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 818.340 Operating in violation of variance permit; exception; civil liability; penalties

(1)

A person commits the offense of operating in violation of a variance permit if the person has been issued a variance permit under ORS 818.200 that authorized the movement of anything and the person does any of the following:

(a)

Drives, moves or operates anything in violation of the terms of the permit.

(b)

Owns anything and causes or permits it to be driven, moved or operated in violation of the permit. Operation in violation of this section is prima facie evidence that the owner caused or permitted the operation and the owner shall be liable for any penalties imposed under subsection (5) of this section as a result of the operation.

(2)

A person is in violation of the terms of a permit for purposes of this section if the person misrepresents any size or weight required to be specified when applying for the permit.

(3)

It shall be a defense to any charge of violation of this section if the person so charged produces a variance permit issued under ORS 818.200 that authorized the operation and that was issued prior to and valid at the time of operation.

(4)

A person does not commit the offense described in this section if the person is driving, moving or operating anything under a variance permit issued under ORS 818.200 and:

(a)

The permit authorizes the person to exceed the maximum weight limitations;

(b)

The person is operating a vehicle with a fully functional idle reduction system designed to reduce fuel use and emissions from engine idling; and

(c)

The total weight of the vehicle is not more than 550 pounds greater than the weight authorized by the variance permit.

(5)

Violation of the offense described in this section is subject to civil liability under ORS 818.410.

(6)

The offense described in this section, operating in violation of a variance permit, is punishable according to the following:

(a)

Violation of any provision of the permit, other than the violations described in paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of this subsection, is a Class D violation.

(b)

Violation of any weight provision by a vehicle that is authorized by permit to exceed axle or tandem axle weights specified in ORS 818.010 (1) or (2) is subject to penalty under Schedule II of the penalties in ORS 818.430.

(c)

Violation of any weight provision by a vehicle listed in ORS 818.210 is subject to penalty under Schedule I of the penalties in ORS 818.430.

(d)

Violation related to the required number of pilot vehicles or routing in accordance with the terms, limits or conditions established on a permit under ORS 818.220 (1)(c) is a Class A traffic violation.

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.