Motor Vehicles

Plain English Breakdown

The bill's effective date is July 1, 2025.

Tennessee Law on Heavy Truck Weights

This bill changes Tennessee law to allow trucks with three axles to weigh up to 85,000 pounds and sets rules for extra taxes if the weight exceeds this limit.

What This Bill Does

• Changes the maximum gross vehicle weight of a truck with an axle group of three axles (tridem) to 85,000 pounds.
• Requires operators to pay an additional tax within 90 days if their trucks weigh more than what they have already paid for.

Who It Names or Affects

• Truck owners and drivers who use roads in Tennessee with three-axle trucks.
• The Department of Revenue, which collects the extra tax.

Terms To Know

Axle group

A set of wheels on a vehicle that are connected by an axle and share the same load capacity.

Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)

The total weight of a vehicle including its contents, passengers, and cargo.

Limits and Unknowns

• This bill only applies to trucks with three axles.
• It must follow federal laws about truck weights.
• The exact impact on the Highway Fund is not fully detailed in the summary.

Official Summary Text

Present law provides that registration is a condition precedent to use of a freight motor vehicle in this state, and the owner or operator of such vehicle must pay a registration tax sufficient to allow for its operation under a
declared maximum gross weight for its axle configuration.

This bill provides that (i) to the extent permissible under federal law, the maximum gross vehicle weight of such a vehicle with an axle group of three axles (tridem) for registration and use of
such a vehicle on the public highways of this state is 85,000 and (ii) if an operator is assessed an additional tax on each pound of weight for which no tax of this state has been previously paid, then such additional tax must be paid to the department o
f
revenue within 90 days of being assessed.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 770
By Crawford

SENATE BILL 781
By Massey

SB0781
002948
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55,
relative to maximum gross weight of freight motor
vehicles.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-4-113(a)(7)(A), is amended by
adding the following as a new subdivision:
(iii) Notwithstanding chapter 7 of this title and to the extent permissible under
federal law, the maximum gross vehicle weight of a vehicle with an axle group of three
(3) axles (tridem) is eighty-five thousand pounds (85,000 lbs.);
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-4-113(a)(7), is amended by
adding the following as a new subdivision:
(M) If an operator is assessed an additional tax on each pound of weight for
which no Tennessee tax has been previously paid, then such additional tax must be paid
to the department within ninety (90) days of being assessed.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-7-203(b), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(10) Notwithstanding subdivision (b)(3) and to the extent permissible under
federal law, the total gross vehicle weight of a vehicle with an axle group of three (3)
axles (tridem) over, on, or upon the public highways of this state must not exceed eighty-
five thousand pounds (85,000 lbs.).
SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.