Pole and utility vehicles/trailers – Tennessee

Length exception

The vehicle length limitation in Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-7-201 does not apply to loads of poles, logs, or timber in single length pieces; provided, that no motor vehicle, including any part of the load may be more than 75 feet in length unless a permit has been obtained under § 55-7-205.

Permits for utilities

Permits are available for electric service companies, telephone companies, and their contractors. There is no fee for special permits when moving utility poles for a municipal or electric cooperative corporation. Special permits are issued for a stated period not to exceed one year.

Lamp and flag rules

There must be attached to the rearmost extremity of any load carried on a pole trailer that projects four feet or more beyond the rear of the body of the vehicle or the rearmost extremity of the load:

• From 1/2 hour before sunset to 1/2 hour after sunrise and at all other times when lights must be displayed, at least one red lamp visible from 500 feet to the sides and rear.
• At all other times, one red flag of at least 18 inches square must be displayed.

A motor vehicle or trailer transporting intrastate a load of logs, long pulpwood, poles, or posts that projects four feet or more beyond the rear of the body or bed of the vehicle, when the vehicle is operated on a highway or parked on the shoulder or immediately adjacent to the traveled portions of the highway, must have the following securely affixed as close as practical to the end of the projecting load:

• One amber strobe light; or
• One amber LED light.

And meet the flag requirements found in § 55-9-405(e)(1) and (e)(2).

Key definitions

"Pole trailer" means every vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach, or pole, or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle, and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes, or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections.