Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of "Specific business locations".

SECTION 2. Said section 1 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of "Routes of reasonable access" and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

"Routes of reasonable access", routes of access, as designated by the department as provided in section nineteen G, between the National Network, as defined in section nineteen F, and such terminals, facilities for food, fuel, repair and rest as are located more than one road-mile in distance from the National Network.

SECTION 3. Said section 1 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of "Terminal" and inserting in place thereof the following two definitions:-

"Terminal", any location where: freight either originates, terminates, or is handled in the transportation process; or commercial motor carriers maintain operating facilities.

"Truck-trailer boat transporter", a boat transporter combination consisting of a truck towing a trailer using typically a ball and socket connection and where the trailer axle is located substantially at the trailer center of gravity, rather than at the rear of the trailer, but so as to maintain a downward force on the trailer tongue.

SECTION 4. Said section 1 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of "B-train assembly" the following definition:-

"B-train assembly unit", a motor vehicle composed of a tractor, semitrailer and semi-trailer with the semi-trailers connected by a B-train assembly.

SECTION 4A. Said section 1 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of "Heavy duty platform trailer" the following definition:-

"House trailer", a vehicle having no motive power of its own, originally designed or permanently altered and equipped for human habitation which is not used to transport property other than property used for human habitation or camping purposes. A trailer designed primarily to transport property which has been temporarily altered or equipped for human habitation shall not be deemed to be a house trailer.

SECTION 5. Said section 1 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of "Automobile transporter" the following definition:-

"Boat transporter", any vehicle combination including a stinger-steered boat transporter and a low-boy boat transporter, designed and used specifically for the transport of assembled boats and boat hulls. The boats may be partially disassembled to facilitate transportation. Boats may be carried on the tractor so long as the length and width restrictions of the vehicle and load are not exceeded.

SECTION 6. Said section 1 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of "Specific manufacturing facility".

SECTION 7. Said section 1 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of "Stinger-steered automobile transporter" the following definition:-

"Stinger-steered boat transporter", a boat transporter configured as a semi-trailer combination wherein the fifth wheel is located on a drop frame located behind and below the rear-most axle of the power unit.

SECTION 8. Said section 1 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the definition of "Low-boy automobile transporter" the following definition:-

"Low-boy boat transporter", a semi-trailer unit in which the trailer is designed and used specifically for the transport of assembled boats and hulls. The top surface of the deck platform of such semi-trailer shall not be more than thirty-six inches above the surface on which the wheels of the vehicle rest.

SECTION 8A. The second paragraph of section 7 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- For the purpose of this paragraph, the term commercial motor vehicle or trailer shall mean a bulk tank carrier delivering gasoline or other flammable material.

SECTION 8B. Section 19 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

Except as otherwise provided in sections nineteen F and nineteen G, or when a vehicle has been authorized by permit to transport an irreducible load, the following provisions shall apply:

No motor vehicle or trailer, the outside width of which is more than one hundred and two inches or the extreme overall length of which is more than thirty-three feet, or in the case of a truck, auto home, house trailer, or motor bus, forty feet, or in the case of a stinger-steered automobile or stinger-steered boat transporter, sixty-five feet not including load overhang which shall not exceed three feet beyond the foremost part of the front transporting vehicle or more than four feet beyond the rear bed of the body, or in the case of a semi-trailer in a semi-trailer unit or a trailer in a tractor-trailer unit, forty-eight feet, or in the case of a semi-trailer or trailer in a tandem unit, twenty-eight feet, shall be operated on any way without a special permit so to operate from the board or officer having charge of such way or, in the case of a state highway or a way determined by the department of public works to be a through route, from said department. The lengths of semi-trailers or trailers operating in semi-trailer or tandem units, as specified above, shall be inclusive of load-holding devices and exclusive of safety devices without load-holding capacity. The overall length of any vehicle and trailer combination or semi-trailer combination or any house trailer and tow vehicle combination authorized to travel under this section shall not exceed sixty feet except as otherwise specifically authorized by this section or authorized by a special permit as aforesaid; provided, however, that no overall length limitation shall apply to semi-trailer units or tractor-trailer units, when the trailer or semi-trailer in such units does not exceed forty-eight feet, or to tandem units, when the semi-trailer or trailer in such units does not exceed twenty-eight feet. The one hundred and two inches width provided in this section shall be exclusive of load-induced tire bulge, rearview mirrors, turn signal lamps, hand-holds for cab entry and egress and splash and spray suppressant devices; provided, however, that such mirrors and other devices are so mounted as not to constitute a hazard to pedestrians on or adjacent to any public way. Other safety devices which the department determines are necessary for the safe and efficient operation of motor vehicles shall not be included in the calculation of the one hundred and two inch width specified in this section; provided, however, that such other safety devices may be so mounted and so extend beyond the permitted widths only in such manner and to such extent as determined by the department, but in no event shall such safety devices extend more than three inches beyond the maximum vehicle width on each side. For the purpose of this section, all appurtenances at the front or rear of a commercial motor vehicle, semi-trailer, or trailer, whose functions relate to the safe and efficient operation of such semi-trailer or trailer, shall be excluded from the length computation of such vehicles; provided, however, that such appurtenances shall not be designed or used for carrying cargo. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the combined overall length of a pole dolly or pole dinkey and the load being carried thereon may, while being used for the transportation of poles or single units of lumber or metal, exceed forty-eight feet, but the overall length when considered in combination with the motor vehicle accompanying it shall not exceed sixty-five feet or, in the case of an electric company as defined in chapter one hundred and sixty-four, seventy-five feet, without a special permit as provided for in this paragraph.

