It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 31-25-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-25 entitled "Size, Weight and Load Limits" is hereby amended to read as follows:

{ADD 31-25-6. Maximum number and length of coupled vehicles. -- ADD} (a) No combination of vehicles coupled together shall consist of more than three (3) units, a truck-tractor, semi-trailer, and trailer, and such combination of vehicles shall not be restricted in overall length, except that when a truck-tractor, semi-trailer, and a trailer are used in combination, the trailer or semi-trailer each shall not exceed twenty-eight and one-half feet (28'6"), excluding bumpers and accessories. Provided, however, that combinations of vehicles consisting of three (3) units shall be permitted to operate only on the interstate highway system and on those highways, streets, and roads designated by the director of the Rhode Island department of administration.

(b) Combinations of vehicles consisting of truck-tractor and semi-trailer coupled together shall not be restricted in overall length, and semi-trailers shall not exceed fifty three feet (53') in length, excluding bumpers and accessories. Semi-trailers exceeding forty-eight and one half feet (48'6") in length shall be permitted to operate only on the interstate highway system and on those highways, streets, and roads designated by the director of the Rhode Island department of administration. Exceptions to the requirements of this section include the use of a pole trailer and combinations designed to transport motor vehicles and/or automobiles as authorized in section 31-25-7 and section 31-25-8 of this chapter, provided, however, that the limitations that no combination of vehicles coupled together shall consist of more than three units, shall not apply to a combination of vehicles coupled together by a saddle mount device used to transport motor vehicles in a drive-away service when no more than three saddle mounts are used, and provided further, that equipment used in combination is approved by part 393.71 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and safety regulations of the registry of motor vehicles of the department of administration of the state of Rhode Island. Any owner or operator found deviating from the approved permitted routes shall be fined {ADD a minimum mandatory fine of five hundred dollars ($500), but ADD} not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

(c) The distance form the kingpin of the trailer to the center of the rear axle may not exceed forty-one feet (41').

(d) Fifty-three foot (53') trailers shall be equipped with a rear end protection device of substantial construction consisting of a continuous lateral beam extending to within four inches (4") of the lateral extremities of the trailer, and located not more than twenty -two inches (22") from the surface of the road as measured with the vehicle empty and on level surface.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.