HERBERT R. O'CONOR, GOVERNOR. 1579

wheels, of which the weight of the vehicle and load com-
bined exceeds forty thousand (40, 000) pounds, shall be
operated on any highway of this State. Except in the
case of motor vehicles now owned and heretofore regis-
tered in this State, no certificate shall be granted for the
registration of any motor vehicle equipped with solid tires
and equipped with four wheels, having a rated carrying
capacity of over five tons, nor of any such motor vehicle,
equipped with six wheels, having a rated carrying capacity
of over ten tons, and except as aforesaid, no such motor
vehicle, equipped with four wheels, having a greater rated
carrying capacity than five tons, and no such motor ve-
hicle, equipped with six wheels, having a greater rated
carrying capacity than ten tons shall be operated over
any public highway of this State, these provisions being
absolutely necessary in the opinion of the General Assem-
bly for the proper protection and continued maintenance
of the public highways of this State.

(2A) (Weights of Vehicles and Loads. ) (a) No
motor vehicle or physically connected combination of motor
vehicles, mounted on pneumatic tires, shall have an axle
load in excess of six hundred (600) pounds per inch of the
aggregate width of its tires (measured at the point of
greatest width of each tire) or more than twenty-two thou-
sand four hundred (22, 400) pounds in any event; pro-
vided, however, that with respect to any vehicle containing
coupled axles spaced less than fifty (50) inches apart meas-
ured horizontally between their center lines, the load for
each of such coupled axles shall not exceed eighteen thou-
sand (18, 000) pounds, but no such vehicle equipped with
more than two such coupled axles shall be operated, over
any public highway of this State without the special per-
mission of the State Roads Commission.

(b) No motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles
mounted on pneumatic tires, shall have a gross weight in
pounds including load, in excess of that derived from the
formula 750 times (L plus 40) in which L shall be the dis-
tance in feet measured horizontally between the center lines
of the first and last axles of the vehicle or combination.
No vehicle or physically connected combination of motor
vehicles shall exceed fifty-five feet in overall length. No
physically connected combination of motor vehicles other
than a tractor semi-trailer combination shall have an axle
load in excess of eighteen thousand (18, 000) pounds.

(c) Trailers equipped with metal tires bearing a gross
load in excess of six thousand (6, 000) pounds shall not be
allowed on State highways.