Oregon Law
Law as of Jan 1, 2026
Chapter contents
818.010Maximum allowable weight 818.012Wheel load on certain vehicles; rules 818.020Violating maximum weight limits; civil liability; penalties 818.030Exemptions from weight limitations 818.040Violation of posted weight limits; civil liability; penalty 818.050Exemptions from posted weight limits 818.060Violation of administratively imposed weight or size limits; civil liability; penalties 818.070Exemptions from administratively imposed weight or size limitations 818.080Maximum size limits 818.090Violation of maximum size limits; civil liability; 818.100Exemptions from size limitations 818.105Request for unrestricted access to specified highway for overlength combination; mandated responses to request 818.110Exceeding maximum number of vehicles in combination; civil liability; penalty 818.120Exemptions from limits on number of vehicles in combinations 818.130Violation of posted limits on use; civil liability; penalty 818.140Exemptions from posted use limits 818.150Safety requirements for towing 818.160Violating towing safety requirements; civil liability; penalty 818.170Exemptions from towing safety requirements 818.200Authority to issue variance permits; effect of permit; violation of permit 818.205Continuous operation variance permit; standards; relationship to permit issued under ORS 818.200; fee 818.210Limits on authority to issue variance permit 818.220Requirements, conditions and procedures for issuance of variance permit; duration; cancellation; rules 818.225Road use assessment fee for single-trip nondivisible load permittee; rules 818.230Sifting or leaking load permit; duration; fee 818.235Permit for wide load of hay bales 818.240Dragging permit; fee 818.250Permit for fire company warning lights 818.260Permit for use of bus safety lights on certain buses; rules; fee 818.270Fees for permits 818.300Operating with sifting or leaking load; civil liability; penalty 818.310Exemptions from prohibition on sifting and leaking load 818.320Dragging objects on highway; civil liability; penalty 818.330Exemptions from prohibition on dragging objects on highway 818.340Operating in violation of variance permit; exception; civil liability; penalties 818.350Failure to carry and display variance permit; penalty 818.400Failure to comply with commercial vehicle enforcement requirements; penalty 818.410Civil liability for certain violations 818.420Penalties for certain violations 818.430Penalties for violation of weight requirements 818.440Penalty for procuring, aiding or abetting violation of this chapter 818.450Civil penalty for violations of chapter

Chapter 818 — Vehicle Limits

ORS 818.140 Exemptions from posted use limits

This section establishes exemptions from ORS 818.130. The exemptions under this section are in addition to any under ORS 801.026. Operation in accordance with one of the exemptions described is not subject to ORS 818.130. Exemptions are partial or complete as described in the following:

(1)

Posted use limits do not apply on any way, thoroughfare or place owned by a district formed under ORS chapters 545, 547, 551 or a corporation formed under ORS chapter 554.

(2)

Posted use limits do not apply on any road or thoroughfare or property in private ownership or any road or thoroughfare, other than a state highway or county road, used pursuant to any agreement with any agency of the United States or with a licensee of such agency or both.

(3)

Posted use limits do not apply to any vehicle, combination of vehicles, article, machine or other equipment while being used by the federal government, the State of Oregon or any county or incorporated city in the construction, maintenance or repair of public highways and at the immediate location or site of such construction, maintenance or repair.

(4)

Posted use limits do not apply to vehicles while being used on the roads of a road authority by mass transit districts for the purposes authorized under ORS 267.010 to 267.394, provided the use of the vehicles is approved by the road authority for that road.

(5)

Operations authorized by a variance permit issued under ORS 818.200 are subject to the terms of the permit. It shall be a defense to any charge of violation of ORS 818.130 if the person so charged produces a variance permit issued under ORS 818.200 authorizing the operation of the vehicle or combination of vehicles issued prior to and valid at the time of the offense.

TOWING SAFETY

Official sources · 2Tap to view provenance and version history

Online copy of the published ORS edition

Provenance

Version history

Earlier statutory text is available in an ingested published ORS edition.