It is unlawful to operate on the public highways any vehicle with an overall length, with or without load, in excess of 40 feet. This restriction does not apply to:

• a municipal transit vehicle;
• an auto stage, private carrier bus, school bus, travel trailer, or motor home with an overall length not to exceed 46 feet;
• an articulated auto stage with an overall length not to exceed 61 feet, excluding a back rack up to 4 feet in length; or
• an auto recycling carrier up to 42 feet in length, manufactured prior to 2005.

The director of the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) is responsible for adopting rules governing the safety of body and frame design, and the installation of plumbing, heating, and electrical equipment in mobile homes, commercial coaches, recreational vehicles, and park trailers, for purposes of the manufacture and sale of such vehicles. Recreational vehicles, for such purposes, include fifth-wheel travel trailers. L&I enforces such rules through vehicle inspections where recreation vehicles are manufactured, sold, or leased.

The bill as referred to committee not considered.

A person may operate on a public highway a fifth-wheel travel trailer having an overall length up to 46 feet. Overall length for a fifth-wheel travel trailer is calculated as the measurement between the centermost point of the kingpin and the rearmost point of the vehicle.

Fifth-wheel travel trailer is defined as, for purposes of calculating overall vehicle length, a vehicle primarily designed for recreational camping or travel use that does not have its own motive power and is primarily mounted on or hitched within the bed of a pickup truck. A clarifying definition for kingpin is also provided.