§291-35 - Gross weight, axle, and wheel loads.

§291-35 Gross weight, axle, and
wheel loads. No motor vehicle or other power vehicle or combination of
such vehicles equipped wholly with pneumatic tires, which has a total gross
weight, including vehicle and load, an axle load, or a wheel load in excess of
the limits set forth in this section shall be operated or moved upon any public
road, street, or highway within the State; provided that the maximum gross
weight, axle loads, and wheel loads allowed under this section shall be
inapplicable when its application would adversely affect the receipt of federal
funds for highway purposes; and provided further that no vehicle or combination
of vehicles shall be operated on or moved over any bridge or other highway
structure if the total gross weight, including vehicle and load, exceeds the
posted maximum gross load limitation for the bridge or other highway structure.

(1) The total gross weight, in pounds, imposed on any
public road, street, or highway within the State by any group of two or more
consecutive axles, on a vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed the
following when the distance between the first and last axles of the group under
consideration is:

(A) Forty inches or less, the weight imposed
shall not exceed twenty-two thousand five hundred pounds.

(B) More than forty inches but not more than
eight feet, the weight imposed shall not exceed thirty-four thousand pounds.
This grouping of two consecutive axles shall be known as tandem axle.

(2) The total gross weight, in pounds, imposed on
interstate highways within the State by any group of two or more consecutive
axles, on a vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed that resulting
from application of the formula:

W = 500
(LN/(N-1) + 12N + 36)

when the distance between the first and last
axles of the group under consideration is over eight feet and where W = maximum
weight in pounds carried on any group of two or more axles computed to the
nearest 500 pounds,

L
= Distance in feet between the extremes of any group of two or more consecutive
axles, to the nearest foot, and

N
= Number of axles in group under consideration;

provided that two consecutive sets of tandem
axles may carry a gross load of 34,000 pounds each providing the overall
distance between the first and last axles of such consecutive sets of tandem
axles is thirty-six feet or more and provided also that the overall gross
weight does not exceed 80,000 pounds.

(3) The total gross weight, in pounds, imposed on any
public road, street, or highway, other than interstate highways, within the
State by a vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed that determined
by the formula:

W = 900(L +
40)

L
= Distance in feet between the extremes of any group of two or more consecutive
axles, to the nearest foot;

provided also that the overall gross weight does
not exceed 88,000 pounds.

(4) No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be
used or operated on any public road, street, or highway within the State (A)
with a load upon any single or tandem axle or combination of axles which
exceeds the carrying capacity of the axles specified by the manufacturer, or
(B) with a total weight in excess of its designed capacity as indicated by its
designed gross vehicle weights or gross combination weights.

(5) The total gross weight imposed upon the public
road, street, or highway by any single axle shall not exceed twenty-two
thousand five hundred pounds. For the purpose of this section, axles placed in
the same transverse plane and are spaced forty inches or less apart, shall be
considered as one axle.

(6) The total gross weight imposed upon the public
road, street, or highway by any one wheel, either single or dual mounting,
shall not exceed eleven thousand two hundred and fifty pounds.

(7) The director of transportation, in the case of
state highways, or the county engineer, in the case of county roads and
streets, may place and maintain signs to limit the gross weight of a vehicle or
combination of vehicles traveling over a bridge or other highway structure in
the interest of public safety when it is determined through engineering
investigation and analysis that the theoretical load carrying capacity of the
bridge or structure is less than the maximum gross vehicular weight allowed by
this chapter. In determining the weight limits and in posting the weight limit
signs, the director or the county engineer need not comply with rulemaking
provisions of chapter 91; provided that if any person objects to the weight
limits, the person may object to the rule as provided in chapter 91. [L 1941, c
216, pt of §1; am L 1943, c 76, §1; RL 1945, §11714; am L 1949, c 94, §1; RL
1955, §311-20; am L 1957, c 251, §1; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §26; am L 1967, c
48, §1; HRS §291-35; am L 1970, c 168, §1; am L 1971, c 75, §1; am L 1977, c
184, §1; am L 1980, c 281, §1; am L 1986, c 42, §1; am L 1989, c 311, §1; am L
1990, c 32, §1; am L 1993, c 82, §1]