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Veh. Code, § 35551 · Article 1. Axle Limits

Veh. Code, § 35551

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section or Section 35551.5, the total gross weight in pounds imposed on the highway by any group of two or more consecutive axles shall not exceed that given for the respective distance in the following table:

Distance in feet between the extremes of any group of 2 or more consecutive ______

axles 2 axles 3 axles 4 axles 5 axles 6 axles

4 ...... 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000

5 ...... 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000

6 ...... 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000

7 ...... 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000

8 ...... 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000 34,000

9...... 39,000 42,500 42,500 42,500 42,500

10 ...... 40,000 43,500 43,500 43,500 43,500

11 ...... 40,000 44,000 44,000 44,000 44,000

12 ...... 40,000 45,000 50,000 50,000 50,000

13 ...... 40,000 45,500 50,500 50,500 50,500

14 ...... 40,000 46,500 51,500 51,500 51,500

15 ...... 40,000 47,000 52,000 52,000 52,000

16 ...... 40,000 48,000 52,500 52,500 52,500

17 ...... 40,000 48,500 53,500 53,500 53,500

18 ...... 40,000 49,500 54,000 54,000 54,000

19 ...... 40,000 50,000 54,500 54,500 54,500

20 ...... 40,000 51,000 55,500 55,500 55,500

21 ...... 40,000 51,500 56,000 56,000 56,000

22 ...... 40,000 52,500 56,500 56,500 56,500

23 ...... 40,000 53,000 57,500 57,500 57,500

24 ...... 40,000 54,000 58,000 58,000 58,000

25 ...... 40,000 54,500 58,500 58,500 58,500

26 ...... 40,000 55,500 59,500 59,500 59,500

27 ...... 40,000 56,000 60,000 60,000 60,000

28 ...... 40,000 57,000 60,500 60,500 60,500

29 ...... 40,000 57,500 61,500 61,500 61,500

30 ...... 40,000 58,500 62,000 62,000 62,000

31 ...... 40,000 59,000 62,500 62,500 62,500

32 ...... 40,000 60,000 63,500 63,500 63,500

33 ...... 40,000 60,000 64,000 64,000 64,000

34 ...... 40,000 60,000 64,500 64,500 64,500

35 ...... 40,000 60,000 65,500 65,500 65,500

36 ...... 40,000 60,000 66,000 66,000 66,000

37 ...... 40,000 60,000 66,500 66,500 66,500

38 ...... 40,000 60,000 67,500 67,500 67,500

39 ...... 40,000 60,000 68,000 68,000 68,000

40 ...... 40,000 60,000 68,500 70,000 70,000

41 ...... 40,000 60,000 69,500 72,000 72,000

42 ...... 40,000 60,000 70,000 73,280 73,280

43 ...... 40,000 60,000 70,500 73,280 73,280

44 ...... 40,000 60,000 71,500 73,280 73,280

45 ...... 40,000 60,000 72,000 76,000 80,000

46 ...... 40,000 60,000 72,500 76,500 80,000

47 ...... 40,000 60,000 73,500 77,500 80,000

48 ...... 40,000 60,000 74,000 78,000 80,000

49 ...... 40,000 60,000 74,500 78,500 80,000

50 ...... 40,000 60,000 75,500 79,000 80,000

51 ...... 40,000 60,000 76,000 80,000 80,000

52 ...... 40,000 60,000 76,500 80,000 80,000

53 ...... 40,000 60,000 77,500 80,000 80,000

54 ...... 40,000 60,000 78,000 80,000 80,000

55 ...... 40,000 60,000 78,500 80,000 80,000

56 ...... 40,000 60,000 79,500 80,000 80,000

57 ...... 40,000 60,000 80,000 80,000 80,000

58 ...... 40,000 60,000 80,000 80,000 80,000

59 ...... 40,000 60,000 80,000 80,000 80,000

60 ...... 40,000 60,000 80,000 80,000 80,000

(b) In addition to the weights specified in subdivision (a), two consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry a gross weight of 34,000 pounds each if the overall distance between the first and last axles of the consecutive sets of tandem axles is 36 feet or more. The gross weight of each set of tandem axles shall not exceed 34,000 pounds and the gross weight of the two consecutive sets of tandem axles shall not exceed 68,000 pounds.

(c) The distance between axles shall be measured to the nearest whole foot. When a fraction is exactly six inches, the next larger whole foot shall be used.

(d) This section does not affect the right to prohibit the use of any highway or any bridge or other structure thereon in the manner and to the extent specified in Article 4 (commencing with Section 35700) and Article 5 (commencing with Section 35750) of this chapter.

(e) The gross weight limits expressed by this section and Section 35550 shall include all enforcement tolerances.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 219, Sec. 1. (AB 1953) Effective January 1, 2025.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=35551.
Text hash
sha256 413c2184b0b9341eec9d4040e8968474048e6352df872bd3bc203e75ddefce1b
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compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
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