Special Limitations and Issuance of Special Permits

(1) Scope and Organization. (a) Over-weight Vehicles; Over-size Vehicles; Small Tandem Units; and Vehicles Carrying Reducible Loads, Explosives, and Special Fuel. 700 CMR 7.07 establishes limitations on use and provides for special permits with respect to: over-weight vehicles, 700 CMR 7.07(3); vehicles carrying reducible loads, 700 CMR 7.07(3); small tandem units, 700 CMR 7.07(3)(c)4.; over-size vehicles, 700 CMR 7.07(4); vehicles carrying explosives, 700 CMR 7.07(5); and vehicles carrying a special fuel, 700 CMR 7.07(6). (b) Applicability to Large Tandem Units. The provisions of 700 CMR 7.07 apply to large tandem units, except that 700 CMR 7.08(3) and (4) governing length and weight limitations, respectively, applicable to large tandem units, supersede any conflicting provisions of 700 CMR 7.07. (2) Practices and Procedures regarding Special Permits. (a) Application to the Department. An owner or operator (applicant) may apply to the Department for a special permit on a written form (application) that the Department provides for this purpose. The Chief Engineer may approve an application on those terms or conditions, if any, as the Chief Engineer determines are consistent with the safe and efficient operation of the way over which permission to travel is sought. The Department accepts applications mailed or delivered to the office of the Chief Engineer and may, at its discretion, accept applications online through the Department's permit application portal. (b) Payment of Fees. An applicant must pay the fees that are specified in the application and in 700 CMR 7.07(3)(c)3.: Table 5. The Department specifies on the application the time and manner of payment. (c) Approval or Disapproval. The Department notifies the applicant of the approval or disapproval of the application as soon as is reasonably practicable and in a manner specified on the application. (d) Discretion of the Department. The Department may at any time decline to issue, or place restrictions in any special permit with or without a prior hearing as it determines. The Department may at any time suspend or revoke a special permit. The Department provides a hearing with respect to any such decision in the manner and to the extent required by law. (e) Effect of Misrepresentation. A material misrepresentation as to the weight or the dimensions of a vehicle or its load, or the nature of the load, that an applicant or the applicant's agent, employee, or lessee makes to the Department voids the special permit under which the vehicle is operating. A Massachusetts State Police officer or an authorized employee of the Department may verify at any time the weight, dimensions, or load of a vehicle. (f) Not Transferable. A special permit is valid only for the vehicle or vehicles that the Department approves in the special permit and is not transferable to another vehicle. (g) Emergency Suspension. The Department, acting by the responsible commanding officer of the Massachusetts State Police or, in the absence of the commanding officer, the officer's designee, may suspend the use of a special permit when road or weather conditions or the volume of traffic warrant doing so, as the commanding officer or designee determines. (h) Restrictions on Irreducible Load Permits. An irreducible load permit is valid for a trip in one direction through one of the Tunnels or between specified interchanges on the Turnpike unless the permit specifies otherwise. The Department may restrict travel under an irreducible load permit to specified days or hours. The Department ordinarily does not issue an irreducible load permit for travel in the Sumner Tunnel or the Ted Williams Tunnel in the direction away from Logan Airport between 7:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M. or in the Callahan Tunnel or Ted Williams Tunnel in the direction toward Logan airport between 3:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. The Department ordinarily does not issue an irreducible load permit for travel on the Turnpike between Interchange 11A in Westborough and Interchange 24 in Boston eastbound between 7:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M. or westbound between 3:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. (i) No Representation. The Department's issuance of a special permit does not constitute a representation by the Department of the adequacy of the way to support or accommodate the passage of a special permit vehicle with its load. (j) Applicant's Responsibility. An applicant is responsible for injury to, or the death of, individuals and for damage to the Department or public or private property resulting directly or indirectly from the presence on a way of a special permit vehicle or its operation by the applicant, whether owner or lessee, or by the applicant's agents, employees, or contractors. By applying for and using a special permit, an applicant agrees to save the