3.40 Hauling of Materials

3.40 HAULING OF MATERIALS
The Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement is responsible for monitoring and enforcement of truck weight regulations on roadways outside the project limits and on roadways within the project limits open to general traffic. Specification 1105.12 requires all hauling units delivering equipment or materials to the project to be legal weight loads and/or have appropriate hauling permits issued by the Motor Vehicle Division. The maximum allowable loads for various axle configurations are included in the Office of Motor Carrier Services’ publication, “Iowa Truck Information Guide” and can be viewed on their website at http://www.iamvd.com/omve/truckguide.pdf.

Hauling on Closed Roads
On projects closed to general traffic, if hauling of overweight axle loads on pavements and structures occurs, a non-compliance notice should be prepared. If overweight hauling continues, work on the project should be ordered to be suspended.

Hauling on Roads Open to General Traffic
On projects where overweight hauling occurs on roads open to general traffic, the contractor should be advised that if no action is taken to correct the loads, the Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement will be notified of the problem. If overweight truckloads continue and the contractor does not correct the problem after being advised to do so, the project engineer should contact the Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement.

Motor Vehicle Enforcement officers may be contacted at 515-237-3247.

Allowances to Axle Load Limits
● Truck Hauling

● Movement of Construction Equipment

Chapter 761 511.12(5) IAC authorizes a higher axle limit for construction equipment based on the tire width. This allowance is intended only for moving of empty overweight equipment and not for hauling operations.

The administrative rule allows construction equipment with axle weights greater than 20,000, but less than 36,000 pounds, to operate on pavements for the purpose of moving the equipment. The allowable axle weight is increased 1,882 pounds for every inch of tire width over 18 inches wide, up to the maximum allowable axle weight of 36,000 pounds. This is allowed provided that the total gross weight is less than 80,000 pounds for movement under an annual permit and 126,000 pounds under a single or multi-trip permit.

The allowable axle weight is calculated using the formula:

Example: For a 23.5" X 25" tire

In this example, equipment with a 23.5" wide tire could be moved on pavement, provided that the actual axle weight did not exceed 30,351 pounds.

Equipment allowed by this rule may include small “paddle wheel scrapers” and small articulated dump trucks. Again, this allowance is intended only for moving of empty equipment.