Section 35551.5 Of Article 1. Axle Limits From California Vehicle Code >> Division 15. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 1.
35551.5
. (a) The provisions of this section shall apply only to
combinations of vehicles which contain a trailer or semitrailer. Each
vehicle in such combination of vehicles, and every such combination
of vehicles, shall comply with either Section 35551 or with
subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of this section.
(b) The gross weight imposed upon the highway by the wheels on any
one axle of a vehicle shall not exceed 18,000 pounds and the gross
weight upon any one wheel, or wheels, supporting one end of an axle
and resting upon the roadway, shall not exceed 9,500 pounds, except
that the gross weight imposed upon the highway by the wheels on any
front steering axle of a motor vehicle shall not exceed 12,500
pounds. The gross weight limit provided for weight bearing upon any
one wheel, or wheels, supporting one end of an axle shall not apply
to vehicles the loads of which consist of livestock. The following
vehicles are exempt from the front axle weight limits specified in
this subdivision:
(1) Trucks transporting vehicles.
(2) Trucks transporting livestock.
(3) Dump trucks.
(4) Cranes.
(5) Buses.
(6) Transit mix concrete or cement trucks, and trucks that mix
concrete or cement at, or adjacent to, a jobsite.
(7) Motor vehicles that are not commercial vehicles.
(8) Vehicles operated by any public utility furnishing
electricity, gas, water, or telephone service.
(9) Trucks or truck tractors with a front axle at least four feet
to the rear of the foremost part of the truck or truck tractor, not
including the front bumper.
(10) Trucks transporting garbage, rubbish, or refuse.
(11) Trucks equipped with a fifth wheel when towing a semitrailer.
(12) Tank trucks which have a cargo capacity of at least 1,500
gallons.
(13) Trucks transporting bulk grains or bulk livestock feed.
(c) The total gross weight with load imposed on the highway by any
group of two or more consecutive axles of a vehicle in such
combination of vehicles or of such combination of vehicles where the
distance between the first and last axles of the two or more
consecutive axles is 18 feet or less shall not exceed that given for
the respective distance in the following table: