Ord 2659 7/6/1971 I
ORDINANCE NO. 2659
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING A MAXIMUM WIDTH, HEIGHT,
LENGTH, GROSS WEIGHT, SINGLE AXLE LOAD AND TANDEM
AXLE LOAD FOR COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES; PROVIDING
A MAXIMUM TANDEM AXLE LOAD, SINGLE AXLE LOAD AND
GROSS LOAD FOR VEHICLES USED EXCLUSIVELY TO TRANS-
PORT READY-MIX CONCRETE; EXEMPTING VEHICLES BEING
USED UNDER STATE PERMIT, EMERGENCY VEHICLES, AND
VEHICLES OPERATED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OR MAINTE-
NANCE OF ANY PUBLIC UTILITY; PROVIDING FOR SPECIAL
PERMITS REQUIRING A BOND; SETTING FEES ; PROHIBIT-
ING THE DROPPING OF ANY VEHICLE CARGO ONTO THE
PUBLIC STREETS; PROVIDING FOR PENALTIES AND
INJUNCTIONS ; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF
WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, THAT:
SECTION 1. Except as otherwise provided herein, it shall
be unlawful and a violation of this Ordinance for any person to drive,
operate or move, and/or to cause or permit to be driven, operated or
moved, on any public street within the corporate limits of the City
of Wichita Falls, any commercial motor vehicle with or without load,
contrary to any of the regulations contained in this Ordinance.
SECTION 2 .
A. No commercial motor vehicle shall exceed a total
outside width, including any load thereon, of ninety-six inches (96" ) ,
except that the width of a farm tractor shall not exceed nine feet (9' ) ,
and that the limitations as tosize of a vehicle stated in this section
shall not apply to implements of husbandry, machinery used solely for
the purpose of drilling water wells, or to highway or street building
or maintenance machinery owned or operated by or on behalf of the
State of Texas or any of its political subdivisions or the City of
Wichita Falls.
B. No commercial motor vehicle unladen or with
load shall exceed a height of thirteen feet, six inches (13 ' 6" )
including load.
C. No commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor,
trailer or semi-trailer, except pole trailers, shall exceed a length
of forty feet (40' ) except when such vehicle is operated in combina-
tion and coupled to another such vehicle, and when operated in
combination no such combination of vehicles coupled together shall
exceed a total length of sixty-five feet (65' ) ; provided, however, that
the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any disabled
vehicle being towed by another vehicle to an intake place for repairs;
and provided further, that the above limitations shall not apply to
any mobile home or to any combination of a mobile home and a motor
vehicle, but no mobile home and motor vehicle combination shall ex-
ceed a total length of fifty-five feet (55 ' ) .
D. No vehicle or combination of vehicles, except
pole trailers, shall carry any load extending more than three feet
(3' ) beyond the front thereof, nor more than four feet (4' ) beyond
the rear thereof.
SECTION 3. No commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor,
trailer, semi-trailer nor combination of such vehicles shall be
operated or caused or permitted to be operated upon any public
street within the corporate limits of the City of Wichita Falls
having a weight in excess of any one or more of the following
limitations:
A. In no event shall the total gross weight, with
load, of any vehicle or combination of vehicles, exceed seventy-two
thousand (72 , 000) pounds.
B. No axle shall carry a load in excess of eighteen
thousand (18,000) pounds. An axle load shall be defined as the total
load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers may be in-
cluded between two (2) parallel transverse vertical planes forty
inches (40" ) apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.
C. The total gross weight concentrated on the high-
way surface from any tandem axle group shall not exceed thirty-two
thousand (32 ,000) pounds for each such tandem axle group. Tandem
axle group is defined to be two (2) or more axles spaced forty inches
(40" ) or more apart from center to center having at least one (1)
common point of weight suspension.
D. Vehicles used exclusively to transport ready-mix
concrete may be operated upon the public streets of the City of Wichita
Falls with a tandem axle load not to exceed thirty-six thousand (36,000)
pounds, a single axle load not to exceed twelve thousand (12, 000) pounds
and a gross load not to exceed forty-eight thousand (48, 000) pounds.
SECTION 4. The provisions of Sections 2 and 3 shall not
apply to:
A. Any person operating or causing to be operated a
motor vehicle under a valid and subsisting permit for the operation of
overweight or oversize equipment for the transportation of such commo-
dities as cannot be reasonably dismantled issued by the State Highway
Department under the provisions of Article 6701a of the Revised Civil
Statutes of Texas as said article now exists or might from time to
time be amended;
B. Emergency vehicles operating in response to any
emergency call;
C. Vehicles operated for the purpose of constructing
or maintaining any public utility in the City of Wichita Falls .
