A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to CREATE an EXEMPTION for size and weight restrictions of haulers of sage.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑116(d) reads as rewritten:
"(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, or unprocessed sage from farm to market 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 2.  G.S. 20‑118(k) reads as rewritten:
"(k)	 A vehicle which is equipped with a self‑loading bed and which is designed and used exclusively to transport compressed seed cotton from the farm to a cotton gin, or sage to market, may operate on the highways of the State, except interstate highways, with a tandem‑axle weight not exceeding 50,000 pounds. Such vehicles shall be exempt from light‑traffic road limitations only from point of origin on the light‑traffic road to the nearest State‑maintained road which is not posted to prohibit the transportation of statutory load limits. This exemption does not apply to restricted, posted bridge structures."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2009.