§ 32:385 — Farm vehicles and equipment; exemptions

§385. Farm vehicles and equipment; exemptions
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 R.S. 32:380 through 382 and, additionally, farm equipment shall be exempt
from the requirements of R.S. 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 R.S. 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 R.S. 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 R.S. 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 R.S. 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.

Legislative History

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.