Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:385 – Farm vehicles and equipment; exemptions
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:385
- Department: means the Department of Transportation and Development. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Height: means the total vertical dimension of any vehicle above the ground surface including any load and load-holding devices thereon. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Length: means the total longitudinal dimension of a single vehicle, a trailer, or a semi-trailer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Motor carrier: means any person owning, controlling, managing, operating, or causing to be used or operated any commercial motor vehicle used in the transportation of persons or property over the public highways of this state, whether as a transportation agency or howsoever utilizing said public facilities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Owner: means a person who holds a legal title to a vehicle or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale, lease, or transfer of possession thereof with the right of purchase upon the performance of the conditions stated in the agreement, with the right of immediate possession in the vendee, lessee, possessor, or in the event such similar transaction is had by means of mortgage and the mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee, lessee, possessor, or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purposes of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Secretary: means the secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development or his delegated or authorized representative. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Special permit: means a written authorization to move or operate on a highway a vehicle or combination of vehicles with indivisible load of size and/or weight exceeding the limits prescribed for vehicles in regular operation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Trailer: means every single vehicle without motive power designed for carrying property or passengers wholly on its own structure, drawn by a motor vehicle which carries no part of the weight and load of the trailer on its own wheels and having two or more load carrying axles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Vehicle: means every device by which persons or things may be transported upon a public highway or bridge, except devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
- Width: means the total outside transverse dimension of a vehicle including any load or load holding devices thereon but excluding approved safety devices and tire bulge due to load. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
A.(1)(a) Farm and agricultural vehicles and equipment, except draglines and bulldozers, being operated or transported for bona fide agricultural purposes or the transportation of farm vehicles and equipment to be used for normal farm purposes by persons transporting such farm equipment or machinery, for distances not to exceed fifty miles from the point of origin, and fertilizer tending units shall be exempt from the requirements of La. Rev. Stat. 32:380 through 382 and, additionally, farm equipment shall be exempt from the requirements of La. Rev. Stat. 32:384.
(b) Trailers and semi-trailers with a gross vehicle weight rating of not more than twelve thousand pounds, when owned and used by a retail business in this state and designed and used exclusively for the purposes of pick-up or delivery of new, used, or repaired farm equipment for distances not to exceed fifty miles from the point of origin, shall be exempt from the requirements of La. Rev. Stat. 32:380.
(2) Vehicles being operated to transport timber cutting or logging equipment from one job site to another and the equipment being transported, when the trailer upon which the equipment is towed and the equipment are owned or leased by the same person, shall be exempt from the requirements of La. Rev. Stat. 32:380, 381, and 382.
(3) Such farm vehicles and vehicles transporting cutting or logging equipment may use any public highways other than those designated as part of the national system of interstate and defense highways during the period from sunrise until sunset without obtaining a special permit from the secretary, as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 32:387, or from any other agency or department of the state or political subdivisions, provided that such machinery or equipment being shipped by persons to be used for normal farm purposes shall be equipped with front and rear reflector lights and with a blinking hazard light clearly visible from the front and rear.
B. The provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 32:380, 381, and 382, relative to limitations on the width, height, and length of motor vehicles shall not apply to trucks which transport seed cotton modules or cotton from the field to the gin, or cotton seed from the gin to the mill, if the owner or operators of such trucks obtain an annual permit to be issued by the secretary for an annual fee of five dollars, according to rules and regulations to be promulgated by the secretary.
NOTE: Subsection C eff. upon exemption notification from federal Dept. of Transportation. See Acts 1991, No. 445.
C. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, Part 393.86 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and state law as they pertain to the requirements of bumpers or devices serving similar purposes shall not apply to any vehicle transporting seed cotton modules if such vehicle was manufactured prior to September 1, 1991.
Acts 1991, No. 306, §1; Acts 1991, No. 307, §1; Acts 1991, No. 445, §1; Acts 1997, No. 113, §1; Acts 1999, No. 786, §1; Acts 2018, No. 223, §1.