Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...2 Applicable Florida law, prior to 1983, set a maximum total length of 55 feet for tractor-trailer combinations. Fla.Stat. Sec. 316.515(3)(a) (1981). Florida's Department of Transportation (FDOT) was also authorized to issue discretionary permits on an annual basis, pursuant to section Fla.Stat. Sec. 316.550 (1976)....

...The statute prohibits FDOT from issuing any permit for a trailer exceeding 48 feet in length unless the trailer was (1) used to transport divisible loads, (2) registered in Florida according to statute, and (3) operating on the highways of Florida on December 1, 1982 by virtue of a permit issued in accordance with section 316.550....

...4 Plaintiffs are carriers and shippers who would either operate 57' 6" trailers in Florida to move light and bulky freight or would directly benefit from their use. 5 The decision that the federal statute's reference to "actual and lawful use" does not apply to vehicles which were operating with permits under Fla.Stat. Sec. 316.550 (1976) is contrary to normal use of those words....

...ss. Prior to July 1, 1983, FDOT on a discretionary basis allowed carriers to operate semi-trailers from 48' to 57' 6" under permit. The statutory guidelines, or "ground rules" as referred to in the legislative history are set forth in Fla.Stat. Sec. 316.550 (1976): 12 The Department of Transportation, with respect to highways under its jurisdiction, or a local authority, with respect to highways under its jurisdiction, may, in its discretion and upon application and good cause shown therefor tha...

...nificant weight. See Blum v. Bacon, 457 U.S. 132 , 102 S.Ct. 2355 , 72 L.Ed.2d 728 (1982); Udall v. Tallman, 380 U.S. 1 , 85 S.Ct. 792 , 13 L.Ed.2d 616 (1965). 19 This argument seeks sustenance from the fact that the permit section in Fla.Stat. Sec. 316.550 (1981) is entitled, "Operations not in conformity with law; special permits." That section provides, however, that: 20 The Department of Transportation may issue blanket permits for not more than 36 months....

...There is no indication that Congress intended this to be the result nor will this decision create that result. STAA keeps the States from prohibiting dimensions of vehicles that previously legally operated. It does not remove the power of the States to limit use, if use was previously limited. In the case of section 316.550 permits, Florida had imposed numerous restrictions on trailers operating with permits, such as the designated hours the trucks could travel, the routes the trucks had to travel, and safety features necessary....

...A permit engineer from the Department of Transportation testified without objection as to load length limits and permit requirements, and we find no reason why this evidence was inadmissible. The granting of special permits by the Department is specifically authorized by statute, section 316.550, Florida Statutes (1983)....

...d efficient operation of motor vehicles. This instruction was requested on the theory that the modular home being towed exceeded the allowable width and that Mr. Batchelor did not at the time of the accident have a valid wide-load permit pursuant to section 316.550, Florida Statutes (1989), authorizing him to operate or move a load exceeding the width restriction in section 316.515....

...Based on its ruling allowing the transfer of the permit, the trial court denied the requested instruction on section 316.515. It is undisputed that the modular home being transported by Mr. Batchelor, which was 166 inches wide, exceeded the width limitation set out in section 316.515(1), Florida Statutes (1989). Section 316.550, Florida Statutes (1989), provides the following exception to this width limitation where the vehicle operator applies for and receives a special permit authorizing the transport of the oversized load: The Department of Transportation...

...ring a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle." Section 316.003(29), Florida Statutes (1989), defines the term "person" as, "Any natural person, firm, copartnership, association, or corporation." Reading these provisions in pari materia, we construe section 316.550 as meaning the person who is the operator or one responsible for the actual operation of the vehicle upon the highway must be the applicant to whom the permit is issued....

...One of the grounds in the motion for rehearing asserts that our opinion construes and applies this court's decision in Smith v. Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Co., 360 So.2d 1098 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978), so as to eliminate any requirement of causation between a violation on the special wide load permit statute, § 316.550, Fla....

...onship between the accident and the permit, but ... the jury should have been instructed [on Batchelor's violation of the special permit statute] anyway ..." is incorrect. We did not hold that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on section 316.550....

...Ratley was obligated to prove a causal connection between the collision and the asserted violation of the width limitations in section 316.515. Mrs. Ratley was not obligated to prove a causal connection between the accident and Mr. Batchelor's failure to obtain a valid special permit in compliance with section 316.550. Section 316.550 is involved in this case only because Mr. Batchelor maintained that he was exempt from the wide load restriction in section 316.505(1) by virtue of his holding valid special permit in compliance with section 316.550....

...he defendant operated an overwide load partially in the oncoming lane of traffic on a narrow bridge and caused a collision with an oncoming vehicle, and the defendant failed to show by competent evidence that he held an overwide special permit under section 316.550 [then § 316.009, Fla....

...vehicle so as to intrude into the oncoming lane of traffic. Our original opinion discusses the interplay of section 316.515(1) (setting forth the general prohibition on the operation of vehicles and loads over 102 inches wide on state highways) and section 316.550 (authorizing the operation of vehicles or loads exceeding that general width restriction provided the operator obtains the required special permit)....

...ection *1305 316.515(1), Mr. Batchelor could avoid the apparent violation of this lawful restriction only by establishing that he was lawfully operating his excessively wide load upon the highway pursuant to the exception to section 316.515 found in section 316.550. Mr. Batchelor could do this by showing that he held a valid permit to operate the wide load pursuant to section 316.550 and was operating his vehicle in accordance with all lawful requirements imposed on him incident to that special permit....

