(1) Any nonresident owner or operator of any vehicle operated in this state with a gross weight in excess of twenty-six thousand (26,000) pounds is hereby granted the option of registering his vehicle and paying the annual privilege taxes herein provided. Before any owner or operator of a vehicle operated, who has not elected to register his vehicle and pay the annual privilege tax, shall operate such vehicle upon the highways of the State of Mississippi, except as otherwise provided herein, he shall secure a temporary permit for the privilege of so doing, which permit shall be issued on forms prepared, approved and supplied by the Department of Transportation. Such permit shall be issued by the department and shall be valid for a period of seventy-two (72) hours from the time of issue. In no instance shall the permit be valid for more than seventy-two (72) hours. Such permits shall be obtained or secured by application made by mail, or otherwise, to the department before operating such vehicle upon the public highways of this state, and upon payment of the requisite amount of fee as hereinafter provided. If any person should enter the State of Mississippi, or operate a vehicle upon the public highways thereof, without having first secured such permit from the department, then such person shall be allowed to obtain such permit from a representative of the department at one (1) of the inspection stations provided for in Section 27-5-73, if such person is entering into the state upon a highway where an inspection station is located and a representative of the department is available for such permit to be obtained. The privilege license fee for the permit provided for herein shall be Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) for all vehicles.

(2) In the same manner as specified above, any owner or operator who has registered his vehicle in Mississippi, and desires to operate with a greater gross weight than the licensed gross weight of such vehicle or who has registered his vehicle in Mississippi and desires to operate such vehicle in a different tax classification, if such proposed change in classification does not constitute an operation for hire which comes under the supervision of the Public Service Commission, shall purchase a permit in the same manner as specified in subsection (1) of this section.

(3) In lieu of obtaining the permit as specified in subsections (1) and (2), the owner or operator of a vehicle may proceed to the first tax collector next in his line of travel and make application for the proper annual privilege license by depositing with the tax collector the proper amount of privilege tax and registration fee required. The tax collector shall retain and pay into the county general fund One Dollar ($1.00) from each application for license tag received by him and actually forwarded within fifteen (15) days from the date of the application to the Commissioner of Revenue for issuance of the license tag.

(4) Any owner or operator of an unregistered vehicle may, in the same manner as provided in subsection (1) above, obtain a hunter’s permit for the purpose of transporting an unladen truck or truck-trailer combination upon the highways of this state on a single or round trip. Such trip must be for the purpose of obtaining a contract or lease for placing the vehicle in use as a carrier of property. Any vehicle operating under authority of this permit must be unladen.

(5) The permit fee collected under this section shall be deposited into the State Highway Fund for the construction, maintenance and reconstruction of highways and roads of the State of Mississippi or for the payment of interest and principal on bonds authorized by the Legislature for the construction and reconstruction of highways.

(6) Any owner or operator who has met the requirements set by the Executive Director of the Department of Transportation may defer payments of fines and/or penalties assessed by the department until the end of the current month. If full payment is not received by the twentieth of the following month, there may be added as damages to the total amount of the delinquency or deficiency the following percentages: ten percent (10%) for the first offense; fifteen percent (15%) for the second offense and twenty-five percent (25%) for the third and any subsequent offense. Upon the third offense, the executive director may suspend the privilege to defer payment. The balance due shall become payable upon notice and demand by the executive director.

(7) The department may waive the permits, taxes and fees set forth in this section whenever a motor vehicle is operated upon the public highways in this state in response to an emergency, a major disaster or the threat of a major disaster.