1. 1. No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be moved or operated on any primary or interstate highway in this state plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such highways, having a greater weight than twenty thousand pounds on one axle, no combination of vehicles operated by transporters of general freight over regular routes as defined in section 390.020, RSMo, shall be moved or operated on any highway of this state having a greater weight than the vehicle manufacturer's rating on a steering axle with the maximum weight not to exceed twelve thousand pounds on a steering axle, and no vehicle shall be moved or operated on any primary or interstate highways of this state having a greater weight than thirty-four thousand pounds on any tandem axle; the term "tandem axle" shall mean a group of two or more axles, arranged one behind another, the distance between the extremes of which is more than forty inches and not more than ninety-six inches apart and further provided, however, that when any vehicle or combination of vehicles with six axles which includes a tandem axle group as above defined and a group of three axles which are fully equalized, automatically or mechanically, and the distance between the center of the extremes of which does not exceed one hundred ten inches, the chief engineer of the Missouri state transportation department shall issue a special permit for the movement thereof, as provided in section 304.200, for twenty thousand pounds for each axle of the tandem axle group and for sixteen thousand pounds for each axle of the group of three fully equalized axles which are equalized, automatically or mechanically, when said vehicle or combination of vehicles is used to transport excavation or construction machinery or equipment, road-building machinery or farm implements over routes in the primary system and other routes that are not a part of the interstate system of highways; provided, further, that the chief engineer of the Missouri state transportation department may issue permits on the interstate system.
2. 2. An "axle load" is defined as the total load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers are included between two parallel transverse vertical planes forty inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.

3. 3. Subject to the limit upon the weight imposed upon a primary or interstate highway through any one axle or on any tandem axle, the total gross weight with load imposed upon a primary or interstate highway, plus a distance not to exceed ten miles from such highways, by any group of two or more consecutive axles of any vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed the maximum load in pounds as set forth in the following table:

   Distance in feet between the extremes of any group of two or more consecutive axles, measured to the nearest foot, except where indicated otherwise
   	Maximum load in pounds
   feet	2 axles	3 axles	4 axles	5 axles	6 axles
   4	34,000
   5	34,000
   6	34,000
   7	34,000
   8	34,000	34,000
   More than 8	38,000	42,000
   9	39,000	42,500
   10	40,000	43,500
   11	40,000	44,000
   12	40,000	45,000	50,000
   13	40,000	45,500	50,500
   14	40,000	46,500	51,500
   15	40,000	47,000	52,000
   16	40,000	48,000	52,500	58,000
   17	40,000	48,500	53,500	58,500
   18	40,000	49,500	54,000	59,000
   19	40,000	50,000	54,500	60,000
   20	40,000	51,000	55,500	60,500	66,000
   21	40,000	51,500	56,000	61,000	66,500
   22	40,000	52,500	56,500	61,500	67,000
   23	40,000	53,000	57,500	62,500	68,000
   24	40,000	54,000	58,000	63,000	68,500
   25	40,000	54,500	58,500	63,500	69,000
   26	40,000	55,500	59,500	64,000	69,500
   27	40,000	56,000	60,000	65,000	70,000
   28	40,000	57,000	60,500	65,500	71,000
   29	40,000	57,500	61,500	66,000	71,500
   30	40,000	58,500	62,000	66,500	72,000
   31	40,000	59,000	62,500	67,500	72,500
   32	40,000	60,000	63,500	68,000	73,000
   33	40,000	60,000	64,000	68,500	74,000
   34	40,000	60,000	64,500	69,000	74,500
   35	40,000	60,000	65,500	70,000	75,000
   36		60,000	66,000	70,500	75,500
   37		60,000	66,500	71,000	76,000
   38		60,000	67,500	72,000	77,000
   39		60,000	68,000	72,500	77,500
   40		60,000	68,500	73,000	78,000
   41		60,000	69,500	73,500	78,500
   42		60,000	70,000	74,000	79,000
   43		60,000	70,500	75,000	80,000
   44		60,000	71,500	75,500	80,000
   45		60,000	72,000	76,000	80,000
   46		60,000	72,500	76,500	80,000
   47		60,000	73,500	77,500	80,000
   48		60,000	74,000	78,000	80,000
   49		60,000	74,500	78,500	80,000
   50		60,000	75,500	79,000	80,000
   51		60,000	76,000	80,000	80,000
   52		60,000	76,500	80,000	80,000
   53		60,000	77,500	80,000	80,000
   54		60,000	78,000	80,000	80,000
   55		60,000	78,500	80,000	80,000
   56		60,000	79,500	80,000	80,000
   57		60,000	80,000	80,000	80,000

   ­­­Notwithstanding the above table, two consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross load of thirty-four thousand pounds each if the overall distance between the first and last axles of such consecutive sets of tandem axles is thirty-six feet or more.

