                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

LENGTH OF VEHICLES, GENERALLY; SPECIAL PERMITS; VEHICLE COMBINATIONS, ETC.,
OPERATING ON CERTAIN HIGHWAYS; PENALTY (§ 46.2-1112)

No motor vehicle longer than 40 feet shall be operated on any highway in the
Commonwealth except for buses and motor homes. The actual length of any
combination of vehicles, including motor homes and buses, coupled together
including any load thereon shall not exceed a total of 65 feet. However, the
length of a tractor truck semitrailer combination may exceed 65 feet in length,
provided the semitrailer does not exceed 53 feet in length and the distance
between the kingpin of the semitrailer and the rearmost axle or a point midway
between the rear tandem axles does not exceed 41 feet. The Commissioner of
Highways may impose restrictions on the operation of vehicles exceeding 65 feet
in length on certain roads, based on a safety and engineering analysis. No bus
or motor home longer than 45 feet shall be operated on any highway in the
Commonwealth. No tolerance shall be allowed that exceeds 12 inches.
		The Commissioner, however, when good cause is shown, may issue a special
permit for combinations either in excess of 65 feet, including any load thereon,
or where the object or objects to be carried cannot be moved otherwise. Such
permits may also be issued by the Department when the total number of otherwise
overdimensional loads of modular housing of no more than two units may be
reduced by permitting the use of an overlength trailer not exceeding 54 feet. No
permit shall be issued by the Commissioner until an engineering analysis of a
proposed routing has been conducted by the Commissioner of Highways to assess
the ability of the roadway to be traversed to sustain the vehicle&#8217;s size.
		No overall length restrictions, however, shall be imposed on any tractor truck
semitrailer combinations drawing one trailer or any tractor truck semitrailer
combinations when operated on any interstate highway or on any highway as
designated by the Commonwealth Transportation Board. No such designation shall
be made, however, until notice of any proposed designation has been provided by
the Commissioner of Highways to the governing body of every locality wherein any
highway affected by the proposed designation is located.
		No individual semitrailer or trailer being drawn in a tractor truck
semitrailer trailer combination, however, shall exceed 28 1/2 feet in length,
and no semitrailer being operated in a tractor truck semitrailer combination
shall exceed 48 feet in length, except when semitrailers have a distance of not
more than 41 feet between the kingpin of the semitrailer and the rearmost axle
or a point midway between the rear tandem axles, such semitrailer shall be
allowed not more than 53 feet in length.
		The length limitations on semitrailers and trailers in the foregoing
provisions of this section shall be exclusive of safety and energy conservation
devices, steps and handholds for entry and egress, rubber dock guards, flexible
fender extensions, mudflaps, refrigeration units, and air compressors. The
Commissioner of Highways shall designate reasonable access to terminals,
facilities for food, fuel, repairs and rest. Household goods carriers and any
tractor truck semitrailer combination in which the semitrailer has a length of
no more than 28 1/2 feet shall not be denied reasonable access to points of
loading and unloading, except as designated, based on safety considerations, by
the Commissioner of Highways.
		Any person operating a vehicle whose length is not in conformity with the
provisions of this chapter on a two-lane highway where passing is permitted
shall be guilty of a traffic infraction and fined $250.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 46-328; 1950, p. 665; 1952, c. 342; 1956, cc. 476, 483;
1958, c. 541, § 46.1-330; 1962, c. 113; 1966, c. 59; 1972, c. 446; 1974, c.
664; 1975, c. 104; 1978, c. 254; 1983, c. 515; 1985, c. 426; 1986, c. 417; 1989,
cc. 644, 645, 727; 1993, c. 984; 1994, c. 456; 1995, c. 71; 1997, c. 773; 2001,
c. 151; 2003, c. 314; 2005, c. 262; 2006, cc. 210, 232; 2013, cc. 585, 646;
2016, c. 122.