Effective 28 Aug 2017

304.170. Regulations as to width, height and length of vehicles — tractor parades permitted. — 1. No vehicle operated upon the highways of this state shall have a width, including load, in excess of one hundred two inches, except clearance lights, rearview mirrors or other accessories required by federal, state or city law or regulation. Provided however, a recreational vehicle as defined in section 700.010 may exceed the foregoing width limits if the appurtenances on such recreational vehicle extend no further than the rearview mirrors. Such mirrors may only extend the distance necessary to provide the required field of view before the appurtenances were attached.

2. No vehicle operated upon the interstate highway system or upon any route designated by the state highways and transportation commission shall have a height, including load, in excess of fourteen feet. On all other highways, no vehicle shall have a height, including load, in excess of thirteen and one-half feet, except that any vehicle or combination of vehicles transporting automobiles or other motor vehicles may have a height, including load, of not more than fourteen feet.

3. No single motor vehicle operated upon the highways of this state shall have a length, including load, in excess of forty-five feet, except as otherwise provided in this section.

4. No bus, recreational motor vehicle or trackless trolley coach operated upon the highways of this state shall have a length in excess of forty-five feet, except that such vehicles may exceed the forty-five feet length when such excess length is caused by the projection of a front safety bumper or a rear safety bumper or both. Such safety bumper shall not cause the length of the bus or recreational motor vehicle to exceed the forty-five feet length limit by more than one foot in the front and one foot in the rear. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, an articulated bus, comprised of two or more sections connected by a flexible joint or other mechanism, may be up to sixty feet in length, not including safety bumpers which may extend one foot in front and one foot in the rear, and not including bicycle storage racks which may extend over the safety bumper by up to five feet when in the down position transporting a bicycle. The term "safety bumper" means any device which may be fitted on an existing bumper or which replaces the bumper and is so constructed, treated, or manufactured that it absorbs energy upon impact.

5. No combination of truck-tractor and semitrailer or truck-tractor equipped with dromedary and semitrailer operated upon the highways of this state shall have a length, including load, in excess of sixty feet; except that in order to comply with the provisions of P.L. 97-424 codified in Title 23 of the United States Code, 23 U.S.C. Section 101, et al., as amended, no combination of truck-tractor and semitrailer or truck-tractor equipped with dromedary and semitrailer operated upon the interstate highway system of this state shall have an overall length, including load, in excess of the length of the truck-tractor plus the semitrailer or truck-tractor equipped with dromedary and semitrailer. The length of such semitrailer shall not exceed fifty-three feet.

6. In order to comply with the provisions of P.L. 97-424 codified in Title 23 of the United States Code, 23 U.S.C. Section 101, et al., as amended, no combination of truck-tractor, semitrailer and trailer operated upon the interstate highway system of this state shall have an overall length, including load, in excess of the length of the truck-tractor plus the semitrailer and trailer, neither of which semitrailer or trailer shall exceed twenty-eight feet in length, except that any existing semitrailer or trailer up to twenty-eight and one-half feet in length actually and lawfully operated on December 1, 1982, within a sixty-five foot overall length limit in any state, may continue to be operated upon the interstate highways of this state. On those primary highways not designated by the state highways and transportation commission as provided in subsection 11 of this section, no combination of truck-tractor, semitrailer and trailer shall have an overall length, including load, in excess of sixty-five feet; provided, however, the commission may designate additional routes for such sixty-five foot combinations.

7. (1) Automobile transporters, boat transporters, truck-trailer boat transporter combinations, and stinger-steered combination boat transporters having a length not in excess of seventy-five feet may be operated on the interstate highways of this state and such other highways as may be designated by the commission for the operation of such vehicles plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such interstate or designated highway. All length provisions regarding automobile or boat transporters, truck-trailer boat transporter combinations and stinger-steered combination boat transporters shall include a semitrailer length not to exceed fifty-three feet and are exclusive of front and rear overhang, which shall be no greater than a three-foot front overhang and no greater than a four-foot rear overhang.

(2) Stinger-steered combination automobile transporters having a length not in excess of eighty feet may be operated on the interstate highways of this state and such other highways as may be designated by the commission for the operation of such vehicles plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such interstate or designated highway. All length provisions regarding stinger-steered automobile combination transporters are exclusive of front and rear overhang, which shall be no greater than a four-foot front overhang and no greater than a six-foot rear overhang.

(3) Automobile transporters may transport cargo or general freight on a backhaul, as long as in compliance with weight limitations for a truck-tractor and semitrailer combination as outlined in section 304.180.