...[2] *1306 As indicated in our initial opinion, the trial court denied the plaintiff's requested instruction on the provisions of section 316.515(1), which limited the width of loads on public highways, based on its ruling that the special permit issued to NTC pursuant to section 316.550 was legally transferable to Mr....

...Had the above practice been followed in the instant case, plaintiff would have pleaded each of the statutory provisions relied on, including section 316.515, as a basis for the charge of negligence. Defendant would then have been required to allege that he held a valid special permit and operated his load in accordance with section 316.550 as an avoidance of his obvious violation of the load width restriction in section 316.515.

ZEHMER, Judge. National Freight, Inc. (National) appeals a final order of the Department of Trans *42 portation (D.O.T.) granting National one-year permits for 100 of its oversized trailers pursuant to section 316.550, Florida Statutes (1985)....

...Accordingly, the appealed order is reversed and the case is remanded for entry of an order granting National’s application for three-year permits. REVERSED. ERVIN and WENTWORTH, JJ., concur. . No issue concerning D.O.T.'s authority to grant the permit for less than three years under section 316.550 has been made on appeal, so the issue presented is strictly one of pleading.

...as it shall deem necessary to indicate and to carry out the provisions of this chapter or to regulate, warn, or guide traffic.” The legislature, throughout Chapter 316, provides several alternative methods by which traffic on state roads may be controlled by the department. Unlike Section 316.550, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 14-26, Florida Administrative Code, providing for the specific permitting of vehicles having nonconforming sizes, widths, or excess loads, section 316.515(3)(c) implements, in accordance with federal reg...

...tions dealing with the transport of oversized items like the turbine as indicative of the inherent dangerousness involved. The court noted that Florida strictly regulates the transportation of oversized items like the turbine, see Florida Statute § 316.550, and that state law specifically addresses the moving of heavy equipment across railroad crossings....

...We find that the department’s decision is preliminary agency action, review of which after final agency action would be inadequate. Section 120.68(1), Fla.Stat., Fla.R.App.P. 9.100. 1 In October, 1983, petitioner received special permits pursuant to § 316.550 to oper *743 ate 100 semitrailers in excess of the 48-foot maximum length allowed by § 316.-515(3), (6)....

...The department argues first that petitioners’ application for renewal failed to meet the sufficiency requirement of § 120.-60(6) because the application was for vehicles which admittedly did not meet the requirements of § 316.515. Since the application was for renewal of permits issued pursuant to § 316.550, this argument is patently without merit. Second, the department argues that § 120.60(6) does not apply because the permits expired automatically at the end of 12 months pursuant to § 316.550....

...s, it cannot be said that in this case the 36-month provision in § 316.-550 was an automatic statutory expiration depriving petitioner of the protection of § 120.60(6). We therefore do not reach the question of whether the 36-month cap provided in § 316.550 constitutes an automatic expiration of a license for purposes of § 120.60(6)....

...Applicable Florida law, prior to 1983, set a maximum total length of 55 feet for tractor-trailer combinations. Fla.Stat. § 316.515(3)(a) (1981). Florida’s Department of Transportation (FDOT) was also authorized to issue discretionary permits on an annual basis, pursuant to section Fla.Stat. § 316.550 (1976)....

...The statute prohibits FDOT from issuing any permit for a trailer exceeding 48 feet in length unless the trailer was (1) used to transport divisible loads, (2) registered in Florida according to statute, and (3) operating on the highways of Florida on December 1, 1982 by virtue of a permit issued in accordance with section 316.550....

...Plaintiffs are carriers and shippers who would either operate 57' 6" trailers in Florida to move light and bulky freight or would directly benefit from their use. The decision that the federal statute’s reference to “actual and lawful use” does not apply to vehicles which were operating with permits under Fla.Stat. § 316.550 (1976) is contrary to normal use of those words; Certainly the permitted vehicles were being lawfully operated in Florida on December 1, 1982....

...ress. Prior to July 1,1983, FDOT on a discretionary basis allowed carriers to operate semi-trailers from 48' to 57' 6" under permit. The statutory guidelines, or “ground rules” as referred to in the legislative history are set forth in Fla.Stat. § 316.550 (1976): The Department of Transportation, with respect to highways under its jurisdiction, or a local authority, with respect to highways under its jurisdiction, may, in its discretion and upon application and good cause shown therefor tha...

...rded significant weight. See Blum v. Bacon, 457 U.S. 132 , 102 S.Ct. 2355 , 72 L.Ed.2d 728 (1982); Udall v. Tallman, 380 U.S. 1 , 85 S.Ct. 792 , 13 L.Ed.2d 616 (1965). This argument seeks sustenance from the fact that the permit section in Fla.Stat. § 316.550 (1981) is entitled, “Operations not in conformity with law; special permits.” That section provides, however, that: The Department of Transportation may issue blanket permits for not more than 36 months....

...There is no indication that Congress intended this to be the result nor will this decision create that result. STAA keeps the States from prohibiting dimensions of vehicles that previously legally operated. It does not remove the power of the States to limit use, if use was previously limited. In the case of section 316.550 permits, Florida had imposed numerous restrictions on trailers operating with permits, such as the designated hours the trucks could travel, the routes the trucks had to travel, and safety features necessary....

...these have generally been inconclusive. The only comprehensive Florida study, made in 1972, recommended against the use of oversize modules on Florida highways. DOT, in its final order denying the rule-making request, pointed to Section 316.009 (now Section 316.550, Florida Statutes (1977)) as granting discretion to issue spe *795 cial permits for oversized vehicles on Florida roads....