DMV – Special Equipment (SE) Plate – Do you know whether or not your equipment can legally travel over a public roadway or highway?
A known practice of “roading” construction equipment over a public roadway and/or highway is being enforced very differently these days. Some members, when stopped by a law enforcement officer and cited, say “But officer, I have done it this way for years and never had a problem before”. We also have those that inform the officer that they have a valid SE Plate that allows them to travel over the highway, which is correct to a point, but not quite as far as most would think—the Vehicle Code states “which moves only occasionally or incidentally operated or moved over the highways”?
DMV understood the need for the construction industry to allow unlicensed water trucks an exemption to qualify for an SE plate. The exemption allowed a water truck the ability to travel outside the project boundaries to the nearest water hydrant or water source and then directly back to the project. What was meant to be occasionally or incidentally actually expanded into travel most anywhere or to and from their business location to the project daily, in some cases was as much as 100 miles.
This was never the intent and so after a little bit of education, enforcement is being stepped up and industry is being put on notice. Local equipment rental yards were notified that any construction equipment being rented, even to a home owner who is renting a skip loader to do work in his backyard, must be transported to their location, not travel down the highway to save transportation charges. This is no longer tolerated.
So the answer to be able to travel outside the boundaries of your construction project is not a SE Plate, the answer is having it transported on a lowbed. If the equipment is oversized, a lowbed with proper permits is required for your equipment. Whether that load is being hauled by your own company’s lowbed or an outside transport company, you are ultimately responsible if it is involved in an accident and to make it worse, if you didn’t have a permit, you have additional liability.
Now that agencies are focusing on SE plates, they are finding that these types of vehicles were neither being properly registered nor paying registration fees. They also weren’t being enrolled in the BIT program and or any Drug or Alcohol Programs because there was no reason to track vehicles that weren’t intended to be on the highway, which was never the intent of CVC 565 as you will see below:
CVC 565. "Special construction equipment" is:
(a) Any vehicle used primarily off the highways for construction purposes and which moves only occasionally over the highways and which because of the length, height, width, or unladen weight may not move over the public highways unladen without the permit specified in Section 35780.
(b) Any vehicle which is designed and used primarily either for grading of highways, paving of highways, earth moving, and other construction work on highways, or for construction or maintenance work on railroad rights-of-way, and which is not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and which is only incidentally operated or moved over the highway. It includes, but is not limited to, road and railroad construction and maintenance machinery so designed and used such as portable air compressors, air drills, asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, track-type tractors, crawler tractors, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, paving mixers, road rollers, scarifiers, earth moving scrapers and carryalls, lighting plants, welders, pumps, water wagons, power shovels and draglines, speed swings, skip loaders, weed mowers, self-propelled and tractor-drawn earth moving equipment and machinery, including dump trucks and tractor-dump trailer combinations which either (1) are in excess of 96 inches in width or (2) which, because of their length, height or unladen weight, may not be moved on a public highway without the permit specified in Section 35780 of this code and which are not operated laden except within the boundaries of the job construction site, and other similar types of construction equipment.
CVC 570. "Special Construction Equipment" does not include any of the following:
(a) A vehicle originally designed for the transportation of persons or property to which machinery has been attached unless specifically designated as such in Section 565.
(b) Dump trucks originally designed to comply with the size and weight provisions of this code notwithstanding any subsequent modification which would require a permit, as specified in Section 35780 of this code, to operate such vehicles on a highway, Truck-mounted transit mixers, cranes and shovels.
Laws have been passed and implemented to address such issues as loading or unloading in the street as long as you’re in the “immediate vicinity.”
CVC 35553. “Unloading in the Street” The provisions of this article shall not apply to any vehicle in the immediate vicinity of an unloading or loading area while actually preparing for or in the process of unloading or loading, provided any overload is incidental to and necessitated by such action; and provided that such action does not occur on a bridge or highway structure.
