§ 39-12-04 — Width, height, and length limitations on vehicles - Exceptions

1. Vehicles operated on a highway in this state may not exceed a total outside width,
including load thereon, of eight feet six inches [2.59 meters]. This limitation does not
apply to:
a. Construction and building contractors' equipment and vehicles used to move
such equipment which does not exceed ten feet [3.05 meters] in width when
being moved by contractors or resident carriers.
b. Implements of husbandry being moved by resident farmers, ranchers,
governmental entities, dealers, or manufacturers between sunrise and sunset.
Furthermore, the limitation does not apply to implements of husbandry being
moved between sunset and sunrise by resident farmers, ranchers, governmental
entities, dealers, or manufacturers on public state, county, or township highway
systems other than interstate highway systems.
c. Hay in the stack or bale being moved along the extreme right edge of a roadway
between sunrise and sunset by someone other than a commercial mover.
d. Commercial movement of haystacks or hay bales with vehicles designed
specifically for hauling hay, commercial movement of self-propelled fertilizer
spreaders and self-propelled agricultural chemical applicators, whether operating
under their own power or being transported by another vehicle, commercial
movement of portable grain cleaners, commercial movement of forage
harvesters, and the commercial movement of hay grinders, which may be moved
on the highway after obtaining a seasonal permit issued by the highway patrol.
The highway patrol shall issue seasonal permits that are valid during daylight
hours on any day of the week, or that are valid at all times for the movement of
self-propelled fertilizer spreaders and self-propelled agricultural chemical
applicators, to any commercial entity otherwise qualified under this subdivision.
Self-propelled fertilizer spreaders and self-propelled agricultural chemical
applicators operating under their own power between sunset and sunrise must
display vehicle hazard warning signal lamps as described in subsection 3 of
section 39-21-19.1. The seasonal permit is in lieu of registration requirements for
the permit period. No seasonal permit may be issued, unless proof of financial
responsibility in a minimum of three hundred thousand dollars is filed and the
appropriate permit fee is paid. The seasonal permit may also be issued for
hauling hay bales with vehicles or vehicle combinations other than those

designed specifically for hauling haystacks. This seasonal permit, however, will
not be in lieu of registration requirements. All permit fees must be deposited in the
state highway distribution fund.
e. Safety devices that the highway patrol determines are necessary for the safe and
efficient operation of motor vehicles may not be included in the calculation of
width.
f. Any non-load-carrying safety appurtenance as determined by the highway patrol
which extends no more than three inches [7.62 centimeters] from each side of a
trailer is excluded from the measurement of trailer width. The width of a trailer is
measured across the sidemost load-carrying structures, support members, and
structural fasteners.
g. The highway patrol may adopt reasonable rules for those vehicles exempted from
the width limitations as provided for in this subsection.
2. Vehicles operated on a highway in this state may not exceed a height of fourteen feet
[4.27 meters], whether loaded or unloaded. This height limitation does not affect any
present structure such as bridges and underpasses that are not fourteen feet [4.27
meters] in height. This limitation does not apply to vehicles that are at most fifteen feet
six inches [4.72 meters] high when all of the following apply:
a. The vehicle is an implement of husbandry and is being moved by a resident
farmer, rancher, dealer, or manufacturer.
b. The trip is at most sixty miles [96.56 kilometers].
c. The trip is between sunrise and sunset.
d. None of the trip is on an interstate highway.
3. A vehicle operated on a highway in this state may not exceed the following length
limitations:
a. A single unit vehicle with two or more axles including the load thereon may not
exceed a length of fifty feet [15.24 meters].
b. A combination of two units including the load thereon may not exceed a length of
seventy-five feet [22.86 meters].
c. A combination of three or four units including the load thereon may not exceed a
length of seventy-five feet [22.86 meters], subject to any rules adopted by the
director that are consistent with public highway safety. The rules do not apply to a
three-unit combination consisting of a truck tractor and semitrailer drawing a
trailer or semitrailer.
d. A combination of two, three, or four units including the load thereon may be
operated on all four-lane divided highways and those highways in the state
designated by the director and local authorities as to the highways under their
respective jurisdictions and may not exceed a length of one hundred ten feet
[33.53 meters], subject to any rules adopted by the director that are consistent
with public highway safety.
e. The length of a trailer or semitrailer, including the load thereon, may not exceed
fifty-three feet [16.5 meters] except that trailers and semitrailers titled and
registered in North Dakota before July 1, 1987, and towed vehicles may not
exceed a length of sixty feet [18.29 meters].
4. Length limitations do not apply to:
a. Building moving equipment.
b. Emergency tow trucks towing disabled lawful combinations of vehicles to a
nearby repair facility.
c. Vehicles and equipment owned and operated by the armed forces of the United
States or the national guard of this state.
d. Structural material of telephone, power, and telegraph companies.
e. Truck-mounted haystack moving equipment, provided the equipment does not
exceed a length of fifty-six feet [17.07 meters].
f. A truck tractor and semitrailer or truck tractor, semitrailer, and the trailer when
operated on the interstate highway system or parts of the federal aid primary

system as designated by the director, only when federal law requires the
exemption.
g. Safety and energy conservation devices and any additional length exclusive
devices as determined by the highway patrol for the safe and efficient operation
of commercial motor vehicles. Length exclusive devices are appurtenances at the
front or rear of a commercial motor vehicle semitrailer or trailer, whose function is
related to the safe and efficient operation of the semitrailer or trailer.
5. Motor homes, house cars, travel trailers, fifth-wheel travel trailers, camping trailers,
and truck campers may exceed eight feet six inches [2.59 meters] in width if the
excess is attributable to an appurtenance that extends beyond the body of the vehicle
no more than six inches [15.24 centimeters] on either side of the vehicle. For purposes
of this subsection, the term appurtenance includes a shade awning and its support
hardware, and any appendage that is intended to be an integral part of a motor home,
house car, travel trailer, fifth-wheel travel trailer, camping trailer, or truck camper.