SECTION 9. Said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out section 19F and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 19F. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the following vehicles may operate on the National Network, as hereinafter defined, and for the purpose of travel to a terminal or services for food, fuel, repair or rest, on any public way for a distance of one road-mile from the National Network, except on individual ways declared unavailable by the department for specific safety reasons, and on routes of reasonable access as designated by the department under the provisions of section nineteen G: semi-trailers not exceeding forty-eight feet in length when operating in semi-trailer units; semi-trailers and trailers not exceeding twenty-eight feet in length when operating in tandem units; and semi-trailers and trailers not exceeding twenty-eight and one-half feet in length in tandem units; provided however, that such semi-trailer or trailer was in actual and lawful operation on December first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two. No overall length limitations shall apply to motor vehicles comprised of semi-trailers or trailer of lengths operating as specified above.

The National Network shall consist of the Interstate System of Massachusetts and of the following portions of the Federal-Aid Primary System: Route 2 from I-90 in Leominster to I-495 in Littleton; U.S. Route 3 from I-95 in Burlington to the New Hampshire State Line; Route 24 from I-I95 in Fall River to I-93 in Randolph; Route 140 from I-I95 in New Bedford to Route 24 in Taunton. Temporary restrictions may be applied to portions of the National Network during actual construction in accordance with the provisions of 23 Code of Federal Regulations 658.11(d)(4).

Notwithstanding the provisions of section nineteen C or any other provision of law to the contrary, the following specialized vehicles may operate on the National Network, as herein defined, and for the purpose of travel to a terminal or services for food, fuel repair or rest, on any public way for a distance of one road-mile from the National Network, except on individual ways declared unavailable by the department for specific safety reasons, and on routes of reasonable access as designated by the department under the provisions of section nineteen G: automobile transporters, boat transporters, driveway saddlemount vehicle transporter combinations, including both double and triple saddlemount combinations, and driveway saddlemount with fullmount vehicle transporter combinations, and B-train assembly units; provided, however, that traditional automobile and boat transporters such as those with the fifth wheel located on a tractor frame over the rear axle, including low-boy automobile and boat transporters and truck-trailer boat transporters, shall not exceed sixty-five feet in overall length, and stinger-steered automobile and boat transporters, shall not exceed seventy-five feet in length, such lengths being exclusive of front and rear overhang, not to exceed three feet in front or four feet in the rear; provided, further, that driveway saddlemount vehicle transporter combinations and fullmount vehicle transporter combinations conforming to safety regulations at 49 CFR 393.71 shall not exceed seventy-five feet in overall length; provided, further, that in B-train assembly units the semi-trailer length shall not exceed twenty-eight feet, or twenty-eight and one-half feet, if the semi-trailer was in legal operation on December first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two, in a B-train assembly unit, both lengths being exclusive of the B-train assembly when being used between the first and second semi-trailer in the B-train assembly unit, but the B-train assembly is to be included in the length measurement of the semi-trailer when no second semi-trailer is mounted on the B-train assembly, the length limitation of the trailer to be forty-eight feet in that instance.

The length limitations described in this section shall be inclusive of loads and load-holding devices, but shall be exclusive of safety and energy conservation devices, such as refrigeration and air compressors, heating units, wind deflectors, flexible fender extensions, mudflaps and splash and spray suppressant devices, and other devices which the department may determine are necessary for safe and efficient operation of commercial motor vehicles; provided, however, that no device excluded under this section shall have by its design or use the capability to carry cargo. Any other safety or conservation devices shall be allowed only in such manner and to such extent as may be determined by the department.

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, household goods carriers may operate on public ways between the National Network and points of loading or unloading without the need of any permit to so operate.

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, vehicles with dimensions which were legal in the commonwealth on December first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two, may, with such dimension, and tractors containing a dromedary box in legal operation on December first, nineteen hundred and eighty-two, may, during their useful existence, operate on the National Network, and, for the purpose of travel to a terminal or services for food, fuel, repair or rest, on any public way for a distance of one road-mile from the National Network, except on individual ways declared unavailable by the department for specific safety reasons, and on routes of reasonable access as designated by the department under the provisions of section nineteen G.

The department may issue permits to allow other specialized equipment or vehicles to operate on the National Network, on public ways for a distance of one road-mile from the National Network and on routes of reasonable access.

SECTION 10. Said chapter 90 is hereby further amended by striking out section 19G, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 19G. A motor vehicle authorized to operate on the National Network under the provisions of section nineteen F may also operate on routes of reasonable access, as defined in section one and determined by the department as provided herein.

The operator of any terminal may apply to the department for, and the department may issue, a special permit designating a route of reasonable access.

Any route of reasonable access to a terminal is hereby deemed to be a route of reasonable access to any facilities for food, fuel, repair or rest which abut said route. As to facilities for food, fuel, repair and rest which do not abut a designated route of reasonable access to a terminal, the department may, at the request of the operator of any such facility, designate a route of reasonable access to the facility. The department shall deny a requested route of reasonable access only on the basis of safety and engineering analysis of the requested access route. If an application for a permit for a route of reasonable access is not acted upon within ninety days of receipt by the department it shall be deemed automatically approved.

Permits issued under this section may be subject to such conditions as the department may determine are necessary for promoting public safety. The department may revoke any permit issued under this section.

The department may promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter thirty A to carry out the provisions of this section.

SECTION 11. Section nineteen H of said chapter ninety is hereby repealed.