.00) and, for multiple trips or on an annual basis,
such fee shall be not more than one hundred dollars
($100.00).
(4) Every such permit shall be carried in the vehicle or
combination of vehicles to which it refers and shall be
open to inspection by any public safety officer or the
Road Administrator, and no person shall violate any of
the terms and conditions of such permit.
(f) Failure to Stop. A driver or owner of a vehicle who
knowingly fails to stop and submit to a weighing of the
vehicle or load when requested or ordered to do so by a
public safety officer of the Village shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor.
(Ord. 99-94. Passed 11-15-99.)
420.99 PENALTY.
(a) An owner of a vehicle or a lessee of the vehicle of
an owner-operator, or other person, who causes or allows
a vehicle to be loaded and driven or moved on a highway,
when the weight of that vehicle violates Section 420.01,
is responsible for a civil infraction and shall pay a
civil fine in an amount equal to three cents (34) per
pound for each pound of excess load over 1,000 pounds
when the excess is 2,000 pounds or less; six cents (64)
per pound of excess load when the excess is over 2,000
pounds but not over 3,000 pounds; nine cents (94) per
pound for each pound of excess load when the excess is
over 3,000 pounds but not over 4,000 pounds; twelve
cents (124) per pound for each pound of excess load when
the excess is over 4,000 pounds but not over 5,000
pounds; fifteen cents (154) per pound for each pound of
excess load when the excess is over 5,000 pounds but not
over 10,000 pounds; and twenty cents (204) per pound
when the excess is over 10,000 pounds. However, the
court shall have discretionary power as to the amount of
the civil fine within the schedule provided by this
subsection and may impose the civil fine provided in
Section 907(3) of the Michigan Vehicle Code, being
M.C.L.A. 257.907(3), as amended, where, at the time of
the violation, either the motor vehicle, motor vehicle
and semitrailer or trailer did not exceed the total
weight which would be lawful for each unit by a proper
distribution of the load upon the various axles
supporting each unit.
(b) An owner of a vehicle or a lessee of the vehicle of
an owner-operator, or other person, who causes or allows
a vehicle to be loaded and driven or moved on a highway
in violation of subsection (c) hereof is responsible for
a civil infraction and shall pay a civil fine.
(c) An owner of a vehicle or a lessee of the vehicle of
an owner-operator, or other person, who violates Section
420.01(f) shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and
shall be subject to the penalty provided in Section
202.99 of these Codified Ordinances.
(Ord. 99-94. Passed 11-15-99.)