D. The moving of any house or building being moved
in accordance with Par. 3 (B) (II) of Sec. 7-15 of the Code of Ordinances .
SECTION 5.
A. Upon written application timely made by any per-
son or corporation which desires to operate or cause to be operated on
the public streets within the corporate limits of the City of Wichita
Falls, Texas, overweight or oversize equipment for the transportation
of such commodities as cannot be reasonably dismantled, where the total
gross weight or size of the vehicle and its load exceed the limits
allowed by this section, the Traffic Department,after consulting with
the Public Works Department, may issue a permit for the operation of
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such equipment or fleets of equipment for a specified period of
time, over a route or routes to be designated by the Public Works
Department, if such routes can be determined at the time application
for the permit is made.
B. The application for the permit provided for in
this section shall be in writing and contain the following:
(1) The kind of equipment to be operated, with
a complete description of same and a state-
ment as to its weight.
(2) The kind of commodity to be transported
and a certificate as to its weight.
(3) The street or streets over which the said
equipment is to be operated, and the date
or dates and the approximate time of said
operation, and the number of trips to be
made, except when the nature, route, time
or frequency of operation cannot be
determined at the time the permit is issued.
(4) The application shall be dated and signed
by the applicant.
C. Before a permit is issued under this section, the
applicant for same shall file with the Public Works Department a bond
in an amount to be set and approved by the Public Works Department.
The amount of such bond shall not exceed the product of the number of
vehicles for which a permit is sought multiplied by Ten Thousand and
no/100 Dollars ($10, 000.00) , said bond shall be payable to the City
of Wichita Falls and conditioned that the applicant will pay to the
City of Wichita Falls the sum of money necessary to repair any damage
which might be occasioned to any public street or publicly-owned
fixture appurtenant to such street by virtue of operation of any
commercial vehicle under said permit. Venue of any suit for recovery
upon said bond shall be in Wichita County, Texas, and any bond issued
hereunder shall contain an unambiguous contractual provision to that
effect.
D. A fee shall be charged for each permit as follows:
$5.00 for single trip permits.
$10.00 for periods not exceeding 30 days.
$15.00 for periods not exceeding 60 days.
$20.00 for periods not exceeding 90 days.
$50.00 for periods not exceeding 1 year.
The proper fee shall accompany each application for permit and shall
be made in cash or by cashier or certified check or postal money order.
The fee shall be returned if the application is denied.
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E. Any permit issued hereunder shall include at
least the following:
(1) The name of the applicant, the date, a
description of the equipment to be
operated and a description of the com-
modity to be transported.
(2) The signature of an authorized member of
the Traffic Department and the Public Works
Department.
(3) The time for which the permit is issued.
(4) The specified street or streets over which
the equipment is to be operated, in so far
as it can be determined at the time the
permit is issued.
SECTION 6. Whenever the movement within the City of
any commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor, trailer, semi-trailer
or combination thereof necessitates the furnishing of police escort,
traffic engineering crews, or other services by the City, the owner
and/or operator of such vehicle shall pay to the City the cost of
such services.
SECTION 7 . It shall be unlawful for any person to operate
or cause to be operated any commercial motor vehicle on a public street
of the City of Wichita Falls in such manner as to permit any portion
of its cargo, either liquid or solid, to fall out of, spill from, or
blow out of such vehicle.
SECTION 8. Any person who violates any of the provisions
of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon convic-
tion thereof, shall be fined not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars
($200.00) for each offense. Each day that a violation is permitted
to exist shall constitute a separate offense. In addition to the
penal provision, any violation of this ordinance can be enjoined by
a suit filed in the name of the City of Wichita Falls.
SECTION 9. Any police officer of the City of Wichita
Falls, having reason to believe that the gross weight or axle load
of a loaded motor vehicle is unlawful, is authorized to weigh the
same by means of portable or stationary scales furnished or approved
by the Texas Department of Public Safety, or cause the same to be
weighed by any public weigher, and to require that such vehicle
be driven to the nearest available scales for the purpose of weigh-
ing. In the event the gross weight of such vehicle be found to
exceed the maximum gross weight authorized by this ordinance, such
police officer shall demand and require the operator or owner of
such motor vehicle to unload such portion of the load as may be
necessary to decrease the gross weight of such vehicle to the maxi-
mum authorized by this ordinance.
SECTION 10. If any section, sentence or clause of this
ordinance is held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this
ordinance, which shall continue in full force and effect.