This section shall have no application to highways which are a part of the national system of interstate and defense highways (as referred to in subdivision (a) of Section 108 of the Federal-aid Highway Act of 1956).
We have been involved in cases where a local agency was demanding that a member bringing in 657 Scrapers to specific projects would have to split the scraper into two and haul them in separately. We resolved the issue with the help of the Vehicle Code, but it could happen to you or a contractor your working for, so you need to be aware of the restrictions on SE plated units.
Weekend movement was originally implemented January 6, 2005 we had worked with LA County for several years to open up movement trom noon on Saturday until Midnight Sunday night. This we were working with LA City hoping to have both agencies completed and implemented at the same time and that didn’t work.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS – Implemented on 01-06-05
ATTACHMENT NO. 1 - MOVING PERMIT - Original
5. OPERATING HOURS. This permit is valid within the period stated on the face of the permit. Unless specifically stated otherwise (See Section III, Overwidth), moving is prohibited from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. everyday.
We happen to notice a change to the current attachments while we had been helping a member obtain their annual permits. This change was made without notice to our industry.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS - Changed on 09-15-08
ATTACHMENT NO. 1 – MOVING PERMIT -
2. RESTRICTED HOURS. Any load or vehicle 16 feet wide or greater shall be restricted to moving during the hours of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. everyday. Any load or vehicle over 10 feet wide, but less than 16 feet wide, shall not move between the hours of 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. everyday. Loads equal to or less than 10 feet do not have restricted hours under clear weather conditions.
The County restriction changed and only allows loads equal to or less than 10’ wide to travel 24/7.
City of
The City has been overcharging for transportation permits. We contacted the city and informed them that the $150 for an Annual and $50 for Single Trip Permit fees they were imposing are in excess of what is allowed in CVC 35795 (b). They agreed to cease charging more than allowed by state law--$90 for annuals and $16 for single trips.
City of
We contacted the City and first were told that they only charge the $16. The problem? We had a permit that was issued only a week before from a member that showed they were charged 21.08. Turns out they were charging as much as $30 for a single trip! We requested that they reduce the fee to $16. Will keep you posted.
City of
We just happened to have called the city to discuss the cost of their permit fees and the person that we were going to talk with had already gone home for the holidays. This was December 23rd so we asked if there was anyone else we could talk to and were told “not today,” that the permit person in charge will be back on January 4th and that the entire city is closed during the week from Christmas through New Years, and no permits would available.
We attempted to see how Industry was to obtain their transportation permit during this period. They had no idea what if any arrangements were already made or what to do, except that we had till noon the following day to obtain a permit.
We suggested that other localities allow us to contact the Police Department and clear the movement and then when the city re-opened for business, we would obtain the permit after the fact. This would allow industry to operate without interruptions.
We have since spoken with the Public Works Director about both the issues. He understood our concerns regarding the Annual Permits that they no longer issue because of some problem with several loads that were overheight, which actually turned out to be loads outside of the dimensions approved under an annual permit. I suggested that if they wanted to know when these loads move, would they consider allowing the carrier to call in and notify the city prior to each move and he said he would consider it.
After about an hour on the phone, we actually came to the conclusion that out industry is, for the most part, not creating the problem, but rather the carriers transporting Variance loads or unusually large or heavy loads. We will be meeting in the near future.
After several calls from members being overcharged for single trip permits, we contacted the
City of
We are expecting the 4 group tridem proposal to be completed and implemented soon by Caltrans, so we spoke with the city and explained the next new Caltrans policy. The 2 group has been approved and will review the 4 group to have it implemented in the near future.
City of
We contacted the Public Works Director to see if how soon they would reduce their permit fees.and we were told they would review the documentation we sent to him and let us know—we are hoping soon!
Reaffirming Our Purpose:
If you have any problems with an agency (city/county/state) and you find yourself asking ‘why are we having to do things this way’ and the agency tells you, ‘this is the way we have always done it’, let us know. We are here to make
Respectfully submitted,
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