Gross weight, axle, and wheel loads
HRS §291-35
in effect291-35. Gross weight, axle, and wheel loads
No motor vehicle or other power vehicle or combination of those vehicles equipped wholly with pneumatic tires shall be operated or moved upon any public road, street, or highway within the State if the vehicle or combination of vehicles has a total gross weight (including vehicle and load), an axle load, or a wheel load in excess of the limits set forth in this section; provided that the maximum gross weight, axle loads, and wheel loads allowed under this section shall be inapplicable when its application would adversely affect the receipt of federal funds for highway purposes; provided further that no vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be operated on or moved over any bridge or other highway structure if the total gross weight, including vehicle and load, exceeds the posted maximum gross load limitation for the bridge or other highway structure.
(1) The total gross weight, in pounds, imposed on any
public road, street, or highway within the State by any group of two or more
consecutive axles, on a vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed the
following when the distance between the first and last axles of the group under
consideration is:
(A) Forty inches or less, the weight imposed
shall not exceed twenty thousand pounds; and
(B) More than forty inches but no more than
ninety-six inches, the weight imposed shall not exceed thirty-four thousand
pounds. This grouping of two consecutive axles shall be known as tandem axle.
(2) The total gross weight, in pounds, imposed on any
public road, street, or highway within the State by any group of two or more
consecutive axles, on a vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed
that resulting from application of the formula:
W = 500 (LN/(N-1) + 12N + 36)
when the distance between the first and last
axles of the group under consideration is over ninety-six inches and where
W = maximum weight in pounds carried on any
group of two or more axles computed to the nearest five hundred pounds,
L
= Distance in feet between the extremes of any group of two or more consecutive
axles, to the nearest foot, and
N
= Number of axles in the group under consideration;
provided that two consecutive sets of tandem
axles may carry a gross load of thirty-four thousand pounds each providing the
overall distance between the first and last axles of the consecutive sets of
tandem axles is thirty-six feet or more and provided also that the overall
gross weight does not exceed eighty thousand pounds.
(3) No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be
used or operated on any public road, street, or highway within the State with:
(A) A load upon any single or tandem axle or combination
of axles that exceeds the carrying capacity of the axles specified by the
manufacturer; or
(B) A total weight in excess of its designed
capacity as indicated by its designed gross vehicle weights or gross
combination weights.
(4) The total gross weight imposed upon the public
road, street, or highway by any single axle shall not exceed twenty thousand
pounds. For the purpose of this section, axles placed in the same transverse
plane and spaced forty inches or less apart shall be considered as one axle.
(5) The total gross weight imposed upon the public
road, street, or highway by any one wheel, either single or dual mounting,
shall not exceed ten thousand pounds.
(6) The director of transportation, in the case of
state highways, or the county engineer, in the case of county roads and
streets, may place and maintain signs to limit the gross weight of a vehicle or
combination of vehicles traveling over a bridge or other highway structure in
the interest of public safety when it is determined through engineering
investigation and analysis that the theoretical load carrying capacity of the
bridge or structure is less than the maximum gross vehicular weight allowed by
this chapter. In determining the weight limits and in posting the weight limit
signs, the director or the county engineer need not comply with rulemaking
provisions of chapter 91; provided that if any person objects to the weight
limits, the person may object to the rule as provided in chapter 91.
[L 1941, c
216, pt of §1; am L 1943, c 76, §1; RL 1945, §11714; am L 1949, c 94, §1; RL
1955, §311-20; am L 1957, c 251, §1; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §26; am L 1967, c
48, §1; HRS §291-35; am L 1970, c 168, §1; am L 1971, c 75, §1; am L 1977, c
184, §1; am L 1980, c 281, §1; am L 1986, c 42, §1; am L 1989, c 311, §1; am L
1990, c 32, §1; am L 1993, c 82, §1; am L 2020, c 70, §41; am L 2023, c 26, §1]
Source: Hawaii State Legislature (capitol.hawaii.gov), via Internet Archive capturesURL: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol05_Ch0261-0319/HRS0291/HRS_0291-0035.htmFetched: 11/10/2026