{"data":{"id":"us-ca/veh-35551.5","jurisdiction":"us-ca","citation":"VEH § 35551.5","heading":"","body":"(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.\n(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:\n(1) Trucks transporting vehicles.\n(2) Trucks transporting livestock.\n(3) Dump trucks.\n(4) Cranes.\n(5) Buses.\n(6) Transit mix concrete or cement trucks, and trucks that mix concrete or cement at, or adjacent to, a jobsite.\n(7) Motor vehicles that are not commercial vehicles.\n(8) Vehicles operated by any public utility furnishing electricity, gas, water, or telephone service.\n(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.\n(10) Trucks transporting garbage, rubbish, or refuse.\n(11) Trucks equipped with a fifth wheel when towing a semitrailer.\n(12) Tank trucks which have a cargo capacity of at least 1,500 gallons.\n(13) Trucks transporting bulk grains or bulk livestock feed.\n(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:\nDistance in feet Allowed load in\nbetween first and pounds on group\nlast axles of group of axles\n4 32,000\n5 32,000\n6 32,200\n7 32,900\n8 33,600\n9 34,300\n10 35,000\n11 35,700\n12 36,400\n13 37,100\n14 43,200\n15 44,000\n16 44,800\n17 45,600\n18 46,400\n(d) The total gross weight with load imposed on the highway by any vehicle in such combination of vehicles or of such combination of vehicles where the distance between the first and last axles is more than 18 feet shall not exceed that given for the respective distances in the following table:\nDistance Allowed load\nin feet in pounds\n19 47,200\n20 48,000\n21 48,800\n22 49,600\n23 50,400\n24 51,200\n25 55,250\n26 56,100\n27 56,950\n28 57,800\n29 58,650\n30 59,500\n31 60,350\n32 61,200\n33 62,050\n34 62,900\n35 63,750\n36 64,600\n37 65,450\n38 66,300\n39 68,000\n40 70,000\n41 72,000\n42 73,280\n43 73,280\n44 73,280\n45 73,280\n46 73,280\n47 73,280\n48 73,280\n49 73,280\n50 73,280\n51 73,280\n52 73,600\n53 74,400\n54 75,200\n55 76,000\n56 or over 76,800\n(e) The distance between axles shall be measured to the nearest whole foot. When a fraction is exactly six inches, the next larger whole foot shall be used.\n(f) The gross weight limits expressed by this section shall include all enforcement tolerances.\n(g) Nothing in this section shall affect the right to prohibit the use of any highway or any bridge or other structure thereon in the manner and to the extent specified in Article 4 (commencing with Section 35700) and Article 5 (commencing with Section 35750) of Chapter 5 of Division 15.\n(h) The Legislature, in enacting this section, does not intend to increase, and this section shall not be construed to allow, statutory weights any greater than existed prior to January 1, 1976.","path":["Vehicle Code - VEH","DIVISION 15. SIZE, WEIGHT, AND LOAD [35000. - 35796.]","CHAPTER 5. Weight [35550. - 35796.]","ARTICLE 1. Axle Limits [35550. - 35559.]"],"source_url":"https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zip","current_through":"2026-09-13","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T05:56:33Z","sha256":"0126a926dfec333d1247cc96b18356a1dbc617ee313b00f52fd6b656f0e187cd","source_id":"us-ca","stale":false,"prev":"us-ca/veh-35551","next":"us-ca/veh-35552"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}