(1)(a) Notwithstanding any
other provision of this article to the contrary, the department of transportation, in
the exercise of its discretion, may issue permits for the use of longer vehicle
combinations. An annual permit for such use may be issued to each qualified carrier
company. The carrier company shall maintain a copy of such annual permit in each
vehicle operating as a longer vehicle combination; except that, if a peace officer, as
described in section 16-2.5-101, C.R.S., or an authorized agent of the department of
transportation may determine that the permit can be electronically verified at the
time of contact, a copy of the permit need not be in each vehicle. The fee for the
permit shall be two hundred fifty dollars per year.
(b)Notwithstanding the amount specified
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(1) (a) Notwithstanding any
other provision of this article to the contrary, the department of transportation, in
the exercise of its discretion, may issue permits for the use of longer vehicle
combinations. An annual permit for such use may be issued to each qualified carrier
company. The carrier company shall maintain a copy of such annual permit in each
vehicle operating as a longer vehicle combination; except that, if a peace officer, as
described in section 16-2.5-101, C.R.S., or an authorized agent of the department of
transportation may determine that the permit can be electronically verified at the
time of contact, a copy of the permit need not be in each vehicle. The fee for the
permit shall be two hundred fifty dollars per year.
(b) Notwithstanding the amount specified for the fee in paragraph (a) of this
subsection (1), the executive director of the department by rule or as otherwise
provided by law may reduce the amount of the fee if necessary pursuant to section
24-75-402 (3), C.R.S., to reduce the uncommitted reserves of the fund to which all
or any portion of the fee is credited. After the uncommitted reserves of the fund are
sufficiently reduced, the executive director of the department by rule or as
otherwise provided by law may increase the amount of the fee as provided in
section 24-75-402 (4), C.R.S.
(c) The department shall provide the option to a company filing for a permit
under this section to file an express consent waiver that enables the company to
designate a company representative to be a party of interest for a violation of this
section. The appearance of the company representative in a court hearing without
the operator when the operator has signed such waiver shall not be deemed the
practice of law in violation of article 93 of title 13.
(2) The permits shall allow operation, over designated highways, of the
following vehicle combinations of not more than three cargo units and neither
fewer than six axles nor more than nine axles:
(a) An unladen truck tractor, a semitrailer, and two trailers. A semitrailer
used with a converter dolly shall be considered a trailer. Semitrailers and trailers
shall be of approximately equal lengths not to exceed twenty-eight feet six inches
in length.
(b) An unladen truck tractor, a semitrailer, and a single trailer. A semitrailer
used with a converter dolly shall be considered a trailer. Semitrailers and trailers
shall be of approximately equal lengths not to exceed forty-eight feet in length.
Notwithstanding any other restriction set forth in this section, such combination
may have up to eleven axles when used to transport empty trailers.
(c) An unladen truck tractor, a semitrailer, and a single trailer, one trailer of
which is not more than forty-eight feet long, the other trailer of which is not more
than twenty-eight feet six inches long. A semitrailer used with a converter dolly
shall be considered a trailer. The shorter trailer shall be operated as the rear trailer.
(d) A truck and single trailer, having an overall length of not more than
eighty-five feet, the truck of which is not more than thirty-five feet long and the
trailer of which is not more than forty feet long. For the purposes of this paragraph
(d), a semitrailer used with a converter dolly shall be considered a trailer.
(3) (a) The long combinations are limited to interstate highway 25, interstate
highway 76, interstate highway 70 west of its intersection with state highway 13 in
Garfield county, interstate highway 70 east of its intersection with U.S. 40 and state
highway 26, the circumferential highways designated I-225 and I-270, and state
highway 133 in Delta county from mile marker 8.9 to mile marker 9.7. The
department of transportation shall promulgate rules to provide carriers with
reasonable ingress to and egress from such designated highway segments.
(b) Upon action by the congress of the United States to lift the freeze
imposed by the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991,
Pub.L. 102-240, as amended, concerning the use of longer vehicle combinations,
either by the total freeze being lifted by congress or by the approval of pilot
projects to expand the use of longer vehicle combinations by the states, the
department of transportation shall undertake a process to evaluate both interstate
and state highways for possible authorization by the department of additional
highway segments for inclusion by the general assembly in paragraph (a) of this
subsection (3). During the review process, the department shall solicit input from all
relevant stakeholders and shall work within existing statutory and regulatory
guidelines. The department shall commence the review process within ninety days
after action by congress that would allow expansion of the longer vehicle
combination route network in Colorado.
(4) The department of transportation shall promulgate rules and regulations
governing the issuance of the permits, including, but not limited to, selection of
carriers, driver qualifications, equipment selection, hours of operation, and safety
considerations; except that they shall not include hazardous materials subject to
regulation by the provisions of article 20 of this title.
(5) Any person who violates any provision of this section commits a class B
traffic infraction.