§ 10. TRUCK TRAFFIC

A.

DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of this section, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the following meanings given herein:

(1)

City shall mean the City of Santa Fe, Texas.

(2)

Person shall mean any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.

(3)

Truck shall mean any vehicle designed or operated for the transportation of property, and whose payload rating is over one (1) ton.

(Ordinance No. 08-83 of September 20, 1983)

B.

LOAD LIMITS

It shall be unlawful for any person to operate any truck on any public street or right-of-way in the city, other than on state highways which has a gross weight in excess of 50,000 pounds unless permitted by the city to do so. In the event a permit is required, an indemnity bond may be required to be posted with the city to cover possible damage to its streets, bridges, culverts or drainage easements, which may be damaged by the moving of said excessive weight loads over and along these streets.

The indemnity bond of no less than $25,000.00 shall remain in force and effect for ninety (90) days from the initial execution date of the permit. The amount of the bond shall be determined by guidelines established by the street supervisor with reasonable consideration of the type of vehicle, the amount of excess weight, the distance to be traveled on the streets and the conditions of the streets to be traveled.

C.

OVERSIZE/OVERWEIGHT PERMIT

The permit clerk may issue a permit under the direction of the street supervisor for the travel of trucks over city streets within the city with loads in excess of the load limits provided in subsection B, but only when it is impossible or impractical to reduce the weight of the load or use a truck is capable of hauling the load within the prescribed limit. Such permit shall be issued for only one (1) trip by each truck. The street supervisor shall determine the route of travel of said truck and the amount of bond, if any, but the amount shall not be less than $25,000.00. The permit shall specify the date of the trip, the license plate number of the truck and the route of travel. A permit fee in the amount of ten dollars ($10.00) for the issuance of such permit shall be paid to the permit clerk by the applicant prior to issuance.

(Ordinance No. 04-86 of May 8, 1986)

D.

TRUCK ROUTES

All trucks shall confine their travel within the city to the following streets or highways or parts thereof:

(1)

FM 1764

(2)

FM 646 south

(3)

State Highway 6

Each of such truck routes shall be clearly marked "truck route" at its intersection with the city limits, at each intersection with other truck routes, and at such other locations along its course as shall be deemed necessary by the city's Street Superintendent to adequately designate it for truck travel.

(Ordinance No. 13-2007 of May 10, 2007)

E.

LOADING AND UNLOADING

In the event that a truck must completely or partially load and/or unload at a point which does not lie on a designated truck route, the truck may proceed to and from such points of loading and/or unloading, providing that the truck follows the shortest route from a designated truck route to and from each point of loading or unloading or otherwise as may be specified by the street supervisor.

F.

EXCEPTIONS

This section shall not prohibit:

(1)

Emergency vehicles. The operation of emergency vehicles upon any street in the city;

(2)

City vehicles. The operation of trucks owned or operated by the city upon any street in the city;

(3)

Detoured trucks. The operation of trucks upon detours established by the street supervisor, provided such truck could lawfully be operated upon the street for which detour is established;

(4)

Local operations. Any truck travelling to and from its base of operation or storage not located on a designated truck route of the city;

(5)

The operation of any truck by a resident in transit between his or her home and place of employment.

G.

ENFORCEMENT OF SECTION; MAPS; WEIGHING

The city secretary shall keep and maintain accurate maps setting out truck routes and streets upon which truck traffic is permitted. The maps shall be kept on file in the office of the city secretary and shall be made available to the public. The Chief of Police shall have the authority to require any person driving or in control of any truck to proceed to any public or private scale available for purpose of weighing and determining whether this section has been complied with. Upon such weighing, if it is determined that the truck so weighed is in excess of the load limit, then the cost of such weighing shall be immediately due and payable by the operator of such truck and such truck may be lawfully detained by the police department until such charge has been paid. In the event that the weight of such truck is not in excess of the load limit, any charges for weighing shall be paid by the city. Any charge for weighing under the terms of this subsection shall be in addition to any fine imposed for a violation of its provisions.

H.

PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF SECTION

Any person violating any provision of this section shall be found guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed two hundred dollars ($200.00) upon conviction.

(Ordinance No. 08-83 of September 20, 1983)