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SECTION 11. The fact that there is now no limit on
loads carried by commercial vehicles on the streets of the city
creates an emergency and this ordinance is declared to be an
emergency measure for the protection of the health, safety and
property of the citizens of Wichita Falls, and it shall become
effective immediately upon its passage.
PASSED AND APPROVED THIS the 6th day of July, 1971.
411. 1.11"1474:412.
MAYOR
ATTEST:
r)I-fe/a-
City Clerk
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X(%5-47
ORDINANCE NO.2659 A
i MUMRDWIDTHEHEItrHTNGLENGTH, '.. Affidavit of Publication '
I GROSS WEIGHT, SINGLE AXLE LOAD '
I AND TANDEM AXLE LOAD FOR COM-
! VIDING A MAXIMUM TANDEM AXLE
LOAD, SINGLE AXLE LOAD AND THE STATE: OF TEXAS
GROSS LOAD FOR VEHICLES USED
READY-MIX LCONCR'ETE; EXEMPT ING COUNTY OF WICHITA
VEHICLES BEING USED UNDER
STATE PERMIT, EMERGENCY VEHI- e
CLES, AND VEHICLES OPERATED IN
THE CONSTRUCTION O•R MAINTE-
NANCE OF ANy PUBLIC UTILITY; On tliis . 1)'i day of , •Trt77 .
I PROVIDING FOR SPECIAL PERMITS
! REQUIRING A BOND; SETTING FEES;
PROHIBITING THE DROPPING OF ANY
VEHICLE CARGO ONTO THE PUBLIC A.D.i j7 . . personally appeared before me, the undersigned authority
! STREETS; PROVIDING FOR PENAL-
TIES AND INJUNCTIONS; DECLARING
BE EM'EORDAI eD BY THE BOARD ? err',"'•"t MI 11 cat Qon , bookkeeper
OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF
WICHITA FALLS,TEXAS,THAT:
1 SECTION I. Except as otherwise n w l and for the Times Publishing Company of Wichita Falls, publishers of the
i ed herein, it shall be unlawful and g p y ' p
a violation of this Ordinance for any
tenon to drive,
per, operate or move, and-or
rated Wichita Falls Record News, a newspaper published at Wichita Falls in
to cause or permit to,be:�driven,operated
or moved, on any public street within
the corporate limits of the city or
Wichita Falls, any commercial motor > Texas,Wichita County Texas and upon. being duly sworn by me, on. oath states
vehicle with or without load, contrary
to any of the regulations contained.i
in this Ordinance., that the attached.advertisement is a true and correct copy of advertising
SECTION 2. '
A. No commercial motor vehicle Mall
exceed a total outside width, including published in,,. One Lii issues thereof on the following
any load thereon, of ninety-six Inches
(96"), and that the limitations as to dates
size of a vehicle stated In this section
shall not apply to implements of husban-
dry, machinery used solely for the • July 11S 1.9.71 purpose of drilling water wells, or
to highway or street building or mainte-
nance machinery owned or operated 72// �/—�by or on behalf of the State of Texas a �',2,,,.. /\ -L%4---
cq'�.
or any of its political subdivisions or ., ��'
the city of Wichita Falls.
B.No commercial motor vehicle unladen Bookkeeper f mes Publishing Company
or with load shall exceed a height'
of thirteen feet, six Inches (13'6") includ- of Wichita Falls
ing load.
C. Na commercial motor vehicle, truck-
tractor, trailer or semi-trailer, except
pole trailers, shall exceed a length Subscribed and sworn to before me this the day and year first above
of forty feet (40') except when such 0
vehicle Is operated In combination and a� written.
coupled to another such vehicle, and
when operated in combination no such
combination of vehicles coupled together -
shall exceed a total length of sixty-five
Teel (65'); provided, t;owever,- that the - l • :1,
provisions of this subsection shall not. -
apply to any disabled vehicle being
towed by another vehicle to an intake v o ��' r).-1„ ..)..2.0)
place for repairs; and provided further, ..
that the above limitations shall not
apply to any mobile home or to any
combination of a mobile home and
a motor vehicle, but no mobile home
and motor vehicle combination shall
exceed a total length of fifty-five feet
(35'). .. �.
D. N.vehicle or combination of vehicles,
except pole trailers, shall carry any
load extending more than three feet
(3') beyond the front thereof, nor more
than four feet (4') beyond the rear
thereof.
SECTION 3. Na commercial motor vehi-
cle, truck-tractor, trailer, semi-trailer
nor combination of such vehicles shall
be operated or caused or permitted
to be operated upon any public street
within the corporate limits of the City
et Wichita 'Fells having a weight In