Department, its members, officers, and employees harmless from liability for any such injury, death, or damage. The Department requires that an applicant agree to indemnify the Department against damage or injury resulting from the operation of the special permit vehicle on the way and to maintain such insurance as the Department considers appropriate as specified in the application. By submitting an application for a special permit, an applicant agrees to these requirements and certifies that the required insurance is in force. (k) Demonstration of Need for Irreducible Load Permit. An applicant for an irreducible load permit must demonstrate the number of work hours required to dismantle the load. (l) Circumstances under Which a Special Permit Is Not Issued. The Department does not issue a special permit with respect to weight, and a vehicle may not use a way, if the vehicle weight exceeds the gross vehicle weight rating or the gross weight for which the vehicle is registered, except that the Department may issue a special permit for a vehicle having a vehicle weight in excess of its registered gross weight if it is owned or leased by a carrier that is not domiciled in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (m) Tandem Units Not Permitted in the Tunnels. Except as provided in 700 CMR 7.07(3)(c)4. and notwithstanding any other provision of 700 CMR 7.07 to the contrary, tandem units are not permitted in the Tunnels. (3) Limitations on Weight. (a) Circumstances under Which No Special Permit Is Required. A vehicle does not require a special permit with respect to its weight if the vehicle weight does not exceed the maximum vehicle weight indicated in 700 CMR 7.07(3): Table 2 for a vehicle of its type, except that a special permit may nonetheless be required in accordance with the provisions of 700 CMR 7.07(3)(b)2. or 3. A vehicle may not use a way if its vehicle weight does not conform to the requirements of 700 CMR 7.07. TABLE 3 Type of Vehicle Maximum Vehicle Weight Motor Vehicle with two axles 46,000 lbs. Vehicle or vehicle combination with three axles 73,000 lbs. Vehicle or vehicle combination with four or more axles 87,000 lbs. Vehicle or vehicle combination with five or more axles 99,000 lbs. (b) Circumstances under Which a Special Permit Is Required. A motor vehicle, vehicle, or vehicle combination requires a special permit if: 1. the vehicle weight exceeds the maximum vehicle weight as indicated in 700 CMR 7.07(3)(a): Table 3; or 2. the weight on any axle, measured at the ground, exceeds the maximum weight indicated in 700 CMR 7.07(3): Table 4 for the applicable spacing between axles of the vehicle; TABLE 4 Axle Spacing Maximum Weight A single axle or axles spaced less than six feet apart 18,000 lbs. Axles spaced six feet or more apart 22,400 lbs. or, 3. the overall gross weight on a group of two or more consecutive axles exceeds 80,000 pounds or the value of "W" produced by application of the Bridge Gross Weight Formula, whichever is less, except that two consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of 34,000 pounds each, provided that the overall distance between the first and last axles of the consecutive sets of tandem axles is 36 feet or more. Bridge Gross Weight Formula: W = 500 (LN/N-1 + 12N + 36) where: "W" represents the overall gross weight in pounds on any group of two or more consecutive Axles to the nearest 500 pounds, "L" represents the distance in feet between the extreme of any group of two or more consecutive Axles, and "N" represents the number of Axles in the group under consideration. (c) Types of Special Permits Issued (Over-weight and Small Tandem Units). The Department issues special permits for over-weight vehicles in accordance with the following provisions: 1. Irreducible Load Permit. The Department may issue an irreducible load permit for over-weight vehicles in accordance with the procedures and subject to the terms of 700 CMR 7.07(2) and subject to 700 CMR 7.07(2)(1) for vehicles weighing more than the maximum vehicle weight indicated in 700 CMR 7.07(3): Table 3, upon the approval of the Chief Engineer. The applicant must pay the fees that are specified in the permit application and in 700 CMR 7.07: Table 5 and the toll charge based on the classification of the vehicle, under 700 CMR 7.03(1). In the case of an annual permit, multiple trips of a single vehicle or a convoy of vehicles, the fee specified on the permit application represents the total fee due up to a maximum number of trips of two or more as determined by the Chief Engineer, provided that the applicant specifies on the application referred to in 700 CMR 7.07(2)(a) the number of anticipated multiple trips, the time period in which they will be completed, and other information that the application or the Chief Engineer require. 2. Use of the Ted Williams Tunnel, Including the South Boston Bypass Road. A vehicle weighing more than the maximum vehicle weight indicated in 700 CMR