SECTION 30A. Permit for certain vehicles exceeding weight limitations to operate on through routes; application; notice of approval or disapproval; violations; revocation or suspension of permit

The owner or lessee of any motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit, as defined in section one of chapter ninety, which may lawfully be operated on the ways of this commonwealth may apply to the commissioner of highways for a permit authorizing the operation of such motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit upon any state highway or way determined by the department of highways to be a through route when the weight of such motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit together with its load would exceed the weight limitations prescribed by section thirty or by the provisions of chapter ninety. No such application shall be approved by the commissioner of highways if the weight sought in such application exceeds either the weight of such motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit, together with its load, for which such motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit is registered, or the gross vehicle weight rating established by a manufacturer of such vehicle or otherwise established in accordance with the provisions of section nineteen D of chapter ninety. All such applications shall be made on forms provided by the commissioner of highways which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) The make, model and year of the motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit to which the permit is to apply, including the said gross vehicle weight rating and the weight for which it is registered.

(2) The name, business address and residential address, if any, of the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit.

(3) The name and address of the insurer of the motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit.

(4) The maximum weight sought for such motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit.

(5) The period of time for which such permit is sought, which shall not exceed one year from the date on which it is issued by the commissioner of highways.

Within seven days after his receipt of such application, the commissioner of highways shall notify the applicant of the approval or disapproval of his application. If the application is disapproved, the commissioner of highways shall notify the applicant, in writing, setting forth his reasons for such disapproval. If the application is approved, the commissioner of highways shall issue to the applicant written evidence of such approval, and the form of such approval shall set forth a description of the motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit and its owner or lessee as provided in (1) through (4) above, the maximum weight allowed under such permit, and the expiration date of such permit. Such permit may be issued to allow the operation of any motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit having three axles which with its load weighs not more than seventy-three thousand pounds, or any motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit having four axles which with its load weighs not more than eighty-seven thousand pounds, or any motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit having five or more axles which with its load weighs not more than ninety-nine thousand pounds, but such permit shall not allow the operation of any motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit which with its load exceeds either the weight for which such motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit is registered or the said gross vehicle weight rating. The commissioner of highways may, however, issue under such conditions and limitations as he shall prescribe, special permits for the carrying of so-called irreducible loads with weights greater than those provided in the preceding sentence, except that the weight authorized by such irreducible load permit shall not exceed the weight for which the motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit is registered.

Application for a special permit under this section may be approved, and a permit may be issued, to allow the operation of a vehicle for a weight in excess of the weight for which such vehicle is registered if such vehicle is owned or leased by a carrier not domiciled in this commonwealth. In connection with the issuance of a permit to a vehicle owned or leased by a carrier that is not domiciled in this commonwealth, the commissioner of highways may collect a reasonable fee therefor based upon the difference between the weight for which the permit is issued and the weight for which the vehicle is registered, but in no event shall such fee exceed the registration fee that would be collected from a carrier domiciled in this commonwealth to register a vehicle for such weight differential. The receipts from such fee shall be deposited into the highway fund.

No motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit which is the subject of any such permit issued by the commissioner of highways, other than a permit for the carrying of said so-called irreducible loads, shall be operated on any public way until the registrar of motor vehicles shall have issued to the owner or lessee thereof the permit sticker as provided in section nineteen D of chapter ninety.

A conviction of a violation of this section or of sections seventeen, nineteen, or nineteen A of chapter ninety arising out of the operation of any motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit for which such permit, other than a permit for the carrying of said so-called irreducible loads, has been issued shall be reported forthwith by the court to the registrar of motor vehicles, who shall, if such conviction is a second or subsequent conviction of such a violation within twelve months, immediately revoke the permit sticker and certificate issued to the owner or lessee under section nineteen D of chapter ninety; and the registrar of motor vehicles shall forthwith report such violation and such revocation to the commissioner of highways, who shall immediately revoke the permit issued for such vehicle to such owner or lessee, and no new permit for such vehicle shall be issued for a period of not less than ninety days from the date of the revocation of the permit. The commissioner of highways may, after a prior hearing, suspend or revoke for cause any permit issued by him under this section, and in the event of such revocation, shall forthwith notify the registrar of motor vehicles, who shall immediately revoke the permit sticker and certificate issued under section nineteen D of chapter ninety. Upon the revocation of any such permit or sticker, the owner or lessee of such motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit shall immediately return his copy of such permit certificate to the registrar of motor vehicles under section nineteen D of chapter ninety, and shall immediately remove such permit sticker from any such motor vehicle, trailer, semi-trailer or semi-trailer unit.