4. 4. Subject to the limit upon the weight imposed upon a supplementary highway through any one axle which shall not have a weight greater than eighteen thousand pounds or on any tandem axle which shall not have a weight greater than thirty-two thousand pounds, the total gross weight with load imposed upon the supplementary highway by any vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed the gross weight given for the respective distance between the first and last axle of a single motor vehicle or by the first axle of a motor vehicle and the last axle of the last vehicle in any combination of vehicles measured longitudinally to the nearest foot as set forth in the following table:

   Distance in feet between the extreme axles	Maximum load in pounds
   4	32,000
   5	32,000
   6	32,000
   7	32,000
   8	33,200
   9	34,400
   10	35,600
   11	36,800
   12	38,000
   13	39,200
   14	40,400
   15	41,600
   16	42,800
   17	44,000
   18	45,200
   19	46,400
   20	47,600
   21	48,800
   22	50,000
   23	51,000
   24	52,000
   25	53,000
   26	54,000
   27	55,000
   28	56,000
   29	57,000
   30	58,000
   31	59,000
   32	60,000
   33	61,100
   34	62,200
   35	63,500
   36	64,600
   37	65,900
   38	67,100
   39	68,300
   40	69,700
   41	70,800
   42	72,000
   43 or over	73,280

5. 5. Provided, however, subject to the limit upon the weight imposed through any one axle, through any tandem axle, as provided in subsection 4 of this section, the total gross weight with load imposed upon any bridges generally considered by the state highways and transportation commission to be on the supplementary system or upon any bridges which are under the jurisdiction of and maintained by counties, townships or cities shall not exceed the gross weight given for the respective distance between the first and last axle of the total group of axles measured longitudinally to the nearest foot as set forth in the following table:

   Distance in feet between the extreme axles	Maximum load in pounds
   4	32,000
   5	32,000
   6	32,000
   7	32,000
   8	32,610
   9	33,580
   10	34,550
   11	35,510
   12	36,470
   13	37,420
   14	38,360
   15	39,300
   16	40,230
   17	41,160
   18	42,080
   19	42,990
   20	43,900
   21	44,800
   22	45,700
   23	46,590
   24	47,470
   25	48,350
   26	49,220
   27	50,090
   28	50,950
   29	51,800
   30	52,650
   31	53,490
   32	54,330
   33	55,160
   34	55,980
   35	56,800
   36	57,610
   37	58,420
   38	59,220
   39	60,010
   40	60,800
   41	61,580
   42	62,360
   43	63,130
   44	63,890
   45 or over	64,650

   ­­­The state highways and transportation commission, with respect to bridges on the supplementary system, or the person in charge of supervision or maintenance of the bridges on the county, township or city roads and streets may determine and by official order declare that certain designated bridges do not appear susceptible to unreasonable and unusual damage by reason of such higher weight limits and may legally be subjected to the higher limits in this section.

6. 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed as permitting lawful axle loads, tandem axle loads or gross loads in excess of those permitted under the provisions of Section 127 of Title 23 of the United States Code.
7. 7. Additional routes may be designated by the state highways and transportation commission for movement or operation by vehicles or combinations of vehicles having the weights described in subsections 1 and 3 of this section.
8. 8. Notwithstanding the weight limitations contained in this section, any vehicle or combination of vehicles operating on highways other than the interstate highway system may exceed single axle, tandem axle and gross weight limitations in an amount not to exceed two thousand pounds. However, total gross weight shall not exceed eighty thousand pounds.
9. 9. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the department of transportation shall issue a single-use special permit, or upon request of the owner of the truck or equipment, shall issue an annual permit, for the transporting of any concrete pump truck or well-drillers' equipment. The department of transportation shall set fees for the issuance of permits pursuant to this subsection. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 301.133, RSMo, concrete pump trucks or well-drillers' equipment may be operated on state maintained roads and highways at any time on any day.

(RSMo 1939 § 8406, A.L. 1943 p. 663, A. 1949 S.B. 1113, A.L. 1951 p. 695, A.L. 1957 p. 624, A.L. 1963 p. 417, A.L. 1965 p. 489, A.L. 1967 p. 412, A.L. 1983 H.B. 539, A.L. 1985 H.B. 157 merged with H.B. 330, A.L. 2000 H.B. 1948)

Prior revision: 1929 § 7787

1958) Conviction of defendant who operated a combination of vehicles exclusively in St. Louis City for violation of gross weight limitations imposed by this section upheld against contention that section does not apply to vehicles operated exclusively in cities of 75,000 or more. Court traced legislative history of the section and § 304.190. State v. Chadeayne (A.), 313 S.W.2d 757. Reversed: 323 S.W.2d 680, the Supreme Court holding that an intent to change § 304.190 in the 1951 reenactment and to make this section applicable to the larger urban areas was not apparent.

(1971) The single axle, tandem axle and gross weight limits specified in § 304.180, RSMo, are cumulative and each must be complied with. The state is not required to establish either intent to violate the limits or guilty knowledge of such violation to make a case. State v. Boze (A.), 472 S.W.2d 35.