8. Driveaway saddlemount combinations having a length not in excess of ninety-seven feet may be operated on the interstate highways of this state and such other highways as may be designated by the commission for the operation of such vehicles plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such interstate or designated highway. Saddlemount combinations must comply with the safety requirements of Section 393.71 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations and may contain no more than three saddlemounted vehicles and one fullmount.

9. No truck-tractor semitrailer-semitrailer combination vehicles operated upon the interstate and designated primary highway system of this state shall have a semitrailer length in excess of twenty-eight feet or twenty-eight and one-half feet if the semitrailer was in actual and lawful operation in any state on December 1, 1982, operating in a truck-tractor semitrailer-semitrailer combination. The B-train assembly is excluded from the measurement of semitrailer length when used between the first and second semitrailer of a truck-tractor semitrailer-semitrailer combination, except that when there is no semitrailer mounted to the B-train assembly, it shall be included in the length measurement of the semitrailer.

10. No towaway trailer transporter combination vehicles operated upon the interstate and designated primary highway system of this state shall have an overall length of more than eighty-two feet.

11. The commission is authorized to designate routes on the state highway system other than the interstate system over which those combinations of vehicles of the lengths specified in subsections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of this section may be operated. Combinations of vehicles operated under the provisions of subsections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of this section may be operated at a distance not to exceed ten miles from the interstate system and such routes as designated under the provisions of this subsection.

12. Except as provided in subsections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of this section, no other combination of vehicles operated upon the primary or interstate highways of this state plus a distance of ten miles from a primary or interstate highway shall have an overall length, unladen or with load, in excess of sixty-five feet or in excess of fifty-five feet on any other highway.

13. (1) Except as hereinafter provided, these restrictions shall not apply to agricultural implements operating occasionally on the highways for short distances including tractor parades for fund-raising activities or special events, provided the tractors are driven by licensed drivers during daylight hours only and with the approval of the superintendent of the Missouri state highway patrol; or to self-propelled hay-hauling equipment or to implements of husbandry, or to the movement of farm products as defined in section 400.9-102 or to vehicles temporarily transporting agricultural implements or implements of husbandry or road-making machinery, or road materials or towing for repair purposes vehicles that have become disabled upon the highways; or to implement dealers delivering or moving farm machinery for repairs on any state highway other than the interstate system.

(2) Implements of husbandry and vehicles transporting such machinery or equipment and the movement of farm products as defined in section 400.9-102 may be operated occasionally for short distances on state highways when operated between the hours of sunrise and sunset by a driver licensed as an operator or chauffeur.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, agricultural machinery and implements may be operated on state highways between the hours of sunset and sunrise for agricultural purposes provided such vehicles are equipped with lighting meeting the requirements of section 307.115.

14. As used in this chapter the term "implements of husbandry" means all self-propelled machinery operated at speeds of less than thirty miles per hour, specifically designed for, or especially adapted to be capable of, incidental over-the-road and primary offroad usage and used exclusively for the application of commercial plant food materials or agricultural chemicals, and not specifically designed or intended for transportation of such chemicals and materials.

15. Sludge disposal units may be operated on all state highways other than the interstate system. Such units shall not exceed one hundred thirty-eight inches in width and may be equipped with over-width tires. Such units shall observe all axle weight limits. The commission shall issue special permits for the movement of such disposal units and may by such permits restrict the movements to specified routes, days and hours.

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(RSMo 1939 § 8405, A.L. 1943 p. 663, A. 1949 S.B. 1113, A.L. 1953 p. 568, A.L. 1957 p. 624, A.L. 1965 p. 488, A.L. 1967 p. 412, A.L. 1971 S.B. 317, A.L. 1972 H.B. 1112, A.L. 1974 S.B. 552, A.L. 1979 S.B. 44, A.L. 1980 S.B. 508, A.L. 1983 H.B. 539, A.L. 1985 S.B. 416, A.L. 1986 S.B. 784, A.L. 1988 S.B. 686, A.L. 1992 H.B. 1794, A.L. 1999 S.B. 17 merged with S.B. 19, A.L. 2000 H.B. 1142 merged with H.B. 1948, A.L. 2004 S.B. 1233, et al., A.L. 2007 S.B. 82, A.L. 2009 H.B. 93 & 216 merged with H.B. 683, A.L. 2017 S.B. 8 merged with S.B. 222 merged with S.B. 225)

Prior revision: 1929 § 7787