ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 2054	By:	Thompson, Cannaday, Denney, DeWitt and Renegar of the House

			    and

		Marlatt of the Senate

An Act relating to motor vehicles; amending 47 O.S. 2001, Section 14-101, as last amended by Section 1, Chapter 324, O.S.L. 2007 (47 O.S. Supp. 2008, Section 14-101), which relates to the issuance of annual overweight permits; allowing Commissioner of Public Safety to issue certain permit; providing for the issuance of oversize and overweight annual vehicle permits for specific motor vehicles and motor carriers; providing procedures and guidelines for issuing permits; prohibiting transferability of permits between permittees; providing for transferability of permits between vehicles; providing for the replacement of permits under certain circumstances; prohibiting replacement of permits under certain circumstances; providing for codification; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:

SECTION 1.     AMENDATORY     47 O.S. 2001, Section 14-101, as last amended by Section 1, Chapter 324, O.S.L. 2007 (47 O.S. Supp. 2008, Section 14-101), is amended to read as follows:

Section 14-101.  A.  It is a misdemeanor for any person to drive or move or for the owner to cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved on any highway any vehicle or vehicles of a size or weight exceeding the limitations stated in this chapter or otherwise in violation of this chapter, and the maximum size and weight of vehicles herein specified shall be lawful throughout this state and local authorities shall have no power or authority to alter said limitations except as express authority may be granted in this chapter.

B.  The Commissioner of Public Safety is directed to issue annual overweight permits to:

1.  Municipalities and rural fire districts for the transportation of firefighting apparatus at no cost to the municipalities or rural fire districts;

2.  Owners of implements of husbandry, which includes tractors that are temporarily moved upon a highway at no cost to the owner; and

3.  Retail implement dealers while hauling implements of husbandry at no cost to the dealer; and

4.  Owners of certain vehicles as provided for in Section 2 of this act.

C.  All size, weight and load provisions covered by this chapter shall be subject to the limitations imposed by Title 23, United States Code, Section 127, and such other rules and regulations developed herein.  Provided further that any size and weight provision authorized by the United States Congress for use on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, including but not limited to height, axle weight, gross weight, combinations of vehicles or load thereon shall be authorized for immediate use on such segments of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways and any other highways or portions thereof as designated by the Transportation Commission or their duly authorized representative.

D.  Any vehicle permitted for movement on the highways of this state as provided in Section 14-101 et seq. of this title, other than a vehicle permitted solely for overweight movement, shall be moved only during daylight hours.  As used in Section 14-101 et seq. of this title, "daylight hours" shall mean one-half (1/2) hour before sunrise to one-half (1/2) hour after sunset.

E.  1.  Any vehicle permitted for movement on the highways of this state as provided in Section 14-101 et seq. of this title shall not be moved at any time on the following holidays:
a.	New Year's Day (January 1),

b.	Memorial Day (the last Monday in May),

c.	The Fourth of July (Independence Day),

d.	Labor Day (the first Monday in September),

e.	Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday in November), and

f.	Christmas Day (December 25).

2.  Any vehicle permitted for movement on the highways of this state as provided in Section 14-101 et seq. of this title shall be allowed to move on the following holidays:

a.	Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday (the third Monday in January),

b.	President's Day, also known as Washington's Birthday (the third Monday in February), and

c.	Veteran's Day (November 11).

SECTION 2.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 14-103G of Title 47, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A.  1.  The Department of Public Safety may issue an annual vehicle permit under the provisions of this subsection to a specific vehicle, for the movement of oversize or overweight loads that cannot reasonably be dismantled.  Unless otherwise provided by law, permits issued under this subsection shall be subject to the conditions described in paragraphs 2 through 8 of this subsection.

2.  Oversize or overweight loads operating under an annual vehicle permit shall not exceed:

a.	twelve (12) feet in width,

b.	fourteen (14) feet in height,

c.	one hundred ten (110) feet in length, or

d.	one hundred twenty thousand (120,000) pounds gross weight.

3.  Oversize or overweight loads operating under an annual vehicle permit under this subsection shall not transport a load that has more than a twenty-five-foot front overhang, or more than a thirty-foot rear overhang.

4.  The fee for an annual vehicle permit shall be Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00) and shall be nonrefundable.

5.  The annual vehicle permit shall be issued for one (1) calendar year period and shall commence upon the date specified on the permit.

6.  An annual vehicle permit issued pursuant to this subsection shall be nontransferable between permittees.

7.  The permitted vehicle or vehicle combination shall be registered in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 14 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes for maximum weight.

8.  An annual vehicle permit issued pursuant to this subsection may be transferred from one vehicle to another vehicle in the fleet of the permittee provided:

a.	the permitted vehicle is destroyed or otherwise becomes permanently inoperable to the extent that the vehicle will no longer be utilized, and the permittee presents proof to the Department of Public Safety that the negotiable certificate of title or other qualifying documentation has been surrendered to the Department of Public Safety, or

b.	the certificate of title to the permitted vehicle is transferred to someone other than the permittee, and the permittee presents proof to the Department of Public Safety that the negotiable certificate of title or other qualifying documentation has been transferred from the permittee. 

B.  1.  The Department of Public Safety may issue an annual vehicle permit under this subsection to a specific motor carrier, for the movement of oversize or overweight loads that cannot reasonably be dismantled.  An annual vehicle permit issued under this subsection may be transferred from one vehicle to another vehicle in the fleet of the permittee provided:

a.	that no more than one vehicle is operating at a time, and

b.	the original certified permit is carried in the vehicle that is being operated under the terms of the permit.

2.  An annual vehicle permit issued under this subsection shall be sent to the permittee via first-class, registered mail, or at the request and expense of the permittee via overnight delivery service.  The annual vehicle permit shall not be duplicated.  The annual vehicle permit shall be replaced only if:

a.	the permittee did not receive the original permit within seven (7) business days after the date of issuance,

b.	a request for replacement is submitted to the Department of Public Safety within ten (10) business days after the original date of issuance of the permit, and

c.	the request for replacement is accompanied by a notarized statement signed by a principal or officer of the permittee acknowledging that the permittee understands the permit may not be duplicated and that if the original permit is located, the permittee shall return either the original or replacement permit to the Department of Public Safety.

3.  A request for replacement of an annual vehicle permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall be denied if the Department of Public Safety can verify that the permittee received the original annual vehicle permit.

4.  Lost, misplaced, damaged, destroyed, or otherwise unusable annual vehicle permits shall not be replaced.  A new permit shall be required and shall be issued by the Department of Public Safety.

SECTION 3.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2009.

Passed the House of Representatives the 4th day of March, 2009.

	
Presiding Officer of the House of
	Representatives

Passed the Senate the 8th day of April, 2009.

	
Presiding Officer of the Senate