A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to allow for-hire farm tractors and implements of husbandry to be exempt from registration requirements, to increase the distance the farm tractor or implement of husbandry may travel without having to be a registered vehicle, to increase the length allowed for trucks transporting cotton, and to increase the width allowed for vehicles with self-loading beds that transport cotton.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑51(5) reads as rewritten:
"§ 20‑51.  Exempt from registration.
The following shall be exempt from the requirement of registration and certificate of title:
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(5)	Farm tractors equipped with rubber tires and trailers or semitrailers when attached thereto and when used by a farmer, his tenant, agent, or employee in transporting his own farm implements, farm supplies, or farm products from place to place on the same farm, from one farm to another, from farm to market, or from market to farm. This exemption shall extend also to any tractor, implement of husbandry, and trailer or semitrailer while on any trip within a radius of 50 miles from the point of loading, provided that the vehicle does not exceed a speed of 35 miles per hour. This section shall not be construed as granting any exemption to trailers or semitrailers which are operated on a for‑hire basis, whether money or some other thing of value is paid or given for the use of such trailers or semitrailers.
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SECTION 2.  G.S. 20‑116(d) reads as rewritten:
"§ 20‑116.  Size of vehicles and loads.
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(d)	Maximum Length. – The following maximum lengths apply to vehicles. A truck‑tractor and semitrailer shall be regarded as two vehicles for the purpose of determining lawful length and license taxes.
(1)	Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a single vehicle having two or three axles shall not exceed 40 feet in length overall of dimensions inclusive of front and rear bumpers.
(2)	Trucks transporting unprocessed cotton from farm to gin shall not exceed 50 feet in length overall of dimensions inclusive of front and rear bumpers.
(3)	Recreational vehicles shall not exceed 45 feet in length overall, excluding bumpers and mirrors."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 20‑116 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"§ 20‑116.  Size of vehicles and loads.
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(l)	Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the operation of a vehicle with a width not exceeding 110 inches which is equipped with a self‑loading bed and is designed exclusively to be used to transport compressed seed cotton from a farm to a cotton gin."
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.